Last year at St. Andrews, the golfing world was abuzz with the speculation of possibility, as amateur Paul Dunne of Ireland shared the lead when Monday's final round began. Unfortunately, Dunne struggled during that final round, but American Jordan Niebrugge picked up the amateur torch on the final day as he finished tied for sixth and won the Silver Medal. Niebrugge became the first American to win the Silver Medal since Tiger Woods in 1996.
Although the 2016 British Open doesn't include a large number of amateurs, the two that are in the field are more than capable of making some noise.
Englishman Scott Gregory, the 8th ranked player in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Rankings, punched his ticket to the Open by winning last months British Amateur. “You dream about moments like this when you are practicing all those hours and when you’re not playing as well as you’d like to,” Gregory told the R&A after his British Amateur victory.
Gregory, 21-years-old, won the 36-hole British Amateur championship match, 2&1 over Robert MacIntyre.
Italian Stefano Mazzoli, the 30th ranked amateur in the world, qualified for the British Open by winning the European Amateur last August.
Mazzoli was the first Italian winner of the European Amateur since 1992, when Massimo Scarpa won the event. The 19-year-old finished 19-under-par and just ahead of now two-time runner-up finisher and Walker Cupper Gary Hurley.
"I'm really excited because The Open will be a really great experience for me," Mazzoli said after his victory.
Shortly after winning the European Amateur, Mazzoli made his European Tour debut at the Italian Open where he made the cut.
FIRST AND SECOND ROUND TEE TIMES
-All times are BST
7:08 a.m./12:09 p.m. Sandy Lyle, Scott Gregory (a), David Duval 12:09 p.m./7:08 a.m. Ben Curtis, Stefano Mazzoli (a), John Daly
-The R&A and The Open contributed to this story