Aussie Hend handed British Open spot

Australia's Scott Hend has been added to the field for next months's British Open after being named as one of 11 alternates by the Royal and Ancient.

The big-hitting Queenslander, who plays mostly on the European and Asian tours, is ranked 75th in the world and his spot for the third Major of the season at Royal Troon was announced on Monday.

It will be the third time Hend has played at The Open and he will be hoping to make the cut for the first time having failed in 2005 and 2015.

Former US Open champion Graeme McDowell, Francesco Molinari and Ryan Palmer have also added to the field.

Even though 21 spots remain available through qualifying on the PGA Tour, European Tour and local qualifying across Britain, those will not be enough to fill a 156-man field for the tournament which takes place from July 14-17.

The other alternates are James Hahn, Gary Woodland, Patton Kizzire, Fabian Gomez, Jeunghan Wang, Brendan Steele and Tony Finau.