16-07-2025
Former gang member and Open debutant Ryan Peake: I deserve to be here
Ryan Peake concedes that it would be 'tricky at best' for him to make his Open debut if his father, a bricklayer who moved to Australia aged four, did not still hold a British passport.
When the tournament was held at Royal Portrush in 2019, the world No466 had just been released from prison after serving a five-year sentence for grievous bodily harm, and without the British passport he was able to claim through his father, travel to the UK would have been extremely difficult. In fact, the heavily tattooed former biker gang member had visa problems just getting to the New Zealand Open in March, where his maiden victory sealed the most extraordinary spot in this week's field.
'It's my life, it's my story, and I'm not embarrassed about it. It's something I've done and I've owned it,' Peake, 32, says. 'I'm not trying to be a role model or be someone's superhero, anything like that. I'm just basically living the best life I can, and whatever people see from that, that's what they see.'
