Harrington Bogeys US Open

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Padraig Harrington will miss the US Open for the second successive year after a bogey on the 36th hole saw him fall out of a play-off in qualifying at Walton Heath.

A run of four birdies from the 13th to the 16th in the afternoon on the Old Course had put the three-time major winner five under and in position to enter a six-man play-off for the final four spots available.

But he recorded a bogey five to miss out as South Africans Garth Mulroy, Thomas Aiken, Tjaart van der Walt and Australian Marcus Fraser qualified from the extra holes with Welshman Oliver Farr missing out.

"It was disappointing to bogey the last," Harrington said. "I nearly walked off after four holes this morning so I was surprised to have a chance at all.

"It was nice to get a run going on the back nine. It's one too many, so it is disappointing, especially after making a few birdies and getting inside the mark."

Two-time European Tour winner Alexander Levy will make his US Open debut at Chambers Bay next month after finishing top of the leaderboard at 11 under following a 66 on the Old Course and a 67 in the afternoon.

"I'm really happy. I played really good golf for the two 18 holes," he said. "I was positive and had a good attitude.

"It's nice to play the US Open. I was a little upset to slip out of the top 60 before Wentworth so it's great to now get in.

"It will be my first time in the US Open. I missed the Masters, so it will be great to play in another major."

Englishmen John Parry and Jason Palmer also qualified with the latter likely to get attention in the United States due to his unusual one-handed chipping style.

"The chipping is incredibly unique but it has saved my career, because there is no way I'd be competing as a professional if I didn't find the one-handed method," he said.

"At the end of last year I went from 50th on the Challenge Tour to having a win, a second place, and being on The European Tour and now this. I'm having an incredible time. I love the game of golf and at the moment it is being good to me.

"I doubt there have been many one handed chippers at the US Open before. The rough might be a bit too deep to play one-handed, so I'll have to assess it when I get there, but it is a problem I'm looking forward to have."

India's Shiv Kapur, Swede Alex Noren, Denmark's Lucas Bjerregaard and German Marcel Siem were the other qualifiers with Shane Lowry, Matteo Manassero and Nicolas Colsaerts among those to miss out.

Meanwhile, Wen-Chong Liang, Masahiro Kawamura, Hiroyuki Fujita, Kurt Barnes and Baek Seuk-hyun all progressed from the qualifying tournament in Japan.

Peter Lawrie and Gareth Maybin also failed in their efforts to make one of the the top eleven spots.

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Lowry Claims Pinehurst Place

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Shane Lowry took his fine form from Wentworth to Walton Heath to bag a place in the US Open Championship at Pinehurst next month.

The Irishman was runner-up in the BMW PGA Championship, and gave himself another reason to celebrate by finishing top of the pile at International Qualifying. His eight under par total – 69 on the New Course in the morning and 67 on the Old in the afternoon – was all the more impressive given the heavy rain all day at the Surrey venue.

“It was really tough out there,” said Lowry. “I played okay and putted really, really well. I holed a lot of six to eight footers for par and carried a lot of momentum in from yesterday to get the job done. I was three under this morning and this afternoon chipped in for eagle to get to five, so that got me going.

“I just tried to play steady from there and not lose my head. It was tough last week and then 36 holes in this weather was very tough. I’m looking forward to my bed tonight.

“I’m really looking forward to getting to Pinehurst. Majors are where I want to be playing. Last week I was comfortable competing down the stretch with the likes of Thomas Björn, Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald, so I’ve got a lot of confidence and I’ll take that with me to Pinehurst.”

A total of 105 players turned out in hope of winning one of 14 spots on offer, plus two alternates. 

Those to automatically win a spot were Swede Niclas Fasth, Englishmen Simon Griffiths and Graeme Storm, Germans Marcel Siem and Max Kieffer, Scotsman Chris Doak, South African Garth Mulroy and American Brooks Koepka.

Six players had to play off for the final four spots. England’s Oliver Fisher, Italian Andrea Pavan and Dane Lucas Bjerregaard all made birdie at the first extra hole to claim the first three places, and the last to make the grade was Tom Lewis, courtesy of a 30 foot putt, leaving Morten Madsen and Danny Willett as alternates.

Doak also qualified for last year’s US Open at Merion, and he said: “As a kid, you’d watch US Opens, it’s a special thing. I’m really glad to be going back again. I continued the form I had at Wentworth. I shot four under this morning so it was just a question of not doing anything silly this afternoon, hitting the middle of the greens and taking opportunities when they came along.”

Kieffer will be playing in his first Major Championship, and even fancies his chances at Pinehust. “Normally I play well on tough courses, so even though I haven’t been there yet, I think I can do well,” said. “To make it to my first Major is awesome. It’s going to be great for my game and you can only take positives from something like this.”

His compatriot, Siem, added: “It’s always been a dream of mine to play at Pinehurst. I’ve played it so many times on the Playstation. I had a great week at Wentworth and I’ve just got to keep this going now.”

Storm outscored playing partner Padraig Harrington, the three-time Major Champion, and he was delighted with his performance.

“I played fantastic today and I had a great partner in Padraig,” he said. “I’ve not had a great season so far, so hopefully this can kick-start the year, and I can put in a good performance at a Major. I’ve played in one Major before but didn’t play very well. Hopefully this time I can play a lot better.”

Qualifiers: 136 Shane Lowry (Irl); 137 Niclas Fasth (Swe), Simon Griffiths (Wal), Garth Mulroy (Rsa); 139 Max Kieffer (Ger), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Graeme Storm (Eng), Chris Doak (Sco), Brooks Koepka (USA); 140 (four players qualified after play-off): Andrea Pavan (Ita), Ollie Fisher (Eng), Lucas Bjerregaard (Den), Tom Lewis (Eng). 

Non qualifiers after play-off: Morten Orum Madsen (Den), Danny Willett (Eng).

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