Late errors cost Harrington US Open spot
Pádraig Harrington
Padraig Harrington’s miserable run of form continued at Walton Heath when he bogeyed his last two holes — three putting the 18th — to miss out on a five man playoff for three US Open spots by a single stroke.
The 44-year old bogeyed two of his last three holes in the morning round of the 36-hole International Sectional Qualifier, three putting the 18th on the Old Course to post a level par 72.
Taking on the New Course in the afternoon, Harrington made birdies at the second and third and an eagle three at the eighth to sit comfortably inside the crucial top 13 who would qualify to join defending champion Jordan Spieth and Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke and Shane Lowry at Oakmont in Pittsburgh from June 16-19.
But bogeys at the ninth and 11th undid much of his good work and while a birdie four at the 13th got him back to three under, a shot inside the eventual outright qualifying mark, he bogeyed the par-three 17th to leave his fate dangling by a thread.
Having failed to qualify of the US Open since 2013 and coming into the qualifier on the back of five missed cuts from his last six starts, Harrington then three putted the last from 40 feet to end up tied for 16th on one under, one shot outside a five-man playoff for the last three places.
Playing alongside Dunne, who shot rounds of 71 and 75 to miss out by five strokes, Harrington said: “We knew what the story was. The 17th is tough enough and the tee shot didn’t come back on the wind.
“Obviously, dropping a shot there put me in a precarious place coming down the last and after hitting a nice tee shot, it looked like I had hit a good second shot.
“But it hit a downslope and released way by the hole — 40 feet — and I three putted again like I did this morning. It was a disappointing way to finish.”
To put his recent major career in perspective, missing Oakmont means Harrington will have played in just five of the last 10 majors, making just one cut. He is, however, exempt for The Open and the US PGA
As Lawrie carded rounds of 76 and 81 to finish on 13 over 157, Frenchman Gregory Bourdy shot rounds of 67 (New) and 68 (Old) to top the qualifiers by two shots on nine under par 135 from Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg.
Bourdy’s compatriots Gary Stal and Romain Wattel will join him in the field after both finishing on four under par, where they were matched by Sweden’s Alexander Noren.
Englishman Andrew "Beef" Johnston delighted local crowds by clinching his spot in what will be his debut tournament in America, the 27 year old continuing to ride the wave that brought him a maiden European Tour title in Spain last month and a top ten finish in his home event, the BMW PGA Championship.
His compatriot Lee Slattery also qualified after two rounds of 69, the 38 year old marking a return to the US Open having previously teed it up in 2012 at the Olympic Club, also the venue when Matthew Baldwin – another to win qualification – last appeared in the tournament.
Ryder Cup hero Hanson put a couple of injury-hampered years behind him to earn qualification on three under par alongside Italy’s Matteo Manassero, still only 23 years old but now set for his fourth US Open appearance.
A dramatic five-man play-off followed to determine the final three qualifiers, with Kiefer holing from the bunker on the first hole to secure his spot before Hansen birdied the second, where Edfors’ bogey dropped him out of the running.
That left Singh and Soderberg and they both missed putts to win on the third and fourth play-off holes respectively before Soderberg – riding high on the Challenge Tour this season – birdied to earn a maiden Major Championship appearance.
Grégory Bourdy (-9)
“It’s one of the biggest tournaments in the world and one of the most difficult usually, so it’s a big challenge, but I like it when it’s tough and it’s great to be there for sure.
“I feel very good with my game right now. The last few weeks have been good, I played solid, and I’ve got a lot of confidence, with some good tournaments coming up too.
“It’s always really difficult in the US Open. I don’t know Oakmont, I’ve never been there, but I’m looking forward to getting there, practising and trying to do my best.”
Mikael Lundberg (-7)
“It feels fantastic. It’s the first time I’ve ever even tried to qualify and I made it, and I’ve never even played a Major Championship before so it’s going to be great.
“It’s been a lifelong dream of mine, to play just one, and I was talking to my caddie and saying we might even do a Michael Campbell and win, you never know.
“Oakmont for sure will be a step up, a much tougher test, but that’s perfect and I’ll love it. I can’t wait to get there and I’ll go there, enjoy the week and just see what happens.”
Lee Slattery (-6)
“I’m absolutely delighted with that. It was my sort of perfect day out there today, it was windy and I’ve grown up in the wind on links golf courses, so it was all about controlling your ball flight and your ball out there today and I managed to do it great.
“It was a great week when I played in 2012 and I always said that I would never not try to qualify for the US Open again because it was such a fabulous occasion. The hype out there, it’s just madness, and it’s great to play on a stage like that.”
Andrew Johnston (-4)
“I can’t wait to get out there. I’ve been watching it for 20 years, so it’s exciting. I’ve only played one Major Championship before, and I’ve never played in America at all so I’m looking forward to it.
“Last year was tough, it felt like every week I was just fighting, but then this year I’ve made a really good start so I’ve just got to try to build on that.”
Peter Hanson (-3)
“It’s great to be back playing the Majors. They’re the ones you miss the most when you’re injured, and I feel my game is heading back in the right direction.
“I’ve been to Oakmont before so I know what kind of a challenge it is and it will be a tough one – it’s got beautiful greens and you really need to bring your best game there.”
Matteo Manassero (-3)
“It’s a great feeling and I’m really happy that I’ve made it. It was a big goal for me, I’ve played the US Open three times and I really wanted to go back.
“You’ve played well to get through this, it was really tough out there, so whoever has made it today has played really good golf and has definitely earned it.”
Scores after round 2:
Qualifiers
135 G Bourdy (Fra) 67 68;
137 M Lundberg (Sie) 68 69;
138 L Slattery (Eng) 69 69;
140 G Stal (Fra) 73 67; M Baldwin (Eng) 70 70; R Wattel (Fra) 70 70; A Noren (Swe) 69 71; A Johnston (Eng) 68 72;
141 M Manassero (Ita) 72 69; P Hanson (Swe) 71 70;
142 M Kiefer (Ger) 73 69; J Edfors (Swe) 73 69; S Soderberg (Swe) 72 70;
Non-qualifiers
142 J Singh (Ind) 71 71; S Hansen (Den) 67 75;
143 Pádraig Harrington (Irl) 72 71; M Fraser (Aus) 72 71; D Gaunt (Aus) 71 72; S Gros (Fra) 71 72; S Walker (Eng) 70 73;
144 M Siem (Ger) 75 69; N Elvira (Esp) 74 70; R Sterne (RSA) 72 72; J Hansen (Den) 70 74;
145 O Fisher (Eng) 75 70; R Bland (Eng) 75 70; A Chesters (Eng) 74 71; T Hatton (Eng) 73 72; B Dredge (Wal) 72 73; D Burmeister (RSA) 72 73; A Cañizares (Esp) 71 74; R Karlberg (Swe) 71 74; J Quesne (Fra) 70 75;
146 J Campillo (Esp) 75 71; D Im (USA) 75 71; S Khan (Eng) 75 71; R Ramsay (Sco) 74 72; G Drakenford (Aus) 72 74; G Coetzee (RSA) 72 74; H Endycott (am) (Aus) 70 76;
147 R Fisher (Eng) 76 71; T Pilkadaris (Aus) 74 73; P Larrazábal (Esp) 74 73; D Bransdon (Aus) 74 73; S Webster (Eng) 74 73; M Madsen (Den) 73 74; Paul Dunne (Irl) 71 76;
148 R McGowan (Eng) 76 72; M Orrin (Eng) 75 73; M Ikonen (Fin) 75 73; C Shinkwin (Eng) 74 74; C Davis (am) (Aus) 73 75; T Lewis (Eng) 72 76; B Hebert (Fra) 72 76; J Winther (Den) 69 79;
149 J Scrivener (Aus) 75 74; R Fox (Nil) 75 74; J Walters (RSA) 74 75; G Havret (Fra) 70 79;
150 J McLeary (Sco) 77 73; R Davies (Wal) 74 76; L Bjerregaard (Den) 72 78;
151 J Smith (Eng) 74 77; S Lee (Kor) 73 78;
152 Z Lombard (RSA) 76 76; M Foster (Eng) 76 76; J Dantorp (Swe) 75 77;
154 B Robinson (Eng) 75 79; R Parater (Ita) 75 79;
156 S Sharma (Ind) 83 73;
157 V Riu (Fra) 81 76; B Conser (USA) 77 80; Peter Lawrie (Irl) 76 81;
DQ/WD H Porteous (RSA) 70 DQ; E Goya (Arg) 70 DQ; P Peterson (USA) 78 DQ; T Pieters (Bel) 71 RT; J Carlsson (Swe) 72 RT; H Li (Chn) 73 RT; F Zanotti (Par) 73 RT; E Molinari (Ita) 73 RT; B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 75 RT; D Lipsky (USA) 75 RT; T Van Der Walt (RSA) 75 RT; A Dodt (Aus) 75 RT; R Kakko (Fin) 76 RT; S Hend (Aus) 78 RT; R Dinwiddie (Eng) 79 RT; P Meesawat (Tha) 76 WD; R Gouveia (Por) 76 WD; S Arnold (Aus) 77 WD; D Brooks (Eng) 77 WD; S Kapur (Ind) 77 WD; J Lagergren (Swe) 77 WD; R Rock (Eng) 78 WD; J Wang (Kor) RT 0; D Drysdale (Sco) RT 0; R Green (Aus) WD 0; M Warren (Sao) WD 0; B Evans (Eng) WD 0; D Horsey (Eng) WD 0.
