Padraig Harrington comes up just short in his bid to qualify for the US Open
Padraig Harrington came up agonisingly short in his attempt on Monday to qualify for next week's US Open.
The three-time major champion travelled from a Champions Tour event to tee it up at Kinsale Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio, for a US Open qualifier.
There were six qualifying spots available at the 36-hole event, featuring a host of big-name players, including Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Alex Noren, and Cameron Young.
Harrington, 53, seemed out of the running after a first round of 74 left him towards the bottom of the leaderboard.
But the Dubliner came firing back in the second round, playing his opening 11 holes in six-under-par to charge up the leaderboard.
In the end, a bogey on the 17th hole proved costly as he finished just one shot shy of a play-off for the sixth and final spot at the US Open.
Fowler, Homa, Young, Eric Cole and Chase Johnson were all in the play-off, and it was Young who booked his ticket to Oakmont thanks to a birdie on the first play-off hole.
The qualifying event was won by South African Erik Van Rooyen, who shot rounds of 64 and 67 to finish on 13-under-par, six shots clear of Lanto Griffin, Bud Cauley and Justin Lower, who also booked their places at Oakmont.
Elsewhere, at Duke University Golf Club in North Carolina, Tom McKibbin also came up short in his bid to tee it up in the major championship.
The Holywood man finished on two-over-par for 36 holes, five shots behind the score needed to make it to Oakmont.
2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell still has a shot, though, of qualifying for the major championship for the first time since 2020.
McDowell was four-under-par after 10 holes of his second round at Emerald Dunes Golf Club in Florida when play was suspended for bad weather.
He is currently three shots behind 18-year-old rising star Blades Brown and Luke Poulter, the son of Ryder Cup legend Ian, who have a share of third spot, with four qualifying spots on offer at the venue.
Seamus Power's US Open prospects are over, however. The Waterford golfer withdrew after a two-over par opening round of 72 at Lambton Country Club in Canada.
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