Lowry stays in groove to secure place at Pinehurst

A day after finishing runner-up at Wentworth to his good friend Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry celebrated topping the list of US Open qualifiers on a cold, wet and miserable day at Walton Heath.

Lowry had been unaware victory in the BMW PGA Championship would have seen him head straight to Pinehurst but he was delighted to do it the ‘hard way’, posting rounds of 67 and a 69 that included a bizarre third-hole eagle, to head the list of 14 qualifiers on eight under par.

It is the second time in five attempts the 26-year old Clara native has won through to a US Open and he now joins McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke in the June 15-commencing Major.

“I’ve done it the hard way but I feel like I’m playing well and with the momentum I have, I could see no reason not to come here to Walton Heath,” said Lowry, who jumped 68 places to No 74 in the world rankings following his showing at Wentworth.

“I said to Dermot [Byrne, caddy] in the car coming down this morning that if I didn’t lose my cool, if I kept my head, I was going to make bogeys out there in these conditions but there’s plenty of birdies to be had as well.

“Despite all the rain the greens were fantastic, some of the best I’ve putted on in a long time.

“But I wasn’t aware if I had of won yesterday [at Wentworth] I would have got straight into the US Open so that makes it even better to have finished the top qualifier today.”

At the par-four third hole, Lowry waited 125-yards out for a greens official to squeegee dry the green and then wasted little time hitting a lob-wedge to exact spot that had been dried for his second shot to find the bottom of the cup.

But while Lowry was beaming Dubliner Pádraig Harrington’s run of 15 straight US Open appearances came to an end with scores of 75 and 71, four shots shy of qualifying.

Having had to qualify at Panmure for the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie, this was only the second time he was teed-up in a Major championship qualifier.

“The damage was done in the morning and just made a few mistakes in not knowing the golf course and I was never comfortable with the pace of the greens, as there was a number of three-putts thrown in there,” he said.

“You do need to play well to get though these qualifiers and things to go right for you, and given it’s 100 odd players with 14 spots, you can’t have even an average day, you have to have a good day.

“It was tough out there and it’s a long enough golf course but by the end of the day it was cold and wet, and I don’t like a wet club face and that’s the hardest thing to play with, and it was tough coming down the stretch.

The 36-holer was Harrington’s 14th round of golf in 15 days and little wonder he was looking forward to a rest ahead of teeing up in next week’s PGA Tour FedEx St Jude Classic in Memphis.

“I am just tired and I’m going home to bed,” he said smiling.

“But there’s nothing I can take away from today. You have a go and that’s it.

“I need a week off in having a rest and look forward to playing in 10 days’ time.”

Also missing out in qualifying was Mount Juliet’s Kevin Phelan with scores of 74 and 72, while Belfast’s Michael Hoey elected not to compete.