Euro party up to 18

German Alex Cejka and Swede Richard Johnson have made it 18 Europeans in next week’s US Open at Olympia Fields near Chicago.

But England’s Luke Donald has to hope for some withdrawals to be return to the event in which he finished 18th on his debut last year.

Cejka and Johnson were among the players who yesterday came through the last of the qualifying competitions in Rockville, Maryland, where heavy rain forced the event into a second day.

A field of 156 players were going for the final 34 places in the second major of the year, and former Volvo Masters champion Cejka was joint ninth on six under following rounds of 67 and 69.

Johnson, who also qualified for the US Tour last December, was one stroke further back. He opened with a superb 64 and a second-round 73 proved good enough with two strokes to spare.

Donald, however, had rounds of 70 and 69 and had to settle for a place as a reserve.

The event was won by Bill Haas, son of tour player Jay, Japan’s Hidemichi Tanaka and Australian Rod Pampling. They all finished with a nine-under-par total of 133.

Former Masters champion Larry Mize also made it through, but the other failures included French pair Thomas Levet and Jean Van de Velde and Swedes Per-Ulrik Johansson and Carl Pettersson.

In other qualifying events earlier in the week Londoner Brian Davis, Swedes Jesper Parnevik and Fredrick Jacobson and Dutchman Maarten Lafeber were successful.

Exempt from qualifying were Thomas Bjorn, Paul Casey, Darren Clarke, Nick Faldo, Niclas Fasth, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Bernhard Langer, Paul Lawrie, Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazabal and Justin Rose.