Sergio Garcia misses out on US Open qualification
Sergio Garcia hits from the fairway on the seventh hole during a practice round for the PGA Championship. Pic: AP Photo/George Walker IV.
One day after Scottie Scheffler captured his third major at the PGA Championship, the 156-man field for the US Open began to take shape with 27 players added through the world ranking and qualifiers being held on three continents.
It won’t include Sergio Garcia for the first time since 1999.
Garcia bogeyed his final hole in 36-hole qualifying in Dallas, costing him a spot in a 7-for-1 playoff for the seventh spot. Rasmus Neergaard-Peterson led the seven qualifiers that included Carlos Ortiz, who birdied his last hole to get in.
Thirty-six others were exempt from qualifying. That includes Davis Riley and Joe Highsmith, both doing well enough in the final round of the US PGA Championship to move into the top 60 in the world ranking.
The US Open is June 12-15 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, where Dustin Johnson won his first major. Johnson played a practice round that week with Scheffler, who was 19 and making his US Open debut. Scheffler opened with 69, then shot 78 and missed the cut.
LIV Golf added five more of its players to the field when Jinichiro Kozuma was among three players who made it through the Japan qualifier and Ortiz qualified at Bent Tree in Dallas. Joaquin Niemann was added as the leading player on LIV points, while the top 60 in the world added Tyrrell Hatton and Patrick Reed.
At Walton Heath in England, Ryder Cup vice-captain Edoardo Molinari came through a six-man play-off to qualify.
The 44-year-old, who has missed four months due to wrist surgery after securing his DP World Tour card at qualifying school last year, shot 66 and 71 to get to seven under par and a tie for sixth place at Walton Heath in Surrey.
England's Jordan Smith, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, topped the leaderboard on 10 under after rounds of 64 and 70 to qualify for his third US Open.
Sheffield's Sam Bairstow booked a second successive US Open appearance after finishing on eight under, one shot behind Italian Guido Migliozzi, France's Frederic Lacroix and Swede Joakim Lagergren.
That left a total of six players to compete for the remaining three of the eight qualifying places on offer.
Molinari, who qualified at Walton Heath last year but missed the cut at Pinehurst having produced his best US Open finish of 35th in 2021, had to play two extra holes.
The Italian made sure of his spot at Oakmont alongside compatriot Andrea Pavan, who earlier made five birdies in his second round of 67, and South African Jacques Kruyswijk.
Englishman Matthew Jordan, having slumped to two over in his second round after a brilliant opening nine-under 63, and South Africa's Robin Williams missed out on automatic qualification, but take up the two alternate places.
Scotland's Ryan Lumsden dropped out of contention after the play-off, finishing in 11th spot having earlier made it into the tie for sixth with rounds of 66 and 71.
Most of the final qualifying is scheduled for June 2 across the US and in Canada.
AP
