Ireland’s Shane Lowry has topped the list of U.S. Open qualifiers a day after missing out by a shot in qualifying automatically for next month’s championship.
Lowry shot rounds of a three under par 69 on Walton Heath’s New Course and then posted a five under par 67 on Old Course for an eight under par total to finish a stroke clear among the 14 leading qualifiers in a starting field of 105 players.
It is the second time in five attempts the 26-year old Dubliner has been successful at Walton Heath in qualifying for a U.S. Open.
But while Lowry won through to the U.S. Open fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington will now miss a first U.S. Open in 15 years after falling six shots shy of qualifying.
