England’s Simon Khan brilliantly made amends for losing out in a play-off to be the leading player in the 36-hole US Open qualifier at Walton Heath.
Khan, 40 was complaining of tiredness after his opening round of five under par 67 on the ‘harder’ Old Course but went out in the afternoon on the ‘easier’ New Course to shoot a 70, that included six birdies and four bogeys, for a seven under par tally.
“I’m delighted and absolutely chuffed as it was really tough this afternoon as the wind got a long stronger,” said Khan.
“Yesterday (SUN) I did everything I could to try and win, I don’t think I could have done anything differently.
“I only slept for about a half-an-hour last night going over in my head, and I even thought about pulling out but this is my job, and besides there is worse things to be doing on a Monday afternoon.
“But it’s just brilliant I’m going to Merion. I don’t know much about the course. All I know is Hogan’s famous picture at the last, which is iconic.”
It is the eighth straight year Khan had entered US Open qualifying and now the third occasion he will compete in the season’s second Major.
Next best among the leading 12 qualifiers was England’s Paul Casey and South African Jaco Van Zyl tied in second place at six under par.
It was the first time Casey has competed in any Major Championship qualifier in his 13-year pro career.
Casey began his quest for a 10th US Open appearance, and a first in two years, with a disappointing round of 74 but came out to birdie his opening three holes on the New Course on route to a round that included nine birdies, among then a 40-footer at the last, and just one bogey.
The triple European Ryder Cup star, who has since slipped to No. 157th in the world,
“It was a bit frustrating at Wentworth last week as I played lovely but was just frozen to the core, and I’m afraid I’ve become a bit of a ‘wuss’ lately but today it was lovely out there, and this is a great result in my first-ever qualifier,” said Casey.
“I thought I might have got away without shaving today but I couldn’t believe how many people were out there as the crowds were great.
“So it was very different to what we do day-in and day out and took me back to my amateur days, and not seeing any scoreboards out there you could just concentrate on the hole in front of you.
“To qualify for the US Open is great because for me it’s right up there as one of the two most important golf tournaments we play in the world, and while I am putting the Open Championship up there on top, America’s national open championship is right up there.
“I don’t know much about Merion so I will have to do my homework, and I’m just ecstatic.”
And Casey revealed his remarkable association with Walton Heath having, as a then 14-year old, carrying a group scoring board in the 1991 European Open match featuring Howard Clark.
“It was the week after Mike Harwood finished runner-up in the Open Championship and then he won the European Open,” he said.
“But now that I have got through the qualifier there is no reason why you can’t compete in the US Open, and Michael Campbell showed that when he qualified here in 2005 and then won at Pinehurst.”
