Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal both failed to clinch a place in the US Open field at the qualifying event at Walton Heath.
Manassero heading to San Francisco after coming through play-off
Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal both failed to clinch a place in the US Open field at the 36-hole qualifying event at Walton Heath.
Former Ryder Cup captain Montgomerie had made a 900-mile overnight trip to fetch a putter from his home in Perthshire after shooting a closing 81 in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Sunday.
It looked like the marathon journey would pay off when the Scotsman fired an opening round of 68, but he could only follow it up with a score of 72.
"Who in their right mind would do that? But yes, I did," Montgomerie said about his journey. "I left Wentworth at 2pm, was home at 8pm, had tea with the family, left at 11pm and got here just after 6am."
Last year was the first time since 1989 that Montgomerie did not appear in any of the four majors, but he will keep on trying; he is entered for the Open qualifier at Sunningdale on June 25.
Shame
Current Ryder Cup skipper Olazabal also failed to grab one of the 11 berths up for grabs on Monday, in his case by three shots after rounds of 67 and 74.
"It's just a shame - I played really well this morning and gave myself a chance," the Spaniard said.
The news was much better for Swede Alexander Noren, who defends the Wales Open at Celtic Manor later this week, and Scot Marc Warren, a former World Cup winner with Montgomerie who finally makes it into a major field.
Warren needed something special after an opening 70 on the Old Course, but produced it with a seven-under score of 65 on the shorter New.
"I wasn't sure whether I was going to play today," said the 31-year-old, "but the people around me told me to give it a rip and see what happens."
The pair finished on top of the leaderboard on nine under, two clear of England's Lee Slattery, Dane Soren Kjeldsen, South African George Coetzee, Mikko Ilonen of Finland and France's Gregory Bourdy.
A play-off was required to find out who would take the remaining four places, with Ireland's Peter Lawrie, who finished fourth at Wentworth, England's Matthew Baldwin, Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and Italian teenager Matteo Manassero all eventually coming through.
