Wolverhampton's Aaron Rai makes it a US Open hat-trick the Midlands
The Midlands has THREE representatives at golf’s US Open after Aaron Rai claimed a place at the tournament at the final qualifying event.
Rai, from Wolverhampton, seized his final chance to make it through to the third major tournament of the year at the Cherry Hill Club, in Ontario, Canada.
That means the 29-year-old former Shropshire & Herefordshire junior will now tee it up at the US Open, at Pinehurst, next week alongside fellow Midlands golfers Richard Mansell and Robert Rock.
The Staffordshire pair secured their places at the showpiece event by qualifying at Walton Heath Golf Club, in Surrey, last month.
Veteran Rock stunned himself and much of the golf world by staking his place two years after officially retiring from copetitive golf.
The 47-year-old said after qualifying: “It’s a complete bonus. I wasn’t expecting it at all. I really like the look of Pinehurst.
“I’ve never been, although I turned up once when I was younger in a coachload of people and we got turned away so it will be nice to go an actually see the place!”
The last time he made it to the US Open was in 2012 – a momentous highlight in the career of the golfer who hails from Armitage, near Rugeley.
Their qualification is in contrast to that of Australia Adam Scott, whose streak of playing in 91 consecutive majors is on course to end after he lost a qualification play-off to fellow Australian Cam Davis.
It took the pair three play-off holes at Springhead Country Club, in Ohio, before Davis secured the last of the four spots on offer, having bogeyed the last of the day’s 36 regulation holes to open the door for Scott to enter the play-off. Scott remains the first alternate for the year’s third major, while he will qualify if his world ranking remains at 60 after this weekend’s Memorial Tournament, which he is not playing in.
European Ryder Cup champion Luke Donald and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion, were among those who also missed the cut at Springhead.
Matt Kuchar and 2012 champion Webb Simpson were among the qualifiers, but major champions Zach Johnson, Jason Dufner and Charles Schwartzel missed out.
