Simon Khan And Paul Casey Among Names To Secure US Open Spots

Simon Khan put his BMW PGA Championship playoff defeat behind him to secure a place at next month’s US Open.

A day after his four-hole playoff loss to Matteo Manassero at Wentworth, the 40-year-old carded a 67 and 70 to qualify in first place.

The Englishman said: “I only slept for about half an hour last night and I even thought about pulling out, but this is my job,” said Khan.

Khan was joined by Paul Casey, who was competing in his first qualifying for a major in his 13-year professional career, after slipping to 157th in the world rankings.

“I don’t know much about Merion, so I will have to do my homework,” said Casey, who will make his 10th US Open appearance after finishing a shot behind Khan along with South African Jaco Van Zyl.

“But now that I have got through the qualifier, there is no reason why you can’t compete in the US Open. Michael Campbell showed that when he qualified here in 2005 and then won at Pinehurst.”

Australia’s Marcus Fraser, England’s Eddie Pepperell, Sweden’s Peter Hedblom and Denmark’s Morten Orum Madsen also qualified ahead of six players tied for the five remaining spots, forcing a playoff.

In that sudden death tussle, Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal was successful, along with Scotland’s Chris Doak, Argentina’s Estanislao Goya and English duo David Howell and John Parry, with Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg missing out.

Below is a full list of qualifiers from Walton Heath for the US Open at Merion:

– Simon Khan
– Paul Casey
– Jaco van Zyl
– Marcus Fraser
– Eddie Pepperell
– Peter Hedblom
– Morten Orum Madsen
– Jose Maria Olazabal
– David Howell
– John Parry
– Chris Doak
– Estanislao Goya