Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler came up short in their US Open qualifying bids Monday, a day after Rose out-dueled Fowler to win the US PGA Tour's Memorial.
Major champions Tom Lehman, Davis Love and Ben Curtis all made the field for the 110th US Open, to be held at Pebble Beach June 17-20.
Aussies Stuart Appleby and Aaron Baddeley were also among the 15 qualifiers to advance from the 36-hole sectional event at the Lakes and Brookside courses in Columbus.
Love punched his ticket in a six-player playoff for the last five spots. He'll return to the US Open after seeing his streak of 18 consecutive starts in the event end last year.
Rocco Mediate, who battled with Tiger Woods but lost in a playoff in the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines, was eliminated with a bogey on the third playoff hole.
For Rose the disappointment comes a day after he claimed his first US PGA Tour title, to go with half a dozen prior victories worldwide.
He charged from four shots back to win the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial at Muirfild Village in Dublin, Ohio, beating Fowler, the 21-year-old rookie who had taken a three-shot lead into the final round.
"Being in contention definitely wears you out quite a bit, and this is my third week in a row playing," Fowler said. "So I'm looking forward to some time off. It would have been nice to be playing in the Open, but it happens."
Fowler rose to 32 in the world on Monday while Rose reached number 33 in the world.
The deadline for earning a US Open spot through the world ranking was two weeks ago because the USGA had to determine how many spots would be available through the qualifiers.
Monday saw 13 sectional qualifiers around the country to complete the 156-man field.
Most of the spots came from Columbus and Memphis, Tennessee, where the US PGA Tour plays this week.
Lehman, the only player in the modern era to play in the final pairing of four straight US Opens, said he felt badly for Rose and Fowler and that he thought the strong field at Columbus, the day after the Memorial, warranted more berths at stake.
"You have the Memorial, so you have all the top players here, from both Europe and the US," Lehman said. "Justin Rose was here qualifying, Rickie Fowler is qualifying. I just feel to have 15 spots here is a slap in the face. It really is."
Three berths were on offer in Houston, where weather delays pushed the conclusion to Tuesday.
The disruption prompted Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo to withdraw, because of commitments to his NFL team the rest of the week.
In other qualifiers, India's Arjun Atwal was among seven to book their spots in Rockville, Maryland.
Copyright 2010  AFP Global Edition
