PGA Tour: Clarke fails to qualify for U.S. Open

Far Hills, NJ (Sports Network) - The last of the U.S. Open sectional qualifiers were held Monday to determine the field for next week at Oakmont Country Club.
Some top players made it. Some did not.
Ryder Cup teammates Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley were among the players who failed to make it through the 36-hole qualifier at Walton Heath in Surrey, England.
For Clarke, it marked just the second time since 1997 that he failed to qualify for the U.S. Open.
"The current state of my game is not good for the U.S. Open anyway, so it is maybe not such a bad thing," said Clarke, who went 3-0 in Europe's Ryder Cup win last year while playing a little more than a month after his wife's death.
The nine spots available at the Surrey qualifier went to Nick Dougherty, Darren Fichardt, Peter Hanson, Marcus Fraser, Graeme McDowell, Miguel Rodriguez, Samuel Walker, Soren Kjeldsen and Christian Cevaer -- all Europeans.
Dougherty, Fichardt and Hanson were co-medalists at eight-under 136.
Other notables who failed to qualify at Walton Heath included former Ryder Cup player Miguel Angel Jimenez, Notah Begay III, Jean Van de Velde, and U.S. amateurs Garrett Osborn and Nathan Smith.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, most of the top PGA Tour players attempting to qualify were in Ohio.
One qualifier at Scioto Country Club in Columbus produced a thrilling finish when Anthony Kim won an 11-man playoff for the 24th and final spot available for 144 players.
Bubba Watson and Ryan Moore earned co-medalist honors at Scioto with six-under 136 totals. Among the players who joined them in qualifying were Camilo Villegas, Sean O'Hair, Boo Weekley and amateur Trip Kuehne.