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Garcia into US Open field after coming through playoff

Sergio Garcia will tee it up at Congressional © PA Photos

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Sergio Garcia's record of consecutive major appearances will continue, after the Spaniard secured his spot at the US Open by coming through qualifying in Memphis on Monday.

Only last month Garcia, currently No. 75 in the world rankings, said he would not go through the process of qualifying in order to continue his streak of 46 successive appearances in major championships.

But he evidently changed his mind shortly after making that statement and the decision paid dividends - the 31-year-old shooting rounds of 68 and 67 at Tunica National before coming through a seven-man playoff to ensure he will be in the field at Congressional later this month.

"Well guys, we made it to the US Open!" Garcia said on Twitter afterwards. "It was so hot out there!"

Other players to qualify on Monday included Arnold Palmer's grandson Sam Saunders, former US Open champion Hale Irwin's son Steve and Fred Funk.

Chad Campbell, Briny Baird and Brian Gay came through the playoff in Memphis alongside Garcia - after the sectional leaderboard was topped by amateur Bud Cauley and South Korean Sunghoon Kang.

The news was not good for everyone, however. Vijay Singh decided not to turn up for his qualifier in Colombus, meaning his 17-year streak of major appearances will now come to an end.

Justin Leonard, David Duval, Ben Curtis, Jhonattan Vegas and Chris DiMarco also all missed out at events across the country.

One player who did make it through, however, was amateur Patrick Cantlay. The American college freshman proved his status as one to watch in the world game just days after being one of the recipients of the Jack Nicklaus Award.

In recent weeks, Cantlay finished a close second in the NCAA college championships, was picked for the Palmer Cup and also qualified for the Open Championship at Royal St George's.

The 156-man field for the US Open is still to be finalised, with Tiger Woods' participation still yet to be confirmed. Players in the world's top 50 will have their berths finalised at the end of this week , while there are still a few spots on offer for those who finish in the top five in the European and US Tour events this week.

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