Eddie Pepperell’s dreams of playing in the US Open for the second successive year were shattered when he failed to qualify at Walton Heath yesterday.

The 23-year-old Frilford Heath golfer withdrew from the International Sectional Qualifier after posting a two-over par 74 in the first of two rounds at the Surrey venue.

Playing on the Old Course, Pepperell, from Abingdon, moved to three-under par after four holes, but he struggled with his game after that, finishing with a double bogey.

Disappointed by his form and feeling he had little chance of claiming one of the 14 places at Pinehurst No 2 next month, he decided not to tackle the easier New Course in the afternoon.

Instead he headed north to Liverpool to see his coach Mike Walker in a bid to get his game back on track.

Pepperell is due to play in the Nordea Masters in Malmo, Sweden, starting on Thursday.

Irishman Shane Lowry, runner-up in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Sunday, continued his fine form to head the qualifiers on eight-under par after rounds of 69 and 67.

The others to automatically win a spot were Swede Niclas Fasth, Englishmen Simon Griffiths and Graeme Storm, Germans Marcel Siem and Max Kieffer, Scotsman Chris Doak, South African Garth Mulroy, Indian Shiv Kapur and American Brooks Koepka.

Six players had to play off for the final four spots.

England’s Oliver Fisher, Italian Andrea Pavan and Dane Lucas Bjerregaard all made birdies at the first extra hole to claim the first three places, and the last to make the grade was Tom Lewis, with a 30 foot putt.