KEY POINTS:
All three New Zealand golfers chasing a place in the British Open failed to qualify today.
Teenager Danny Lee, playing at TPC, Michigan came the closest of the three.
Tim Wilkinson, playing at the nearby Dearborn Country Club, withdrew after shooting a first-round two-over 74 in the 36-hole qualifier.
Mark Brown missed his chance despite shooting sub-par rounds as well in England.
Brown had rounds of 68 and 69 and missed out in the playoff at the par-70 Sunningdale course along with such players as Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal and Northern Irishman Darren Clarke.
Lee, 17, fired a five-under 139 to finish in a tie for seventh place with four others.
With seven places up for grabs, Lee went out on the first play-off hole when American Thomas Gillis made a birdie to claim the last spot.
He earned a place in the final qualifying with his top-five world amateur ranking and managed to beat off the likes of major winner Steve Elkington and US Tour winners Jason Gore, John Senden and Sweden's Daniel Chopra.
Lee, the only amateur in the field, managed five birdies without blemish in his first round 67 and shot an even-par 72 in the second round.
"I was disappointed not to qualify," he said.
"I missed two short birdie putts over the final few holes that I should never have missed. That would have got me through, so I am not happy with myself."
New Zealand Golf high performance manager David Graham said Lee was tracking well this year and he was delighted with his form this week.
"Danny expects so much of himself and he was definitely not fazed with the opposition today. He goes out to win everything he enters.
"We are rapt with his performance in such a talented field. We are very proud of him and I am sure he will have continued to turn some heads there this week."
Lee will take a week off before the Southern Amateur tournament, with his major targets the US Amateur and the Eisenhower Trophy world championship later in the year.
Meanwhile, his New Zealand teammates James Gill and Nick Gillespie started solidly in the first round of the North and South Amateur championship at North Carolina.
Gill, on scholarship at St Andrew's University in Scotland, is in a share of fifth place after a one-under par 71, with Gillespie (Hastings) shooting a five-over 77 to be in a tie for 55th.
There is a further round of strokeplay tomorrow before matchplay.
- NZPA
