Love and Duval bid to secure U.S. Open spots

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former major winners Davis Love III and David Duval enter the last-chance saloon in Columbus, Ohio on Monday bidding to secure places at next month's U.S. Open.

Love and fellow American Duval are among 144 players who will be competing over 36 holes at Scarlet Golf Club and Brookside Golf & Country Club for 22 spots at the second major championship of the year.

Seventy-one players are already exempt for the June 12-15 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego and the remaining 84 berths will be decided on Monday in sectional qualifying at 13 venues.

Long-hitting Love, winner of the 1997 PGA Championship at Winged Foot, is seeking to compete in his 18th consecutive U.S. Open, a tournament where he has posted four top-10 finishes.

The 44-year-old has struggled for form this season after a four-month injury break curtailed his 2007 campaign but he is determined to work his way back to the top.

"I'm still motivated, I'm still working hard," Love told reporters after failing to qualify for the Masters this year for the first time since 1990.

"I'm trying to make Paul's (Azinger's Ryder Cup) team, trying to get into the majors, all those things.

COMING TOGETHER

"It's all coming together. I just need to be patient with myself and keep just plugging away. Keep sticking the tokens in the machine, eventually you'll get it right."

Duval, whose only major title came at the 2001 British Open, preceded Tiger Woods as world number one but has since tumbled down the rankings while struggling with his game.

Also chasing a U.S. Open spot at Scarlet and Brookside are 1986 PGA champion Bob Tway and his son Kevin, winner of the 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur.

Sony Open champion Paul Goydos and Australian Stephen Leaney are among 100 players hunting 13 Open places available at Colonial Country Club and Chickasaw Country Club in Cordova, Tennessee.

Former Ryder Cup player Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and emerging British talent Oliver Fisher line up in another strong field of Open contenders in sectional qualifying at Walton Heath Golf Club on the outskirts of London, England.

Bjorn, a nine-times winner on the European Tour, and Fisher are among 65 players expected to battle it out for 10 places at Torrey Pines.

The U.S. Open will be staged for the first time at Torrey Pines where Argentina's Angel Cabrera will defend the title he won last year by a shot at Oakmont Country Club.

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)