It was hardly a strong showing for American golf at the US Open, which ended Sunday, but do not tell that to Robert Garrigus and Kevin Chappell.
The two relative unknowns finished as the low Americans, in a tie for third place at 6 under -- 10 shots back from overall winner Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland.
The top-eight finishers earned the pair exemptions for the 2012 Masters.
"Besides it being Father's Day and to have my son there afterwards and everything, this is a pretty special day," Garrigus said. "I get into Augusta. That's probably one of the coolest things I'll ever get to say is I am playing at Augusta next year."
Garrigus, who was cheered wildly on 18 after making a big par save putt, said, "It's so cool to have that many people rooting for you. It's better than any drug you could ever take. You can't buy it, you can't bottle it. I'll never forget this day for the rest of my life."
In the 30 majors since 2004, only three other American players have won majors aside from Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson -- Zach Johnson in the 2007 Masters, Lucas Glover in the 2009 US Open and Stewart Cink in the 2009 British Open.
"Being low American, that's great," Chappell said. "I don't think the state of American golf is where everyone expects it to be, but I think it shows that someone like myself can play out here and I think it's definitely going to end up going in the right direction here sometime soon."
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