Shane Lowry and Gareth Maybin shot the lights out to grab dream starts in The Open at St Andrews.

But Dubliner Peter Lawrie suffered bitter disappointment for the second year in a row as he was edged out in five-man shootout for the last of 10 spots in the 36-hole qualifier at Sunningdale.

Irish Open champion Lowry topped the qualifiers by two shots on 11 under as Ryder Cup skipper Colin Montgomerie hit a record equalling 62 on the New Course to tie for second with fellow Scot Andrew Coltart.

After equalling Nick Faldo’s course record with an eight under 62 on the Old, Lowry followed up with a 67 on the New Course in the afternoon to qualify for his first major.

Boosted by six birdies on the trot from the 10th in his morning 62, Lowry beamed: “I’ve been struggling on the greens and confidence was a bit low, so I changed my putter this morning

“After nine holes I said to my caddie I’m going to have to be patient and it certainly paid off.

“St Andrews is going to be great. I said at the start of the year it’s one tournament I wanted to play.”

Just two weeks after qualifying for the US Open, Ulsterman Maybin completed an amazing major double when he shot rounds of 64 and 68 to tie for fourth with Thomas Bjorn on eight under.

Jose Manuel Lara, Tano Goya, Ignacio Garrido and Bradley Dredge also made it on seven under.

But Dubliner Lawrie joined Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Gary Murphy in missing out as Germany’s Marcel Siem birdied at the first extra hole to grab the final spot at St Andrews from July 15-18.