BETHESDA, Md. — The top eight finishers at the U.S. Open qualify for next year’s Masters, and that’s a big deal for someone like Kevin Chappell.

Chappell was just as hot as Rory McIlroy over the final three rounds of the championship, shooting rounds of 67, 69 and 66. It helped compensate for an opening 76 and lifted him into a tie for third Sunday.

“There’s a lot to soak in,” said Chappell, whose best career finish on the PGA Tour is a second place at this year’s Texas Open. “Hopefully lock up my card for next year, which is also a big relief, and just really try and enjoy it. I played some really good golf the last three rounds, and I really do need to enjoy it.”

Chappell also matched Robert Garrigus as the top American in the field.

“I don’t think the state of American golf is where everyone expects it to be,” Chappell said. “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.”

Maybe it’s just Tiger

Not only it is five straight majors now without an American winner, but the final U.S. Open leaderboard contained few stars and stripes.

Eight of the top 10 came from outside the United States. Kevin Chappell and Robert Garrigus were the exceptions, and Germany’s Martin Kaymer had a simple theory to explain it.

“It says, I think, that the Americans struggle a little bit, since Tiger has been on a, how do you say, a little down?” Kaymer said. “Since then nothing has really happened. We’ve just become so much stronger.”

Kaymer also invoked another big name, Padraig Harrington, who won back-to-back majors in 2008.

“I think it started with Padraig, that was the British Open and the PGA,” Kaymer said

Rock rolls to a halt

Robert Rock can finally get some rest.

The Englishman whose visa troubles caused him to arrive at Congressional barely in time to play the U.S. Open actually had a good tournament. He not only made the cut, but he shot a 68 Sunday to finish at 1 over, tied for 23rd.

“It’s going to slow down right now,” Rock said. “My caddie and I are going to have a beer now and chill out before our flight tonight. I’ve got a week off to do very little. There won’t be much practice done, I don’t think.”

Rock was playing his first U.S. Open, and he had never laid eyes on the Blue Course until he was playing the first round on just a few hours of sleep.

“I had better hopes after overcoming the hardest part, which was the first round,” he said. “I’m disappointed because I thought I’d play better golf, but not knowing enough about the place just cost me.”

From Charl to Rory

As it usually does, the U.S. Open put a quick end to thoughts of a Grand Slam. What was unusual was the surreal scene that played out Sunday involving the last major winner and the newest one.

Masters champ Charl Schwartzel arrived at the 18th green just as Rory McIlroy was getting to the No. 10 tee box across the lake. The holes are close enough so that the galleries often roar as one.

The reception for McIlroy was deafening; Schwartzel waited for it to die down before putting. When McIlroy put his tee shot within a foot of pin on the par 3, the place went nuts.

“That was pretty spectacular there,” Schwartzel said. “I saw him on the tee and I obviously stopped and watched and that was a pretty decent roar that went up there. That was pretty cool to see.”

Schwartzel, by the way, made his putt, celebrating with a fist pump a 15-footer for par that kept his round bogey-free. His 66 put him at 4 under for the championship, a U.S. Open score that often would have been good enough for a Masters champion to make it two majors in a row.

Schwartzel, though, said he began the tournament thinking 10 under would be the winning score.

“I played pretty spectacular today, actually,” he said. “I wish I had four of these.”

Phil’s all wet

Phil Mickelson’s U.S. Open ended where it began, in the same body of water.

On his last hole of the championship Sunday, Mickelson stood in a greenside bunker launched a rainbow that splashed on the fly, some 15 feet beyond the other side of the peninsula green. Even the adoring gallery that had cheered so loudly during his walk up the fairway couldn’t help but let out a collective giggle.

After two unsuccessful drops on the steep lakeside slope, he had to place the ball and chip back toward the pin, where he made a 6-footer for double bogey to finish an even par round of 71 and a 7-over total of 291.

“That bunker’s not an easy spot to be in today,” Mickelson said, “and I hit a poor shot on top of it.”