Luke Donald said he breathed a huge sigh of relief after qualifying for the Open Championship, saying it's the major he would "love to win the most".
Former world No.1 Donald looked like he would miss out when he bogeyed the final hole of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands to finish in a tie for seventh on 11-under-par.
The Englishman could only watch and hope as Mark Wilson dropped a shot to fall back to the same score and then Chris Stroud carded bogeys at 17 and 18 to confirm Donald's place at St Andrews.
"The Claret Jug brings up a lot of great memories, watching the Open as a kid, and obviously some memories playing it as a professional," he said. "It's the Major I would love to win the most, coming from the UK."
Donald has a mixed record at the Open, with two top-five finishes since 2009 and a tie for 11th the last time it was played at the Home of Golf in 2010 dovetailed by two missed cuts and a share of 64th place last year.
Francesco Molinari also received good news on Monday, as he was one of a further six players offered places in the field as the highest ranked non-exempt players in the Official World Golf Ranking for the week ending June 28.
Molinari, who missed the cut last time out at St Andrews, is joined by Matt Jones, Tim Clark, David Lingmerth, Harris English and Daniel Berger.
There are three more spots available at both this week's French Open and next week's Scottish Open, while on the PGA Tour there are four places up for grabs at the Greenbrier Classic and one at the John Deere Classic.