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USGA sets 2020 US Open exemption criteria to fill field without qualifiers




The USGA is proceeding with playing the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York from Sept. 17-20, albeit without holding local and sectional qualifiers that often determine approximately 40 percent of the field.

The field will be completely based on exemption criteria, which the USGA had to reimagine to not only expand the number of players who would qualify automatically but also to account for the global pause in professional golf.

The exemption list begins with typical US Open exemptions, for past champions of USGA championships, other majors and top finishers on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup points list. Then the USGA expanded its exemption for top players in the Official World Golf Ranking from the top 60 to the top 70, and they made that exemption cutoff based on the March 15 ranking, when it was frozen.

Players competing on the European Tour and Korn Ferry Tour will be able to earn spots through their play in the current season, as will players in a variety of PGA Tour events.

The top money earners on overseas tours last year have locked up spots, too.

Also, the USGA carved out seven spots for amateurs based on their standing in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. With around a dozen amateurs typically earning spots in the field, this exemption should assure that amateur presence.




The new entry period for the event is from July 15 through Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. EDT.

2020 US Open exemption criteria

  • Winners of the US Open the last 10 years (2010-19)
  • Top 10 finishers from 2019 US Open
  • Winner of the 2019 US Senior Open
  • Winner of the 2019 US Amateur
  • Winners of the 2019 US Junior Amateur and 2019 US Mid-Amateur and 2019 US Amateur runner-up (must be an amateur)
  • Winners of the Masters from 2016-2019
  • Winners of the PGA Championship from 2016-2020
  • Winners of the British Open Championship from 2015-2019
  • Winners of The Players Championship in 2018-2019
  • Winner of the 2019 BMW PGA Championship
  • Top 30 players in FedEx Cup points who qualified for 2019 Tour Championship
  • Multiple-time winners of full-allocation PGA Tour events from the 2019 US Open to initiation of the 2020 US Open
  • Winner of the 2019 Amateur Championship
  • Winner of the 2019 Mark H. McCormack Medal (Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking; must be an amateur)
  • The top 70 players in the Official World Golf Ranking as of March 15, 2020
  • The top two players, not otherwise exempt, who finish in the top 10 and ties at the Memorial Tournament, 3M Open, WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Barracuda
  • Championship and Wyndham Championship
  • The top three players, not otherwise exempt, who finish in the top 10 and ties at the 2020 PGA Championship
  • The top five players, not otherwise exempt, from the final 2019-2020 PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list
  • The top 10 aggregate points earners from the European Tour UK Swing (Betfred British Masters through Wales Open)
  • The top five players, not otherwise exempt, from the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour regular season points list through the WinCo Foods Portland Open
  • The top five players, not otherwise exempt, from the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Series events
  • The top two finishers from the 2019 Japan Golf Tour Organization Final Order of Merit who is not otherwise exempt as of July 15
  • The top finisher from the 2019 Sunshine Tour Final Order of Merit who is not otherwise exempt as of July 15
  • The top finisher from the 2019 Asian Tour Final Order of Merit who is not otherwise exempt as of July 15
  • The top finisher from the 2019 Australasia Tour Final Order of Merit who is not otherwise exempt as of July 15
  • The top three finishers who are not otherwise exempt from the 2020 PGA Professional Championship
  • From the August 19, 2020 World Amateur Golf Ranking, the top seven ranked players not otherwise exempt
  • Special exemptions as selected by the USGA
  • If the field isn’t filled using these criteria, remaining spots in the championship field will be filled in order using the Official World Golf Ranking as of Aug. 23, 2020.



Article originally posted on: GNN

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