Major champions Jason Day, Patrick Reed among group that brings total to 84; three-time U.S. Open champion Tiger Woods withdraws
LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. — The United States Golf Association (USGA) recently announced that 33 additional golfers, including major champions Jason Day and Patrick Reed, have earned full exemptions into the 2023 U.S. Open Championship, to be contested June 15-18 at The Los Angeles (Calif.) Country Club’s North Course. These exemptions bring the number of fully exempt players to 84.
Exemptions were awarded to 25 players who earned a place in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking® (OWGR®) as of May 22, who were not otherwise exempt. Day, who will compete in his 11th U.S. Open and is a two-time runner-up, won the 2015 PGA Championship. He is ranked No. 22. Reed, who won the 2018 Masters Tournament, is ranked No. 44. It will be Reed’s 10th U.S. Open.
At No. 18, Tyrrell Hatton is the highest-ranked player in the current OWGR who was not previously exempt into the U.S. Open. Hatton will play in his seventh U.S. Open, with his best finish a tie for sixth in 2018 at Shinnecock Hills. Cameron Davis moved up 19 spots from his previous world ranking to No. 49 by tying for fourth in last week’s PGA Championship and will compete in his first U.S. Open.
The other players who earned full exemptions through the current Official World Golf Ranking are: Abraham Ancer, Wyndham Clark, Harris English, Tommy Fleetwood, Ryan Fox, Rickie Fowler, Russell Henley, Lucas Herbert, Si Woo Kim, Chris Kirk, Kurt Kitayama, Matt Kuchar, Adrian Meronk, Keith Mitchell, Taylor Moore, Alex Noren, Guillermo Mito Pereira, Victor Perez, Thomas Pieters, Seamus Power and Adam Svensson.
Kuchar, who won the 1997 U.S. Amateur, is No. 51 and will compete in the U.S. Open for the 20th time. Fowler (No. 52) and Fleetwood (No. 23), who were U.S. Open runners-up in 2014 and 2018, respectively, also earned entry through the OWGR.
Eight other players earned exemptions based on their performances in three additional categories. The top five players in the current PGA Tour FedExCup standings, who were not otherwise exempt, are: Hayden Buckley, Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Montgomery, Andrew Putnam and Nick Taylor. The top two players from the final 2022 DP World Tour Final Points List, who were not otherwise exempt, are: Thirston Lawrence and Jordan Smith. Min Woo Lee is the highest ranked player on the current Race to Dubai Rankings who is not otherwise exempt.
Tiger Woods, who won this championship in 2000, 2002 and 2008, has withdrawn as an exempt player while still recovering from his recent surgery. He has played in 22 U.S. Opens, from 1995-2020, and has eight top-10 finishes.
In addition, the top two aggregate point earners, who are not otherwise exempt, in the four-event 2023 DP World Tour U.S. Open Qualifying Series (DS Automobiles Italian Open, Soudal Open, KLM Open and Porsche European Open), which ends on June 4, will earn places in the U.S. Open. The winner of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship (May 26-31) and any multiple winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship will also earn an exemption. The number of fully exempt golfers may increase with the addition of the top 60 players from the OWGR as of Monday, June 12.
The first of 10 U.S. final qualifiers for the 2023 U.S. Open is being held today, May 22, in Dallas. England completed its 36-hole international qualifier on May 16 and Japan finished its qualifier earlier today. Final qualifying results can be found at this link.
Other 36-hole final qualifiers will take place at 10 additional sites on June 5: Lambton Golf & Country Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Hillcrest Country Club, Los Angeles, Calif.; Pine Tree Golf Club, Boynton Beach, Fla.; Hawk Ridge Golf Club, Ball Ground, Ga.; Woodmont Country Club (North Course), Rockville, Md.; Canoe Brook Country Club (North & South Courses), Summit, N.J.; Old Chatham Golf Club, Durham, N.C.; Brookside Golf & Country Club and The Lakes Golf & Country Club, Columbus, Ohio; Springfield (Ohio) Country Club; and Tacoma Country & Golf Club, Lakewood, Wash.
The U.S. Open returns to Los Angeles for the first time since 1948, when Ben Hogan won the first of his four U.S. Opens with a 72-hole score of 276 (8 under par), two strokes better than Jimmy Demaret, at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.
A list of the 84 golfers fully exempt into the 2023 U.S. Open as of May 23 (not including the final qualifiers from England, Texas and Japan) is below.
More information about the 2023 U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club, including local and final qualifying, is available at usopen.com.