The Metropolitan
May - June 2020
USGA announces exemption
U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Open forced
The USGA has announced the exemption criteria for a 144-player field, set to compete in the U.S Open, Sept. 1720 at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, NY. The news came in late June, a month after the USGA canceled all qualifying for its premier men’s championship because of the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the existing exemptions remain in place, but the organization has added several new categories to include Korn Ferry Tour points leaders and top-ranked amateur players. “We looked at every possible scenario to have qualifying, it’s in our DNA, it’s our cornerstone to USGA championships, and we take great pride in that. We view our championships as the ultimate meritocracies in golf where you earn your way in,” John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s senior managing director of championships, told GolfChannel. com. “Obviously, we couldn’t do it this year, so what was our starting point? It was to create representative fields as best we could. “Looking back at the data of the last several years of what U.S. Open fields have typically looked like, we tried to create exemption pathways so that when we get to the first tee of that first round, fans, media and players will look at the field and say, ‘They didn’t have qualifying but they got pretty close to what a U.S. Open would normally look like.’” Among the 84 players identified as qualifiers was Phil Mickelson, who benefitted from a decision to expand the Official World Golf Ranking cutoff from top 60 to top 70. Mickelson was ranked No. 61 on the selected cutoff date of March 15. The USGA also will exempt the top two finishers, not otherwise exempt, in non-major PGA Tour events beginning with the Memorial Tournament and ending with the Wyddham Championship. The top three finishers will be taken from the PGA Championship on Aug. 6-9 at TPC Harding Park. And the the top five finishers in aggregate points from the European Tour’s five-event U.K. series receive spots. Additional categories include the top five in Korn Ferry Tour regular-season and Finals points, the top seven in the 24
World Amateur Golf Ranking after the U.S. Amateur, Order of Merit leaders on several international tours, as well as special exemptions. We’re excited because we thought a little creatively about not just going straight down the rankings but adding some of these play-your-way-in opportunities,” Bodenhamer said. “This isn’t perfect, it doesn’t replace qualifying, it will be a one-off this year in what will be a very unique year.” The Official World Golf Rankings as of Aug. 23 will be used to fill out the field and determine the alternate list. Entries will open July 15 and close Aug. 26. Earlier in June, the USGA also announced the list for exemptions into the 120th U.S. Amateur, which also had no qualifying. Exempt players who wish to participate in the Amateur at Bandon Dunes must file a an entry application by July 8 at 5 p.m. EDT. (Blank entries will be filed by the USGA for players who become exempt after close of entries.) The exemption list includes: *Winners of the U.S. Amateur Championship the last ten years (2010-2019) * Runners-up of the U.S. Amateur Championship the last three years (2017-2019) * Semifinalists of the U.S. Amateur Championship the last two years (2018-2019) * Round of 64 from the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship * Any player who qualified for the 2019 U.S. Open Championship
