The 2020 U.S. Open is scheduled for Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., three months later than originally planned. The change in date is not the only concession from the USGA to the coronavirus pandemic: the field is down to 144 players from the usual 156, and the tradition and history of playing your way through local and sectional qualifying to get into the championship also has been put on hold for 2020. USGA officials have instead created a list of exemption categories, revealed June 24, that attempt to replicate as best they could the diverse nature of a typical U.S. Open field.
“The decision to cancel local and final qualifying for this year’s U.S. Open was deeply disappointing, but we are pleased to still provide the world’s best professional and amateur players the opportunity to compete for this historic and coveted championship,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA senior managing director, championships. “The exemption categories for this year’s championship at Winged Foot Golf Club were carefully developed to mirror a representative U.S. Open field and we are excited that players will still have an opportunity to earn a place in the field through a variety of categories.”
Indeed, while the majority of the field is locked in off placement in the Official World Golf Ranking as of March 15 and past performance in USGA events and major championships, several dozen spots are available for finishes in upcoming PGA Tour and European Tour events. Additionally, top finishes on the money/points lists on other worldwide tours and the World Amateur Golf Rankings will also have access to the field.
Here is the complete list of exemption categories and the list of players who have earned spots into the field for Winged Foot. We’ll update this page as more golfers officially qualify.
CURRENT EXEMPTED PLAYERS FOR THE 2020 U.S. OPEN
(Players are listed once, though may be exempt in several categories)
U.S. Open champions of last 10 years
Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose, Webb Simpson, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell
10 lowest scorers from 2019 U.S. Open
Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm, Chez Reavie, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Henrik Stenson, Chesson Hadley
Winner of 2019 U.S. Senior Open Championship
Winner of 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship
Runner-up of 2019 U.S. Amateur
Winner of 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur
Winner of 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur
Winners of the Masters, 2016-’19
Tiger Woods, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Danny Willett
Winners of PGA Championship, 2015-’20
2020: TBD, Justin Thomas, Jimmy Walker, Jason Day
Winners of Open Championship, 2015-’19
Shane Lowry, Francesco Molinari, Zach Johnson
Qualifiers from 2019 Tour Championship
Paul Casey, Tony Finau, Kevin Kisner, Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Kokrak, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Kuchar, Sungjae Im, Rickie Fowler, Abraham Ancer, Patrick Cantlay, Marc Leishman, Brandt Snedeker, Corey Conners, Charles Howell III, Lucas Glover
Winner of 2019 British Amateur Championship
Winner of the 2019 Mark H. McCormick Medal (Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Top 70, Official World Golf Rankings (as of March 15)
Tyrell Hatton, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Bernd Wiesberger, Kevin Na, Lee Westwood, Billy Horschel, Cameron Smith, Jazz Janewattananond, Victor Perez, Shugo Imahira, Erik van Rooyen, Matt Wallace, Collin Morikawa, Scott Scheffler, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Christian Bezuidenhout, Sunghoon Kang, Bubba Watson, Brendon Todd, Adam Hadwin, Viktor Hovland, Ian Poulter, Tom Lewis, Shaun Norris, Phil Mickelson, Andrew Putnam, Keegan Bradley, Lucas Herbert, Eddie Pepperell, Robert MacIntyre, Kurt Kitayama, Chan Kim, Joel Dahmen
Top two, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of the 2020 Memorial (July 16-19)
Ryan Palmer, Mackenzie Hughes
Top two, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of 2020 3M Open (July 23-26)
Top two, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of 2020 WGC-Fed Ex St. Jude Invitational (July 30-Aug. 2)
Top two, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of 2020 Barracuda Championship (July 30-Aug. 2)
Top three players, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of 2020 PGA Championship (Aug. 6-9)
Top two, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of 2020 Wyndham Championship (Aug. 13-16)
Top 10 aggregate points earners, not otherwise exempt, from the 2020 European Tour United Kingdom Swing (tournaments end Aug. 30)
Top five points earners from Korn Ferry Tour regular season points list (as of Aug. 9)
Top five points leaders from 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Finals (tournaments end Aug. 30)
Top two finishers from the 2019 Japan Golf Tour final Order of Merit (as of July 15)
Ryo Ishikawa, Jung-Gon Hwang
Top finisher from 2019 Sunshine Tour final Order of Merit (as of July 15)
Top finisher from 2019 Asian Tour final Order of Merit (as of July 15)
Top finisher from 2019 Australiasia Tour final Order of Merit (as of July 15)
Top three finishers from 2019 PGA Professional of the Year standings (originally was to be top three from 2020 edition before the event was canceled)
Ryan Vermeer, Marty Jertson, Danny Balin
Top seven ranked players from the World Amateur Golf Ranking (as of Aug. 19)
Special exemptions as selected by the USGA
Remaining spots in the championship will be filled in order using the Official World Golf Rankings as of Aug. 23, 2020. Once the field is set, the USGA will compile an alternate list for the championship using the OWGR.