USGA Accepts nearly 2,500 Entries for U.S. Senior Open


The United States Golf Association has accepted 2,439 entries, including those from 73 players who are already fully exempt into the field, for the 2010 U.S. Senior Open, to be played July 29-August 1 at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash. The exempt list includes 11 past champions.

Entries were received from 49 states (all except Alaska), American Samoa and the District of Columbia. In addition to the USA, entries were received from: Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, England, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Namibia, People's Republic of China, Samoa, South Africa, Sweden and Uruguay.

The first entry came from amateur Andrew Gabelman of Barrington, Ill., and the last entry was submitted less than one minute before the 5 p.m. EDT deadline on June 9 by professional Denis Husse of Fenton, Mich. To be eligible, a player must be at least 50 years old on or before July 29 and must have no higher than a 3.4 Handicap Index, or be a professional.

Players who are already fully exempt from qualifying include 2009 champion Fred Funk and 10 other past champions, including Brad Bryant (2007), Dale Douglass (1986), Allen Doyle (2005, 2006), Dave Eichelberger (1999), Bruce Fleisher (2001), Hale Irwin (1998, 2000), Peter Jacobsen (2004), Graham Marsh (1997), Don Pooley (2002) and Eduardo Romero (2008). All previous Senior Open champions are fully exempt into the field if they file an entry.

Places in the 156-player field are also reserved for winners of official PGA Champions Tour events in the weeks remaining before the start of the 2010 U.S. Senior Open. The remainder of the field will be filled through sectional qualifying at 42 sites between June 21 and July 12.

A list of the 73 golfers who are fully exempt for the 2010 U.S. Senior Open follows:

Players Fully Exempt for the 2010 U.S. Senior Open (as of June 11) (a=amateur)

Michael Allen
Tommy Armour III
Paul Azinger
Andy Bean
Phil Blackmar
Olin Browne
Brad Bryant
Mark Calcavecchia
Russ Cochran
John Cook
Fred Couples
Ben Crenshaw
Dale Douglass
Allen Doyle
R.W. Eaks
David Eger
Dave Eichelberger
Keith Fergus
Bruce Fleisher
Dan Forsman
Robin Freeman
David Frost
Fred Funk
Bob Gilder
a-Marvin "Vinny" Giles
Mike Goodes
a-John Grace
Jay Haas
Scott Hoch
Hale Irwin
a-Tim Jackson
John Jacobs
Peter Jacobsen
Tom Jenkins
Gene Jones
Tom Kite
Bernhard Langer
Tom Lehman
Wayne Levi
Chien Soon Lu
Graham Marsh
a-George "Buddy" Marucci Jr.
Mark McNulty
Larry Mize
Gil Morgan
Mark O'Meara
Jerry Pate
Corey Pavin
Tom Pernice Jr.
Don Pooley
Nick Price
Tom Purtzer
Glenn Ralph
Mike Reid
Loren Roberts
Eduardo Romero
Peter Senior
Scott Simpson
Joey Sindelar
Jeff Sluman
Craig Stadler
Hal Sutton
Sam Torrance
Bob Tway
Bruce Vaughan
Bobby Wadkins
Tsukasa Watanabe
Denis Watson
Tom Watson
D.A. Weibring
Mark Wiebe
Ian Woosnam
Fuzzy Zoeller