USGA Announces 25 More Players Exempt for 2015 U.S. Open


The United States Golf Association today announced that 25 additional golfers, including three-time USGA champion Ryan Moore, have earned full exemptions into the 2015 U.S. Open Championship, to be played June 18-21 at Chambers Bay, in University Place, Wash. These exemptions bring the number of fully exempt players to 74.

All 25 exemptions were awarded to players who earned a place in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 25. Moore, who won the 2004 U.S. Amateur Championship and the 2002 and 2004 U.S. Amateur Public Links titles and has four PGA Tour victories, is ranked No. 34. Moore, who grew up near Chambers Bay in Puyallup, Wash., has played in eight previous U.S. Opens. His best finish was a tie for 10th in 2009 at Bethpage State Park's Black Course.

The other players who earned full exemptions through the current Official World Golf Ranking are: Byeong-Hun An, Paul Casey, George Coetzee, Jamie Donaldson, Victor Dubuisson, Matthew Every, Tommy Fleetwood, Stephen Gallacher, Branden Grace, Charley Hoffman, J.B. Holmes, Thongchai Jaidee, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Anirban Lahiri, Marc Leishman, Shane Lowry, Joost Luiten, Ben Martin, Francesco Molinari, Ian Poulter, Marc Warren, Lee Westwood, Bernd Wiesberger and Danny Willett.

An, who won the 2009 U.S. Amateur Championship, moved up 78 positions in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) to No. 54 by winning the PGA European Tour's BMW PGA Championship on May 24. Jimenez, who tied for second in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links, climbed 25 spots to No. 44 in the OWGR after tying for second at the BMW PGA Championship. Molinari tied for fifth at the European Tour event and advanced eight spots in the OWGR to No. 58. The number of fully exempt golfers may increase with the inclusion of the top 60 players from the OWGR as of Monday, June 15.

The first two sectional qualifiers for the 2015 U.S. Open were held May 25, in Japan, where five spots in the 156-player field were determined, and in Surrey, England, where 11 players qualified. Those 16 players are in addition to the 74 fully exempt players listed below.

Sectional qualifying in the United States, at 36 holes, will take place at 10 sites on Monday, June 8. The sites are: Big Canyon Country Club & Newport Beach Country Club, Newport Beach, Calif.; The Bear's Club, Jupiter, Fla.; Hawks Ridge Golf Club, Ball Ground, Ga.; Woodmont Country Club (North Course), Rockville, Md.; Old Oaks Country Club & Century Country Club, Purchase, N.Y.; Brookside Golf & Country Club & Lakes Golf & Country Club, Columbus, Ohio; Springfield Country Club, Springfield, Ohio; Germantown Country Club & Ridgeway Country Club, Memphis, Tenn.; Northwood Club, Dallas, Texas; and Tumble Creek Club, Cle Elum, Wash.

The U.S. Open will be contested for the first time in the Pacific Northwest. Chambers Bay is hosting its second USGA championship, having hosted the 2010 U.S. Amateur.

A list of the 74 golfers fully exempt into the 2015 U.S. Open as of May 25 can be found at http://www.usopen.com/en_US/news/qualifying/exemptions.html.

The above report is courtesy of the USGA. For more information, visit www.usga.org.