95 Players Qualify for U.S. Open Field


The United States Golf Association (USGA) has announced that 26 additional golfers, including 2011 U.S. Open runner-up Jason Day, have earned full exemptions into the 2013 U.S. Open, bringing the number of fully exempt players to 78. The year's second major championship will be played June 13-16 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

Twenty-five of the exemptions were awarded to players who earned a place in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 27. Day, who finished second two years ago to Rory McIlroy at Congressional, is ranked No. 25.

Those who earned full exemptions through the current Official World Golf Ranking include: Tim Clark, George Coetzee, Nicolas Colsaerts, Jason Day, Jamie Donaldson, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Branden Grace, Bill Haas, Peter Hanson, Russell Henley, Billy Horschel, Fredrik Jacobson, Thongchai Jaidee, Martin Laird, Paul Lawrie, Marc Leishman, Francesco Molinari, Thorbjorn Olesen, D.A. Points, Ian Poulter, Marcel Siem, Henrik Stenson, Richard Sterne, Kevin Streelman and Boo Weekley.

Weekley vaulted 56 positions in the Official World Golf Ranking to No. 55 by winning the PGA Tour's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on Sunday. The number of fully exempt golfers may increase with the inclusion of the top 60 players from the OWGR as of Monday, June 10.

A 26th player, Matteo Manassero, also became fully exempt for the U.S. Open following his victory in a four-hole playoff at the European Tour BMW PGA Championship on May 26.

The first two sectional qualifiers for the 2013 U.S. Open were held May 27, in Japan, where five spots in the 156-player field were determined, and in Surrey, England, where 12 players qualified. That group at Walton Heath included medalist Simon Khan, Paul Casey, Morten Orum Madsen, Marcus Fraser, Eddie Pepperell, Jaco Van Zyl, Peter Hedblom, John Parry, Chris Doak, Estanislao Goya, David Howell and Jose Maria Olazabal. At Ohtone Country Club's West Course in Japan, Japanese players Hideki Matsuyama, Yui Ueda, Yoshinobu Tsukada and Hiroyuki Fujita along with South Korea's Jung-Gon Hwang advanced, bringing the updated total to 95 qualifiers for the U.S. Open.

Monday, June 3, the American qualifying sites are: Big Canyon Country Club & Newport Beach Country Club, Newport Beach, Calif.; Ritz-Carlton Members Golf Club, Bradenton, Fla.; Hawks Ridge Golf Club, Ball Ground, Ga.; Woodmont Country Club, Rockville, Md.; Old Warson Country Club, St. Louis; Old Oaks Country Club & Century Country Club, Purchase, N.Y.; Brookside Golf & Country Club & The Lakes Golf & Country Club, Columbus, Ohio; Springfield Country Club, Springfield, Ohio; Colonial Country Club, Memphis, Tenn.; Lakewood Country Club, Dallas, Texas, and Tumble Creek Golf Club, Cle Elum, Wash.

A total of 156 players will tee off in the first round of this year's second Grand Slam event, on June 13.

The above report is courtesy of the USGA. For an updated list of the fully exempt players in the 2013 U.S. Open, visit http://www.usopen.com/en_US/news/qualifying/exemptions.html.