US Open exemptions available through UK Swing on European Tour
The 9th hole of Winged Foot Golf Club West Course in Mamaroneck, N.Y. photographed on June 26-27, 2019 (Copyright USGA/Russell Kirk)
Participants in the European Tour’s new UK Swing will have even more to play for following confirmation that ten spots in the 2020 U.S. Open Championship will be available for the highest placed finishers in the mini order of merit after the first five events.
The UK Swing begins at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood at Close House, near Newcastle, from Wednesday, July 22 to Saturday, July 25, and will launch the European Tour’s Golf for Good initiative, which underpins all events for the remainder of the 2020 season.
As part of the initiative, a mini order of merit will run for all six events in the UK Swing, with the top ten sharing an additional £250,000 to donate to charities of their choice.
The USGA has confirmed that the top 10 aggregate points earners in the mini order of merit that are otherwise not exempt at the conclusion of the fifth event – the Wales Open at Celtic Manor - will be exempt for the rescheduled U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club on September 17-20.
The traditional U.S. Open sectional qualifying events, including the European qualifier at Walton Heath in June, were cancelled this season following the upheaval in the global golf calendar due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, with the field now comprised entirely of exempt players.
After the European Tour resumes with two events in Austria – the Austrian Open on July 9-12 and the Euram Bank Open on July 15-18 – the action switches to the UK and the Betfred British Masters.
That is followed by the English Open at the Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club and the English Championship at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & Country Club, before The Celtic Manor Resort in Newport hosts back-to-back European Tour tournaments – the Celtic Classic and the Wales Open. The UK Swing then concludes with the UK Championship at The Belfry.
Keith Waters, European Tour Chief Operating Officer, said: “Throughout our discussions with the USGA, it was clear that they shared our desire to offer European Tour players an opportunity to earn places in this year’s U.S. Open. We thank them for working with us to create this new exemption category encompassing the first five events in the UK Swing.
“The UK Swing mini order of merit already offers an additional incentive through the Golf for Good initiative, and we are pleased that players now have more to play for, with places available in the second Major Championship of the season.”
John Bodenhamer, USGA senior managing director, Championships, said: “The U.S. Open qualifier in England has historically featured a very strong field, and we felt it was important to provide an opportunity for players throughout Europe to earn a place in this year’s championship.
“We are grateful to the European Tour for the wonderful collaboration that allowed us to create this exemption category for the 2020 U.S. Open.”
Irish golf can count on seeing former US Open winners Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, reigning Open champion Shane Lowry and Amateur champion James Sugrue.
There are also spots for the top 70 in the world on March 15, which means that Phil Mickelson will have a chance to complete the career Grand Slam if the event goes ahead.
US Open Exemptions 2020
Bold: First time a player is listed
Winners of the U.S. Open Championship the last 10 years (2010-19):
Gary Woodland (2019)
Brooks Koepka (2018)
Brooks Koepka (2017)
Dustin Johnson (2016)
Jordan Spieth (2015)
Martin Kaymer (2014)
Justin Rose (2013)
Webb Simpson (2012)
Rory McIlroy (2011)
Graeme McDowell (2010)
From the 2019 U.S. Open Championship, the 10 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 10th place:
Gary Woodland
Brooks Koepka
Xander Schauffele
Jon Rahm
Chez Reavie
Justin Rose
Adam Scott
Louis Oosthuizen
Henrik Stenson
Chesson Hadley
Rory McIlroy
Winner of the 2019 U.S. Senior Open Championship:
Steve Stricker
Winner of the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship:
Andy Ogletree
Winners of the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur Championships, and the 2019 U.S. Amateur runner-up (must be an amateur):
Preston Summerhays (U.S. Junior Amateur)
Lukas Michel (U.S. Mid-Amateur)
John Augenstein (U.S. Amateur runner-up)
Winners of the Masters Tournament from 2016-2019:
Tiger Woods (2019)
Patrick Reed (2018)
Sergio Garcia (2017)
Danny Willett (2016)
Winners of the PGA of America Championship from 2015-2020:
2020: To be played Aug. 6-9
Brooks Koepka (2019)
Brooks Koepka (2018)
Justin Thomas (2017)
Jimmy Walker (2016)
Jason Day (2015)
Winners of The Open Championship the last five years (2015-19):
Shane Lowry (2019)
Francesco Molinari (2018)
Jordan Spieth (2017)
Henrik Stenson (2016)
Zach Johnson (2015)
Winners of The Players Championship from 2018-2020:
2020: Not contested
Rory McIlroy (2019)
Webb Simpson (2018)
Winner of the 2019 European BMW Championship:
Danny Willett
Those players qualifying for the season-ending 2019 Tour Championship:
Rory McIlroy
Xander Schauffele
Justin Thomas
Brooks Koepka
Paul Casey
Adam Scott
Tony Finau
Chez Reavie
Patrick Reed
Kevin Kisner
Hideki Matsuyama
Bryson DeChambeau
Jon Rahm
Jason Kokrak
Gary Woodland
Tommy Fleetwood
Webb Simpson
Matt Kuchar
Sungjae Im
Rickie Fowler
Louis Oosthuizen
Abraham Ancer
Patrick Cantlay
Marc Leishman
Brandt Snedeker
Justin Rose
Corey Conners
Charles Howell III
Dustin Johnson
Lucas Glover
Multiple winners of PGA Tour events that award full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship, from the conclusion of the 2019 U.S. Open to the initiation of the 2020 U.S. Open:
Justin Thomas
Rory McIlroy
Patrick Reed
Webb Simpson
Winner of 2019 The Amateur Championship (must be an amateur):
James Sugrue
Winner of the 2019 Mark H. McCormack Medal (Men's World Amateur Golf Ranking; must be an amateur):
Cole Hammer
From Week 11 (March 15, 2020) of the Official World Golf Ranking, the top 70 points leaders and ties:
Rory McIlroy (1)
Jon Rahm (2)
Brooks Koepka (3)
Justin Thomas (4)
Dustin Johnson (5)
Adam Scott (6)
Patrick Reed (T-7)
Patrick Cantlay (T-7)
Webb Simpson (9)
Tommy Fleetwood (10)
Tiger Woods (11)
Xander Schauffele (12)
Bryson DeChambeau (13)
Justin Rose (14)
Marc Leishman (15)
Tony Finau (16)
Matt Kuchar (17)
Gary Woodland (18)
Louis Oosthuizen (19)
Shane Lowry (20)
Tyrrell Hatton (21)
Hideki Matsuyama (22)
Sungjae Im (23)
Paul Casey (24)
Matthew Fitzpatrick (25)
Bernd Wiesberger (26)
Rickie Fowler (27)
Francesco Molinari (28)
Abraham Ancer (29)
Kevin Na (30)
Lee Westwood (31)
Henrik Stenson (32)
Danny Willett (33)
Billy Horschel (34)
Cameron Smith (35)
Kevin Kisner (36)
Chez Reavie (37)
Sergio Garcia (38)
Jazz Janewattananond (39)
Victor Perez (40)
Shugo Imahira (41)
Erik van Rooyen (42)
Matt Wallace (43)
Collin Morikawa (44)
Scottie Scheffler (45)
Rafa Cabrera Bello (46)
Christian Bezuidenhout (47)
Brandt Snedeker (48)
Graeme McDowell (49)
Byeong-Hun An (50)
Jason Day (51)
Sunghoon Kang (52)
Bubba Watson (53)
Brendon Todd (54)
Adam Hadwin (55)
Jordan Spieth (56)
Viktor Hovland (57)
Ian Poulter (58)
Tom Lewis (59)
Shaun Norris (60)
Phil Mickelson (61)
Andrew Putnam (T-62)
Keegan Bradley (T-62)
Lucas Herbert (64)
Eddie Pepperell (65)
Corey Conners (66)
Robert MacIntyre (67)
Kurt Kitayama (68)
Chan Kim (69)
Joel Dahmen (70)
The top two players, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of the 2020 The Memorial Tournament, 3M Open, WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Barracuda Championship and Wyndham Championship, and the top three players, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of the 2020 PGA Championship.
From the 2019-20 FedExCup Final Points List, the top five players, not otherwise exempt:
From the first five events on the 2020 European Tour's UK Swing (Betfred British Masters through the Wales Open), the top 10 aggregate points earners who are otherwise not exempt:
From the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List, the top five point leaders who are otherwise not exempt through the WinCo Foods Portland Open:
From the three-event 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Series beginning with the Albertsons Boise Open and ending with the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, the top five point leaders who are otherwise not exempt:
From the 2019 Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) Final Order of Merit, the top two finishers who are not otherwise exempt as of July 15:
From the 2019 Sunshine Tour Final Order of Merit, the top finisher who is not otherwise exempt as of July 15:
From the 2019 Asian Tour Final Order of Merit, the top finisher who is not otherwise exempt as of July 15:
From the 2019 Australasia Tour Final Order of Merit, the top finisher who is not otherwise exempt as of July 15:
From the 2020 PGA Professional Championship, the top three finishers who are not otherwise exempt:
From the August 19, 2020 World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®, the top seven ranked players not otherwise exempt:
Special exemptions as selected by the USGA
Remaining spots in the championship field will be filled in order using the Official World Golf Ranking as of Aug. 23, 2020. Once the field is set, the USGA will compile an alternate list for the championship using the OWGR as of Aug. 23, 2020.
Blank entries will be filed by the USGA for players who become exempt after close of entries. Players who become exempt after the close of entries will be contacted individually by the USGA and will be required to complete a championship application at that time.
For ties where two players have the same ranking in the OWGR, the spot(s) in the championship proper will be determined by the highest-ranking points earned from each players' current record of counting events. If a tie still exists, the spot(s) will be determined by the second-highest points earned, the third-highest, and so on until the tie is decided. If a tie still exists, the spot(s) will be determined by lot.
More information on the application process can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
