USGA announces new exemption categories for U.S. Open

Now there’s even more incentive to win the NCAA Division I individual championship, as well as the Latin America Amateur Championship and the Korn Ferry Tour regular season points title.

Starting with the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in June, the United States Golf Association (USGA) announced Thursday that four exemption categories will be added for the U.S. Open.

The four new exemptions are as follows:

2023 Latin America Amateur Champion (must be an amateur)

2023 NCAA Division I men’s individual champion (must be an amateur)

2022 Korn Ferry Tour season points leader (using points earned on KFT Regular Season and points earned in KFT Tour Finals)

The top 5 players in 2022-23 FedExCup standings as of May 22, 2023, not otherwise exempt

Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, will host the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship from May 26-31.

“The USGA is pleased to offer these exemptions for both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open,” said USGA Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer. “These categories provide another avenue for ensuring the presence of those players who are playing their best leading into both national championships.”

Additionally, as part of a transitional plan for the return of final qualifying in Europe for the first time since 2019, U.S. Open exemptions will be awarded to the top two players from the final 2022 DP World Tour Rankings who are not otherwise exempt, as of May 22, 2023, and the top player from the 2023 Race to Dubai rankings, who is not otherwise exempt, as of May 22, 2023.

Also, the exemption for the DP World Tour U.S. Open Qualifying Series will be modified from last year and the top two players from the series, who are not otherwise exempt, will earn exemptions. The two players will be the top aggregate point earners from four DP World Tour events (Italian Open, Soudal Open, KLM Open and Porsche European Open) to be contested between May 4 and June 4.

The USGA previously announced that the cumulative points leader from the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season, using combined points earned on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List and points earned in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, and the 2023 Latin America Amateur champion (must be an amateur) would earn U.S. Open exemptions, beginning in 2023. Justin Suh and Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira won those categories, respectively.

Two-stage U.S. Open qualifying (local and final) will continue to be conducted at U.S. and international sites in April, May and June. U.S. Women’s Open qualifying will be held in one stage beginning May 9.