It’s nice to know you already have a spot in the 2025 U.S. Open locked up with more than two months to spare until the championship. That’s the case for 50 golfers who have earned exemptions into the USGA’s marquee event as it heads to Oakmont Country Club for a record 10th time.
In February, the USGA revealed 25 exemption categories from Local and Final Qualifying for the 125th U.S. Open, making news with the allowance for one player from the LIV Golf League to claim a spot at Oakmont if he ranks among the top three in league’s individual standings as of May 19.
This week, the USGA announced that it received a record 10,202 entries for this year’s event, breaking the previous mark of 10,187 set in 2023 for the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. This is the fourth time the USGA has gotten more than 10,000 entries. All those not fully exempt will compete in Local and Final Qualifying between now and June to try to earn a place into the 156-player field at Oakmont.
Local Qualifying will be conducted over 18 holes at 110 sites in 43 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico, taking place between April 16-May 19. Those players who advance will join a group of locally exempt players in Final Qualifying, which will be conducted over 36 holes at 10 U.S. and three international sites. The final stage will be held in England, Japan and Texas on May 19, with 10 more qualifying sites scheduled for Monday, June 2: two in Ohio and one each in California, Florida (which was recently moved to Emerald Dunes Club, in West Palm Beach), Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Washington and Canada
Among the entries, the nine most recent U.S. Open winners are all fully exempt for this year. Four other past U.S. Open winners—Lucas Glover (2009), Graeme McDowell (2010), Webb Simpson (2012) and Justin Rose (2013)—filed entries and are exempt into Final Qualifying.
During the nine previous U.S. Opens held at Oakmont, some of the game’s greatest players have claimed the title, including Tommy Armour (1927), Ben Hogan (1953), Jack Nicklaus (1962) and Johnny Miller (1973). Most recently, Dustin Johnson won at Oakmont in 2016 by three shots despite being hit with a penalty at the end of his final round after his ball was found to move on a green earlier in the day. As an anchor site for the U.S. Open Oakmont has already been named site for the 2033, 2042 and 2049 U.S. Open along with several other USGA championships.
Of course, there are several ways for players to earn exemptions into the U.S. Open between now and June. The complete rundown of categories can be found below along with a list of everyone already in the field. Come back between now and June to see who else has played their way to Oakmont.
Players
Ludvig Aberg, 11
Byeong Hun An, 11
Jose Luis Ballester (a), 4
Evan Beck (a), 5
Christian Bezuidenhout, 11
Akshay Bhatia, 11
Richard Bland, 3
Keegan Bradley, 11
Sam Burns, 2, 11
Patrick Cantlay, 2, 11
Luke Clanton (a), 18
Wyndham Clark, 1, 11
Corey Conners, 2
Bryson DeChambeau, 1, 2
Tony Finau, 2, 11
Matt Fitzpatrick, 1
Tommy Fleetwood, 11
Trevor Gutschewski (a), 5
Brian Harman, 8
Justin Hastings (a), 20
Russell Henley, 2, 11
Tom Hoge, 11
Billy Horschel, 10
Viktor Hovland, 11
Sungjae Im, 11
Dustin Johnson, 1, 6
Noah Kent (a), 5
Chris Kirk, 11
Brooks Koepka, 1, 7
Shane Lowry, 11
Robert MacIntyre, 11
Hideki Matsuyama, 2, 6, 10, 12
Matt McCarty, 14
Rory McIlroy, 2, 6, 11
Phil Mickelson, 7
Collin Morikawa, 8, 11
Matthieu Pavon, 2, 11
Taylor Pendrith, 11
Jon Rahm, 1, 6
Aaron Rai, 11
Xander Schauffele, 2, 7, 8, 11
Scottie Scheffler, 6, 9, 11, 12, 23
Adam Scott, 11
Cameron Smith, 8
Jordan Spieth, 1
Sepp Straka, 11
Sahith Theegala, 11
Justin Thomas, 7, 11
Davis Thompson, 2
Gary Woodland, 1
Exemption Categories
1: Winners of the U.S. Open the last 10 years
2: From the 2024 U.S. Open, the 10 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 10th place
3: Winner of the 2024 U.S. Senior Open
4: Winner of the 2024 U.S. Amateur
5: Winners of the 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur, and the 2024 U.S. Amateur runner-up (must be an amateur)
6: Winners of the Masters Tournament (2020-2025)
7: Winners of the PGA Championship (2021-2025)
8: Winners of The Open (2021-2024)
9: Winners of The Players Championship (2023-2025)
10: Winner of the 2024 BMW PGA Championship (DP World Tour)
11: Those players who qualified and were eligible for the season-ending 2024 Tour Championship
12: Multiple winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the FedExCup, from the conclusion of the 2024 U.S. Open to the initiation of the 2025 U.S. Open
13: The top 5 players in the 2025 FedExCup standings as of May 19 not otherwise exempt
14: The points leader from the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season
15: The top two players from the final 2024 Race to Dubai Rankings as of May 19 not otherwise exempt
16: The top player on the 2025 Race to Dubai Rankings as of May 19 not otherwise exempt
17: Winner of the 2024 British Amateur (must be an amateur)
18: Winner of the 2024 Mark H. McCormack Medal (Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking) (must be an amateur)
19: Winner of the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Individual Golf Championship (must be an amateur)
20: Winner of the 2025 Latin America Amateur Championship (must be an amateur)
21: From the current Official World Golf Rankings, the top 60 points leaders and ties as of May 19.
22: From the current Official World Golf Rankings, the top 60 points leaders and ties as of June 9
23: Winner of the 2024 Olympic Gold Medal
24: The top player who is not otherwise exempt and in the top 3 of the 2025 LIV Golf Individual Standings as of May 19
25: Special exemptions selected by the USGA. Deadline for submission of request: May 15
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
