The USGA announced four exemption categories will be added to the 2023 US Open. Just as noteworthy was what wasn’t mentioned.
Invitations to this year’s championship at Los Angeles Country Club will go to the 2023 Latin America Amateur Champion and the 2023 NCAA men’s individual champion (assuming players are amateurs), 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season points leader and the top five players in the FedEx Cup standings as of May 22 who are otherwise not exempt. Both the LAAC and KFT exemptions had previously been announced, with Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira and Justin Suh winning those respective invites.
The US Women’s Open will also extend a spot to the reigning NCAA women’s individual champion for this year’s contest at Pebble Beach.
“The USGA is pleased to offer these exemptions for both the US Open and US 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.”
It should be noted that LIV Golf was not mentioned regarding a potential ban of its members for this year’s US Open. Last year the Saudi-backed circuit launched the week before the US Open, and the USGA allowed defectors into the competition at The Country Club in Brookline. “We pride ourselves in being the most open championship in the world and the players who have earned the right to compete in this year’s championship, both via exemption and qualifying, will have the opportunity to do so,” read a statement. “Our field criteria were set prior to entries opening earlier this year and it’s not appropriate, nor fair to competitors, to change criteria once established.”
During the week of the championship USGA chief executive Mike Whan explained his organisation’s viewpoint towards a potential LIV Golf ban. “We definitely feel responsibility to this game, and we feel a responsibility to the competitors that play it. We did sit down and have a long conversation about a week before the US Open, did where somebody else play and what promoter they played it with, disqualify them for this event?” Whan said. “We decided no on that, with all the awareness that not everyone would agree with that decision.
“I’m sure there are players that both came through our qualifying and maybe teeing it up that are sponsored by those different – so we asked ourselves the question of one, one week before if you play somewhere where you’re not approved to play, would you be disqualified for the 2022 US Open? And we said no. And we also had to ask the question, if you’re going to put that kind of clause in, who gets in, we’ve got to go back to 9,300 people and played last week but who played ever, where, sponsored by. It becomes a pretty slippery slope to try to apply that across 9,300 people.”
However, Whan later added that the USGA’s decision this year would not be its ruling in perpetuity. “Could you envision a day where it would be harder for some folks doing different things to get into a US Open? I could,” Whan said. “Will that be true? I don’t know, but I can definitely foresee that day.”
It appears, for now, that day will not be in 2023. This year’s US Open begins on June 15. Matt Fitzpatrick is the reigning champion.
