2008 U.S. Open Entries And Exemptions
/After Monty's little Masters invite tirade (and, sadly the not totally unreasonable point he was making) something about reading the news of only 58 U.S. Open exemptions reads so beautifully. Throw in the lack of special exemptions and it gets even better.
Here is the list of exempt players, preceded by the highlights from the qualifying entry pool, courtesy of the USGA's Craig Smith:
U.S. OPEN ENTRIES CLOSE; 58 GOLFERS CURRENTLY FULLY EXEMPT
Far Hills, N.J. (April 25) – The United States Golf Association has accepted 8,390 entries for the 2008 U.S. Open, to be played June 12-15 at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, Calif., including those from the 58 golfers who are currently fully exempt into the field
Ninety-two percent of the total entries were received online, including 1,192 in the final two days applications were accepted (April 22-23). The USGA received 102 entries online in the final hour. The last entry to arrive was from Keith Stone, a 39-year-old amateur from Chelmsford, Mass., who beat the 5 p.m. (EDT) deadline by 56 seconds. The first entry received was from Joseph Tumpach, a 31-year-old professional from Naperville, Ill.
The youngest golfer to enter was 12-year-old Rico Hoey of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The oldest applicant was 79-year-old Harris Moore Jr., a professional from Los Angeles, Calif. Overall, the USGA received entries from golfers in all 50 states and 68 foreign countries.
Among the foreign applicants were professionals Dawuda Mahama, 40, of Ghana; Lawan Mallam, 28, of Nigeria; and Alejandro Villavicencio, 28, of Guatemala. To be eligible, a player must have no higher than a 1.4 Handicap Index®, or be a professional.
Eight past champions are already fully exempt from having to qualify for the upcoming Championship. They are: Angel Cabrera (2007); Michael Campbell (2005); Ernie Els (1994, 1997); Jim Furyk (2003); Retief Goosen (2001, 2004); Lee Janzen (1993, 1998); Geoff Ogilvy (2006); and Tiger Woods (2000, 2002). An Open champion receives a full exemption into the field for the next 10 years.
The number of fully exempt golfers will increase with the inclusion of the top 50 players from the World Golf Rankings, the top 10 money leaders on the 2008 PGA Tour and the top two money leaders on the 2008 European PGA Tour as of May 26. The winner of the Players Championship (May 8-11) also receives an exemption.
Local qualifying at 111 sites will begin May 5. Sectional qualifying at 13 sites will be conducted on June 2, including one in England. A 14th sectional qualifier will be played May 26 in Japan. It is the fourth consecutive year that the USGA has offered these two international sectional qualifiers.
The Open is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. Other championships include the U.S. Women’s Open, the U.S. Senior Open and 10 amateur competitions.
A list of the 58 golfers who are already fully exempt into the U.S. Open follows.
April 24, 2008
THE 58 PLAYERS WHO ARE ALREADY FULLY EXEMPT FOR THE 2008 U.S. OPEN
Robert Allenby 9,10
Stephen Ames 8
Woody Austin 9,10
Aaron Baddeley 8,9,10
Brad Bryant 7
Jonathan Byrd 10
Angel Cabrera 1,8,11
Mark Calcavecchia 9,10
Michael Campbell 1
Paul Casey 8,11
K.J. Choi 9,10,13
Daniel Chopra 13
Stewart Cink 9,10
Tim Clark 9,10
Ben Curtis 4
Luke Donald 9
Nick Dougherty 8,11
Ernie Els 9,10,11
Niclas Fasth 8,11
Steve Flesch 9,13
Jim Furyk 1,8,9,10
Sergio Garcia 9,10,11
Retief Goosen 1,11
Todd Hamilton 4
Soren Hansen 11
Padraig Harrington 4,9,10,11
Charles Howell III 9,10
Trevor Immelman 3
Lee Janzen 1,8
Zach Johnson 3,9,10
Shingo Katayama 15
Jerry Kelly 8
Hunter Mahan 8,9,10
Shaun Micheel 5
Phil Mickelson 3,5,9,10,13
Colin Montgomerie 11
Geoff Ogilvy 1,9,10
John Rollins 9,10
Andres Romero 11
Justin Rose 8,9,10,11
Rory Sabbatini 9,10
Adam Scott 9,10
Vijay Singh 5,9,10
Heath Slocum 9,10
Brandt Snedeker 9,10
Henrik Stenson 11
Richard Sterne 11
Steve Stricker 8,9,10
Toro Taniguchi 15
*Michael Thompson 2
David Toms 8
Scott Verplank 8,9,10
Camilo Villegas 10
Bubba Watson 8
Boo Weekley 9,10
Lee Westwood 11
Brett Wetterich 9,10
Tiger Woods 1,3,4,5,8, 9,10,13
*=amateur
Key to Player Exemptions –
1) Winners of the U.S. Open Championship for the last 10 years.
2) Winner and runner-up of the 2007 U.S. Amateur Championship.
3) Winners of the Masters Tournament for the last five years.
4) Winners of the British Open Championship for the last five years.
5) Winners of the PGA of America Championship for the last five years.
6) Winner of the 2008 Players Championship.
7) Winner of the 2007 U.S. Senior Open Championship.
8) From the 2007 U.S. Open Championship, the 15 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 15th place.
9) From the 2007 final official PGA Tour money list, the top 30 money leaders.
10) Those 30 players qualifying for the 2007 season-ending Tour Championship.
11) From the 2007 final official PGA European Tour, the top 15 money leaders.
12) From the 2008 official PGA Tour money list, the top 10 money leaders through May 26.
13) Any multiple winners of PGA Tour co-sponsored events whose victories are considered official from April 25, 2007, through June 1, 2008.
14) From the 2008 PGA European Tour, the top two money leaders through May 26.
15) From the 2007 final Japan Golf Tour money list, the top two leaders provided they are within the top 75 point leaders of the World Rankings at that time.
16) From the 2007 final PGA Tour of Australasia money list, the top two leaders provided they are within the top 75 point leaders of the World Rankings at that time.
17) From the World Rankings list, the top 50 point leaders as of May 26, 2008
18) Special exemptions selected by the USGA.
