The United States Golf Association accepted the second highest number of U.S. Open qualifier entries for the country’s most grueling major, hosted this year at Chambers Bay in University Place. The announcement came Thursday.
“We are thrilled with the interest demonstrated by the 9,882 entries, the most we have ever accepted for a U.S. Open held on the West Coast,” said Diana Murphy, USGA vice president and chairman of the Championship Committee. “That Chambers Bay, a public course which has never held an Open, could have this kind of impact proves that our national championship knows no state, regional or national bounds.”
The number of entries trails only the 10,127 that attempted to qualify for the 2014 tourney at Pinehurst in North Carolina and exceeds the 9,860 that tried to qualify for the 2013 Open at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, PA.
This year’s local 18-hole qualifying stage is May 4-21 at 111 sites in the U.S., while the 36-hole sectional qualifying stage is set for June 8. The latter will include 10 U.S. sites from California to New York. Additionally, the international sectional qualifier, in Japan and England, is May 25.
To be eligible, a golfer has to either be a professional or have a handicap not exceeding 1.4.
This will mark the 115th U.S. Open and fifth consecutive year only online entries were accepted.
Here’s the list of the 49 golfers granted exemption, as of Wednesday. The list will expand May 25 and perhaps June 15 when the top 60 points leaders in the World Golf Rankings, ties included, earn a spot — as do the winners of The Players Championship (May 7-10) and European Tour BMW PGA Championship (May 21-24).
| Keegan Bradley | Martin Kaymer | a-Oliver Schniederjans | ||
| Angel Cabrera | Chris Kirk | Charl Schwartzel | ||
| Darren Clarke | Brooks Koepka | Adam Scott | ||
| Erik Compton | Matt Kuchar | John Senden | ||
| Jason Day | Hunter Mahan | Webb Simpson | ||
| Jason Dufner | Hideki Matsuyama | Brandt Snedeker | ||
| Ernie Els | Graeme McDowell | Jordan Spieth | ||
| Rickie Fowler | Rory McIlroy | Henrik Stenson | ||
| Jim Furyk | Phil Mickelson | Brendon Todd | ||
| Sergio Garcia | Colin Montgomerie | Cameron Tringale | ||
| Lucas Glover | Kevin Na | Jimmy Walker | ||
| Bill Haas | a-Bradley Neil | Bubba Watson | ||
| Russell Henley | Geoff Ogilvy | Gary Woodland | ||
| Morgan Hoffmann | Louis Oosthuizen | Tiger Woods | ||
| Billy Horschel | Ryan Palmer | a-Gunn Yang | ||
| Dustin Johnson | Patrick Reed | |||
| Zach Johnson | Justin Rose |
Bold – U.S. Open champion a-amateur
Woods announces summer schedule
If there was any lingering doubt, Tiger Woods announced earlier this week on Twitter he will play in the U.S. Open.
See you at the US Open, Open Champ, Memorial, Greenbrier and my Foundation’s event, the Quicken Loans National. Going to be a busy summer.
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 29, 2015
Poulter sounds off
USGA executive director Mike Davis was right earlier this week when he predicted that some PGA tour players would complain or “chirp” about Chambers Bay, a links course not typical of a traditional U.S. Open venue.
Ian Poulter, never shy to share his opinion, was the first to publicly criticize, anonymously citing fellow tour pros that didn’t enjoy their experience at Chambers.
Well several players have played Chambers Bay in prep for US Open. The reports back are it’s a complete farce. I guess someone has to win.
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) April 29, 2015