An additional 27 golfers, including U.S. Amateur champions Matthew Fitzpatrick and Byeong Hun An, have earned full exemptions into the 2017 U.S. Open Championship, to be played June 15-18 at Erin Hills, in Erin, Wis. These exemptions bring the number of fully exempt players to 78.
All 27 exemptions were awarded to players who earned a place in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) as of May 22. Fitzpatrick, who won the 2013 U.S. Amateur, is ranked No. 41. He will compete in his third U.S. Open. He tied for 48th and was the low amateur at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014. An, who won the 2009 U.S. Amateur, is ranked No. 56. He has played in three U.S. Opens, including a tie for 23rd at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club last year.
The other players who earned full exemptions through the current Official World Golf Ranking are: Wesley Bryan, Rafael Cabrera Bello, Ross Fisher, Tommy Fleetwood, Bill Haas, Adam Hadwin, Brian Harman, Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley, Charley Hoffman, Billy Horschel, Yuta Ikeda, Brooks Koepka, Marc Leishman, Francesco Molinari, Alex Noren, Louis Oosthuizen, Pat Perez, Thomas Pieters, Jon Rahm, Brendan Steele, Hideto Tanihara, Jeunghun Wang, Lee Westwood and Bernd Wiesberger.
Horschel moved into the OWGR top 60 after winning the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship in a playoff on May 21, his fourth PGA Tour victory. Horschel, who advanced 32 spots from the previous week to No. 44, will compete in his sixth U.S. Open. At No. 12, Rahm is the highest-ranked player in the current OWGR who was not previously exempt into the U.S. Open. Rahm, who won this year’s Farmers Insurance Open in his first full PGA Tour season as a professional, was the low amateur in the 2016 U.S. Open, when he tied for 23rd.
Oosthuizen, who is No. 17 in the OWGR, finished as runner-up with Dustin Johnson to champion Jordan Spieth in the 2015 U.S. Open, held at Chambers Bay. Oosthuizen will play in his eighth U.S. Open.
The winner of the European Tour BMW PGA Championship (May 25-28) will also earn an exemption. The number of fully exempt golfers may increase with the addition of the top 60 players from the OWGR as of Monday, June 12.
The first of two international sectional qualifiers for the 2017 U.S. Open was held on May 22, in Japan, where four spots in the 156-player field were determined. England will host qualifying for the 13th consecutive year on Monday, May 29. Those players who qualify are in addition to the 78 fully exempt players listed below.
Sectional qualifying in the United States, at 36 holes, will take place at 10 sites on Monday, June 5. The sites are: Big Canyon Country Club & Newport Beach Country Club, Newport Beach, Calif.; Jupiter Hills Club (Hills Course), Tequesta, Fla.; Hawks Ridge Golf Club, Ball Ground, Ga.; Woodmont Country Club (North Course), Rockville, Md.; Canoe Brook Country Club (North and South Courses), Summit, N.J.; Brookside Golf & Country Club & Lakes Golf & Country Club, Columbus, Ohio; Springfield Country Club, Springfield, Ohio; Germantown Country Club & Ridgeway Country Club, Memphis, Tenn.; Lakewood Country Club, Dallas, Texas; and Tacoma Country & Golf Club, Lakewood, Wash.
The U.S. Open will be contested in Wisconsin for the first time. Erin Hills is hosting its third USGA championship and its first since the 2011 U.S. Amateur, when Kelly Kraft defeated Patrick Cantlay, 2 up, in the 36-hole final. The U.S. Open will be contested in the Midwest for the first time since 2003, when Jim Furyk won at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club.