The field for the 120th U.S. Open Championship, to be played Sept. 17-20 at historic Winged Foot Golf Club, in Mamaroneck, N.Y., will have a different look, thanks to COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic forced the USGA to conduct the championship without any qualifying. The entire 144-player field will be comprised of golfers who earn their spot via a number of exemption categories.
The following is a list of those exemption categories as established by the USGA:
Bold: First time a player is listed
Winners of the U.S. Open Championship the last 10 years (2010-19):
Gary Woodland (2019)
Brooks Koepka (2018)
Brooks Koepka (2017)
Dustin Johnson (2016)
Jordan Spieth (2015)
Martin Kaymer (2014)
Justin Rose (2013)
Webb Simpson (2012)
Rory McIlroy (2011)
Graeme McDowell (2010)
From the 2019 U.S. Open Championship, the 10 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 10th place:
Gary Woodland
Brooks Koepka
Xander Schauffele
Jon Rahm
Chez Reavie
Justin Rose
Adam Scott
Louis Oosthuizen
Henrik Stenson
Chesson Hadley
Rory McIlroy
Winner of the 2019 U.S. Senior Open Championship:
Steve Stricker
Winner of the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship:
Andy Ogletree
Winners of the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur Championships, and the 2019 U.S. Amateur runner-up (must be an amateur):
Preston Summerhays (U.S. Junior Amateur)
Lukas Michel (U.S. Mid-Amateur)
John Augenstein (U.S. Amateur runner-up)
Winners of the Masters Tournament from 2016-2019:
Tiger Woods (2019)
Patrick Reed (2018)
Sergio Garcia (2017)
Danny Willett (2016)
Winners of the PGA of America Championship from 2015-2020:
Collin Morikawa (2020)
Brooks Koepka (2019)
Brooks Koepka (2018)
Justin Thomas (2017)
Jimmy Walker (2016)
Jason Day (2015)
Winners of The Open Championship the last five years (2015-19):
Shane Lowry (2019)
Francesco Molinari (2018)
Jordan Spieth (2017)
Henrik Stenson (2016)
Zach Johnson (2015)
Winners of The Players Championship from 2018-2020:
2020: Not contested
Rory McIlroy (2019)
Webb Simpson (2018)
Winner of the 2019 European BMW Championship:
Danny Willett
Those players qualifying for the season-ending 2019 Tour Championship:
Rory McIlroy
Xander Schauffele
Justin Thomas
Brooks Koepka
Paul Casey
Adam Scott
Tony Finau
Chez Reavie
Patrick Reed
Kevin Kisner
Hideki Matsuyama
Bryson DeChambeau
Jon Rahm
Jason Kokrak
Gary Woodland
Tommy Fleetwood
Webb Simpson
Matt Kuchar
Sungjae Im
Rickie Fowler
Louis Oosthuizen
Abraham Ancer
Patrick Cantlay
Marc Leishman
Brandt Snedeker
Justin Rose
Corey Conners
Charles Howell III
Dustin Johnson
Lucas Glover
Multiple winners of PGA Tour events that award full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship, from the conclusion of the 2019 U.S. Open to the initiation of the originally scheduled date of the 2020 U.S. Open:
Justin Thomas
Rory McIlroy
Patrick Reed
Webb Simpson
Winner of 2019 The Amateur Championship (must be an amateur):
James Sugrue
Winner of the 2019 Mark H. McCormack Medal (Men's World Amateur Golf Ranking; must be an amateur):
Cole Hammer
From Week 11 (March 15, 2020) of the Official World Golf Ranking, the top 70 points leaders and ties:
Rory McIlroy (1)
Jon Rahm (2)
Brooks Koepka (3)
Justin Thomas (4)
Dustin Johnson (5)
Adam Scott (6)
Patrick Reed (T-7)
Patrick Cantlay (T-7)
Webb Simpson (9)
Tommy Fleetwood (10)
Tiger Woods (11)
Xander Schauffele (12)
Bryson DeChambeau (13)
Justin Rose (14)
Marc Leishman (15)
Tony Finau (16)
Matt Kuchar (17)
Gary Woodland (18)
Louis Oosthuizen (19)
Shane Lowry (20)
Tyrrell Hatton (21)
Hideki Matsuyama (22)
Sungjae Im (23)
Paul Casey (24)
Matthew Fitzpatrick (25)
Bernd Wiesberger (26)
Rickie Fowler (27)
Francesco Molinari (28)
Abraham Ancer (29)
Kevin Na (30)
Lee Westwood (31)
Henrik Stenson (32)
Danny Willett (33)
Billy Horschel (34)
Cameron Smith (35)
Kevin Kisner (36)
Chez Reavie (37)
Sergio Garcia (38)
Jazz Janewattananond (39)
Victor Perez (40)
Shugo Imahira (41)
Erik van Rooyen (42)
Matt Wallace (43)
Collin Morikawa (44)
Scottie Scheffler (45)
Rafa Cabrera Bello (46)
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (47)
Brandt Snedeker (48)
Graeme McDowell (49)
Byeong-Hun An (50)
Jason Day (51)
Sunghoon Kang (52)
Bubba Watson (53)
Brendon Todd (54)
Adam Hadwin (55)
Jordan Spieth (56)
Viktor Hovland (57)
Ian Poulter (58)
Tom Lewis (59)
Shaun Norris (60)
Phil Mickelson (61)
Andrew Putnam (T-62)
Keegan Bradley (T-62)
Lucas Herbert (64)
Eddie Pepperell (65)
Corey Conners (66)
Robert MacIntyre (67)
Kurt Kitayama (68)
Chan Kim (69)
Joel Dahmen (70)
The top two players, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of the 2020 the Memorial Tournament, 3M Open, WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Barracuda Championship and Wyndham Championship, and the top three players, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of the 2020 PGA Championship.
Mackenzie Hughes (T6, the Memorial Tournament)
Ryan Palmer (2nd, the Memorial Tournament)
Michael Thompson (Won, 3M Open)
Adam Long (2nd, 3M Open)
Daniel Berger (T2, WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational)
Richy Werenski (Won, Barracuda Championship)
Troy Merritt (2nd, Barracuda Championship)
Matthew Wolff (T-4, PGA Championship)
Cameron Champ (T-10, PGA Championship)
Jim Herman (Won, Wyndham Championship)
Si Woo Kim (T-2, Wyndham Championship)
From the 2019-20 FedExCup Final Points List, the top five players, not otherwise exempt:
Sebastian Munoz
Brian Harman
Tyler Duncan
Mark Hubbard
Danny Lee
From the first five events on the 2020 European Tour's UK Swing (Betfred British Masters through the Wales Open), the top 10 aggregate points earners who are otherwise not exempt:
Sam Horsfield
Thomas Detry
Andy Sullivan
Rasmus Hojgaard
Renato Paratore
Romain Langasque
Sami Valimaki
Adrian Otaegui
Connor Syme
Justin Harding
From the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List, the top five point leaders who are otherwise not exempt through the WinCo Foods Portland Open:
Will Zalatoris
Davis Riley
Lee Hodges
Taylor Pendrith
Paul Barjon
From the three-event 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Series beginning with the Albertsons Boise Open and ending with the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, the top five point leaders who are otherwise not exempt:
Brandon Wu
Stephan Jaeger
Curtis Luck
Greyson Sigg
Dan McCarthy
From the 2019 Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) Final Order of Merit, the top two finishers who are not otherwise exempt as of July 15:
Ryo Ishikawa
Jung-Gon Hwang
From the 2019 Sunshine Tour Final Order of Merit, the top finisher who is not otherwise exempt as of July 15:
J.C. Ritchie
From the 2019 Asian Tour Final Order of Merit, the top finisher who is not otherwise exempt as of July 15:
Scott Hend
From the 2019 Australasia Tour Final Order of Merit, the top finisher who is not otherwise exempt as of July 15:
Ryan Fox
From the 2019 PGA Professional Player of the Year Standings, the top three points leaders who are not otherwise exempt:
Ryan Vermeer (Nebraska Section)
Marty Jertson (Southwest Section)
Danny Balin (Metropolitan Section)
From the August 19, 2020 World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®, the top seven ranked players not otherwise exempt (Must still be an amateur):
Takumi Kanaya
Ricky Castillo
Chun An Yu
Davis Thompson
Eduard Rousard
Sandy Scott
John Pak
Remaining spots in the championship field filled in order using the Official World Golf Ranking as of Aug. 23, 2020
Kevin Streelman
Harris English
J.T. Poston
Joaquin Niemann
Thomas Pieters
Max Homa
Lanto Griffin
Mike Lorenzo-Vera
Matthias Schwab
Alex Noren
Matt Jones
Special exemptions as selected by the USGA
Blank entries will be filed by the USGA for players who become exempt after close of entries. Players who become exempt after the close of entries will be contacted individually by the USGA and will be required to complete a championship application at that time.
For ties where two players have the same ranking in the OWGR, the spot(s) in the championship proper will be determined by the highest-ranking points earned from each players' current record of counting events. If a tie still exists, the spot(s) will be determined by the second highest points earned, the third highest, and so on until the tie is decided. If a tie still exists, the spot(s) will be determined by lot.
More information on the application process can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).