The USGA will include a potential exemption for LIV golfers at the US Open

PINEHURST, NC – The United States Golf Association will soon weigh whether to create an exemption category that will make it easier for LIV Golf League players to qualify for the US Open, CEO Mike Whan said Wednesday.

“We’ll talk about it this offseason, whether it needs a way to someone, or someone, who is doing well in LIV who can get a chance to play that way,” Whan said before the. the 124th US Open, which begins Thursday at Pinehurst No. 2.

“I think we’re serious about that. Exactly what that looks like and how it’s going to go down, I’m not just being coy, we haven’t done that yet.”

There are 12 LIV Golf League players in the field this week, including past US Open champions Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Martin Kaymer.

Jon Rahm, winner of the 2021 US Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday due to a left foot injury.

“There [are] there are no off-limits stakes in our field conditions,” said Whan. “In other words, this big, maybe different than the others, you can enter. It is not a closed field. It does not require a committee or an invitation. If you want to play in this industry, you’ve got the opportunity to play in this industry, and we’re proud of that.”

Kaymer, who won the last US Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014, in the final year of his 10-year exemption from the event. Phil Mickelson, the six-time US Open runner-up, will have one year left on his five-year exemption to win the 2021 PGA Championship.

Three LIV Golf players — Dean Burmester, David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra — entered the field in the final qualifying rounds. Sergio Garcia, playing in his 25th consecutive US Open, was added as an alternate from Monday’s final qualifier.

Whan said 35 LIV Golf players were eligible to compete in the final, but most of them were chosen not to try to enter the field.

“If they really wanted to be here, they could go play 36 holes and qualify. And some did, to their credit,” Whan said.

Whan indicated that the potential route would not be “huge.” The USGA exempted the winner of the European BMW PGA Championship and the top two finishers in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai from last season, as well as the top player in the current standings on May 20 who will not. it’s worth it.

There is also one spot in the field for the points leader from last season on the Korn Ferry Tour.

According to Whan, the USGA will wait to see if the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund reach some kind of agreement before making any decision about the routes for LIV Golf League players. The sides met in New York on Friday, and a deal is likely in one form or another — though it doesn’t seem likely to unite the competing states anytime soon.

“We always felt like the last year and a half we always had three months to understand what the new framework would look like,” said Whan. “So before we answer, what’s LIV going to be? What’s the PGA Tour going to be? So we always feel like we’re going to know that answer, so let’s find that out.

“Now, I think the reason we talked so much about looking at that next year is maybe this is a new world order. And if that’s the case, we wanted to look at that.”