Far Hills, N.J. (May 24) – Fifteen additional golfers have earned full exemptions into the 2010 U.S. Open Championship, to be played June 17-20 at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links, bringing the number of fully exempt players to 78.
The exemptions were awarded to players who met one or more of the following criteria, as of May 24: top-50 point leaders in the Official World Golf Ranking; top-10 money leaders from the official 2010 PGA Tour money list; and top-five money leaders from the official 2010 PGA European Tour money list.
Those who earned full exemptions through the current World Golf Ranking were: Robert Allenby, K.J. Choi, Ben Crane, Peter Hanson, Thongchai Jaidee, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Robert Karlsson, Anthony Kim, Graeme McDowell, Edoardo Molinari, Louis Oosthuizen, Alvaro Quiros, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott and Camilo Villegas. The remaining 35 of the top-50 ranked players were already fully exempt through other criteria.
Allenby, Kim and Villegas also became fully exempt by ranking among the year’s top-10 money leaders on the PGA Tour, as of May 24. The rest of the top-10 money leaders were already fully exempt.
Schwartzel was additionally exempt because he was among the top-five money leaders on the PGA European Tour for 2010 as of May 24.
Additional exemptions from sectional qualifying could be earned by a winner of one of the three PGA Tour events to be played prior to the U.S. Open, if the winner is not already fully exempt and it is his second PGA Tour win since June 21, 2009.
The first two sectional qualifiers were held May 24 in Japan and England, where a total of 15 spots in the 156-player field were determined. Sectional qualifying in the USA will take place at 13 sites on June 7.
A list of the 78 golfers who are fully exempt into the 2010 U.S. Open follows: (a=amateur)
Robert Allenby
Stephen Ames
a-Byeong-Hun An
Ricky Barnes
Matt Bettencourt
Angel Cabrera
Michael Campbell
Paul Casey
K.J. Choi
Stewart Cink
Tim Clark
Ben Crane
Luke Donald
Jason Dufner
David Duval
Simon Dyson
Ernie Els
Ross Fisher
Fred Funk
Jim Furyk
Sergio Garcia
Brian Gay
Lucas Glover
Retief Goosen
Soren Hansen
Peter Hanson
Padraig Harrington
Yuta Ikeda
Trevor Immelman
Ryo Ishikawa
Thongchai Jaidee
Miguel Angel Jimenez
Dustin Johnson
Zach Johnson
Robert Karlsson
Martin Kaymer
Jerry Kelly
Anthony Kim
Soren Kjeldsen
Matt Kuchar
Marc Leishman
Justin Leonard
Hunter Mahan
Steve Marino
a-Ben Martin
Graeme McDowell
Ross McGowan
Rory McIlroy
Phil Mickelson
Edoardo Molinari
Francesco Molinari
Ryan Moore
Kevin Na
Geoff Ogilvy
Sean O’Hair
Louis Oosthuizen
Kenny Perry
Ian Poulter
Alvaro Quiros
John Rollins
Rory Sabbatini
Charl Schwartzel
Adam Scott
John Senden
Michael Sim
Heath Slocum
Henrik Stenson
Steve Stricker
David Toms
Scott Verplank
Camilo Villegas
Nick Watney
Tom Watson
Mike Weir
Lee Westwood
Oliver Wilson
Tiger Woods
Y.E. Yang
About the USGA
The USGA is the national governing body of golf in the USA and Mexico. The USGA annually conducts the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Senior Open and 10 national amateur championships. It also conducts two state team championships and helps conduct the Walker Cup Match, Curtis Cup Match and World Amateur Team Championships.
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