A record number of players have entered to vie for a coveted spot in the 2023 US Open.
The USGA announced it has accepted a record 10,187 entries, including 15 former champions, for the 123rd US Open Championship at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course, to be played from June 15-18.
The previous record was 10,127 accepted for the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst No. 2, ultimately won by Martin Kaymer. It is the 11th consecutive time that entries have surpassed the 9,000 mark.
The USGA accepted entries for the 2023 US Open from golfers in all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and 87 foreign countries.
“The US Open is unique in major championship golf in that the qualifying process provides thousands of professional and amateur golfers with diverse backgrounds from around the world the opportunity to follow their dream and earn a place in the field,” said USGA Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer.
US Open qualifying is a two-stage process.
Local qualifying will be conducted over 18 holes at 109 sites in 44 U.S. states and Canada from April 17 - May 22. Those players who advance out of local qualifying will join a group of locally exempt players in final qualifying, which will be conducted over 36 holes at 10 US and three international sites on either May 16, May 22 or June 5.
To be eligible to enter for the US Open, a player must have a Handicap Index not exceeding 1.4, or be a professional.
A total of 52 players are fully exempt into the US Open, including 10 former champions, leaving 104 spots currently unaccounted for in the field.
More spots will be filled based on other criteria, including the top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 22 and June 12. The winner of the 2023 PGA Championship and any multiple winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship will also earn exemptions. The top five players in the 2022-23 FedExCup Standings as of May 22 who are not otherwise exempt will also land a place in the field.
Exemptions will be awarded to the top two players from the 2022 DP World Tour Final Points List, who are not otherwise exempt, as of May 22, and the top player from the 2023 Race to Dubai Rankings, who is not otherwise exempt, as of May 22. The top two players from the DP World Tour US Open Qualifying Series will earn exemptions based on points earned from four DP World Tour events (DS Automobiles Italian Open, Soudal Open, KLM Open and Porsche European Open) that will be contested between May 4 and June 4.
