Getting an invitation to the US Open, or earning a spot through qualifying, is quite an accomplishment. It means you've done something special in men's golf, garnering an opportunity to play in the national championship.
As the US Open is a major tournament, the United States Golf Association (USGA), who runs the event, determines who gets invited at their sole discretion outside of those who get through open qualifying. All told, there are 24 different ways a golfer can earn an invitation to the US Open.
The best way to earn a US Open invitation is to win the US Open. US Open Tournament winners are effectively invited back for 10 years after winning.
The next best way to earn a US Open invitation is to win one of the other three major championships. Winners of a major championship get invited to the other three majors for five years after winning, meaning a guaranteed 25 consecutive major starts after taking a US Open title. While not on the level of a major, The Players Championship is a huge tournament, and winners of the PGA Tour's crown jewel get a three-year exemption across the majors.
After those three ways, all the other paths to a US Open invitation come with one-time invites that have to be earned back the next year. The qualification criteria range from winning or getting to the final of a prestigious amateur event, to reaching the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking by certain cutoff dates.
Then, the US Open Tournament could always simply choose to invite who they would like, which they do from time to time.
If a player satisfies multiple criteria to earn a US Open invitation, they don't get multiple years' worth of invitations, just an invite under the criteria with the greatest weight and longest counting period.
The 24 different ways to qualify for a US Open invitation
- Winners of the last 10 US Opens
- The leading ten players, and those tying for 10th place, in the 2022 US Open
- The winner of the 2022 US Senior Open
- The winner of the 2022 US Amateur (provided they remain an amateur for the US Open)
- Winners of the 2022 US Junior Amateur and US Mid-Amateur, and the runner-up in the 2022 US Amateur (provided they remain an amateur for the US Open)
- Winners of the last 5 Masters Tournaments
- Winners of the last 5 PGA Championships
- Winners of the last 5 Open Championships
- Winners of the last 3 The Players Championships
- The winner of the 2022 BMW PGA Championship
- All players who qualified and were eligible for the 2022 Tour Championship
- Winners of multiple PGA Tour events[c] from the 2022 US Open to the start of the 2023 tournament
- The top 5 players in the FedEx Cup standings as of May 22 who are not yet exempt
- The top player on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour full-season points list
- The top 2 players on the 2022 DP World Tour Rankings who are not yet exempt as of May 22
- The top player on the 2023 Race to Dubai as of May 22 who is not yet exempt
- The top 2 point earners from the DP World Tour-USGA US Open Qualifying Series who are not otherwise exempt
- The winner of the 2022 Amateur Championship (provided they remain an amateur for the US Open)
- The winner of the Mark H
- The individual winner of the 2023 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship (provided they remain an amateur for the US Open)
- The winner of the 2023 Latin America Amateur Championship (provided they remain an amateur for the US Open)
- The leading 60 players on the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 22
- The leading 60 players on the Official World Golf Ranking if not otherwise exempt as of June 12
- Final qualifying
