Getting an invitation to the US Open is quite an accomplishment. It means you've done something special in men's golf, garnering an opportunity to play in the national championship in the United States.
While the US Open is a major tournament, the USGA determines who gets invited at their sole discretion, there are 25 different ways a golfer can earn an invitation to the US Open. (And then there's final qualifying, which determines approximately one-third of the field.)
The best way to earn a US Open invitation is to win the US Open. US Open tournament winners earn a 10-year exemption into the event -- which is the shortest exemption of the four men's majors. All three others offer what are effectively a lifetime exemption to the winner.
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 20 consecutive major starts after taking a major 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 winning on the PGA Tour multiple times, to reaching the top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking by certain cutoff dates.
Then, the US Open could always simply choose to invite who they would like, which they do from time to time. New this year are exemptions for the winner of th 2024 men's Olympic golf tournament and the leading player in the LIV Golf individual standings through the midpoint of the season.
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 25 different ways to qualify for a US Open invitation
- Winners of the US Open Championship in the last 10 years
- The top 10 players and ties from the 2024 US Open leaderboard
- Winner of the 2024 US Senior Open Championship
- Winner of the 2024 US Amateur Championship
- Winners of the 2024 US Junior Amateur and US Mid-Amateur Championships, and the 2024 US Amateur runner-up (must be an amateur)
- Winners of the Masters Tournament in the last five years
- Winners of the PGA of America Championship in the last five years
- Winners of The Open in the last five years
- Winners of The Players Championship in the last three years
- Winner of the DP World Tour's 2024 BMW PGA Championship
- Those players who qualified and were eligible for the 2024 Tour Championship
- Multiple winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the FedEx Cup, from the conclusion of the 2024 US Open (June 13-16) to the initiation of the 2025 US Open
- The top 5 players in the 2025 FedEx Cup standings as of May 19, 2025, who are not otherwise exempt
- The points leader from the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season
- The top two players from the final 2024 Race to Dubai Rankings, who are not otherwise exempt as of May 19, 2025
- The top player on the 2025 Race to Dubai Rankings as of May 19, 2025, who is not otherwise exempt
- Winner of the 2024 Amateur Championship (must be an amateur)
- Winner of the 2024 Mark H. McCormack Medal (must be an amateur)
- Winner of the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Individual Golf Championship (must be an amateur)
- Winner of the 2025 Latin America Amateur Championship (must be an amateur)
- From the current Official World Golf Rankings, the top 60 points leaders and ties as of May 19, 2025
- From the current Official World Golf Rankings, the top 60 points leaders and ties as of June 9, 2025
- Winner of the 2024 Olympic men's gold medal
- The top player who is not otherwise exempt and in the top 3 of the 2025 LIV Golf Individual Standings as of May 19, 2025
- Special exemptions selected by the USGA, with requests submitted by May 15, 2025
