At last year's US Open, Patton Kizzire's absence in the field at Shinnecock Hills was considered glaring.
The tall Georgian had won twice on the 2017-18 PGA Tour schedule -- the Mayakoba Golf Classic and Sony Open in Hawaii -- but hadn't qualified for the national championship because, after losing form through the year and falling to 63rd in the Official World Golf Ranking, he wasn't in the top 60 in the world at the cutoff dates to qualify for an exemption. Most disappointing for Kizzire was, through 2012, the USGA had offered an exemption to players who had won multiple non-opposite-field PGA Tour events since the last US Open. Kizzire didn't get through sectional qualifying, so he was at home for the year's second major.
While it's not much help to him this year, Kizzire or any other PGA Tour player can once again qualify for the US Open by winning multiple full-FedEx Cup allocation PGA Tour events since the last US Open. Had Kizzire done what he did last season in the 2018-19 season, he would then be exempt for Pebble Beach this year. (He's already in the first three majors of 2019 because he got to the Tour Championship in 2018.)
According to Golf Channel, Kizzire made no contact with the USGA about the exemption restoration, though he certainly lauds that is has been again made available. However, Kizzire made no bones about not being in the US Open because, by their standards put forth, he didn't play well enough to qualify.
Now on the edge of the world top 100, Kizzire continues to look to improve his game while making changes to his swing so he can become a more regular fixture inside that all-important top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
