USGA Accepts Record Number of Entries for 2014 U.S. Open Championship
Far Hills, NJ (PRWEB) April 24, 2014 -- The United States Golf Association (USGA) has accepted a record number of entries for the 2014 U.S. Open Championship at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s Course No. 2 in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C. The total of 10,127 entrants eclipses the 9,860 for last year’s championship at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. Among the record total are 51 players, including 12 past champions, who are currently fully exempt into the field (see list below).
“The number of entries, from across the world, affirms both the great appeal of playing in our national championship and the history surrounding Pinehurst No. 2,” said Daniel B. Burton, USGA vice president and chairman of the Championship Committee. “We look forward to local and sectional qualifying and to conducting the unprecedented U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open in consecutive weeks at this renowned Donald Ross-designed course in June.”
The U.S. Open will be held for the third time at Pinehurst No. 2 on June 12-15. To be eligible, a player must have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 1.4, or be a professional. Local qualifying, which will be played over 18 holes at 111 sites in the United States, will take place between May 2-19.
Sectional qualifying, played over 36 holes, will be conducted on Monday, May 26 at two international sites (Japan and England) and on Monday, June 2, at 10 sites in the United States, ranging from New York to California. This will be the 10th year with two international qualifiers, which were established in 2005, the last time the U.S. Open was contested at Pinehurst No. 2.
Justin Rose, the 2013 champion, and 11 other champions are fully exempt from having to qualify for the championship. They are: Angel Cabrera (2007), Michael Campbell (2005), Ernie Els (1994, 1997), Jim Furyk (2003), Lucas Glover (2009), Retief Goosen (2001, 2004), Graeme McDowell (2010), Rory McIlroy (2011), Geoff Ogilvy (2006), Webb Simpson (2012) and Tiger Woods (2000, 2002, 2008).
The USGA accepted entries for the 114th U.S. Open from golfers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 75 foreign countries.
For the fourth consecutive year, only online entries were accepted. The USGA received 580 entries on the last day applications were accepted (April 23), including 115 applications in the final hour. Travis Wells, who will be 15 years old on May 1 and is from Land O’Lakes, Fla., submitted his entry just 26 seconds before the deadline of 5 p.m. EDT. Jeff Lai, a 34-year-old amateur from Los Altos, Calif., was the first entrant when registration opened on March 5.
The number of fully exempt players will increase with the inclusion of the top 60 point leaders and ties from the Official World Golf Ranking, as of May 26 and June 9. The winners of The Players Championship (May 8-11) and European Tour BMW PGA Championship (May 22-25) will also earn exemptions.
This year marks the sixth time that the USGA accepted more than 9,000 entries for the U.S. Open. The first time was in 2005, when 9,048 entries were accepted for the championship at Pinehurst No. 2. A total of 9,086 golfers entered the 2009 championship at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y. In 2010, 9,052 golfers entered the championship at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links. In 2012, the USGA accepted 9,006 entries for the U.S. Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, and the total of 9,860 for the 2013 championship at Merion broke the record from 2009 at Bethpage Black.
More information about the U.S. Open before, during and after the 2014 championship at Pinehurst No. 2 is available at http://www.usopen.com.
The list of the 51 golfers who are fully exempt into the 2014 U.S. Open (as of April 23):
Keegan Bradley
Angel Cabrera
Michael Campbell
Roberto Castro
Stewart Cink
Darren Clarke
Nicolas Colsaerts
Jason Day
Brendon de Jonge
Graham DeLaet
Luke Donald
Jason Dufner
Ernie Els
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
a-Matthew Fitzpatrick
Rickie Fowler
Jim Furyk
Sergio Garcia
Lucas Glover
Retief Goosen
a-Oliver Goss
Bill Haas
Billy Horschel
Dustin Johnson
Zach Johnson
Martin Kaymer
Matt Kuchar
Hunter Mahan
Hideki Matsuyama
Graeme McDowell
Rory McIlroy
Phil Mickelson
Geoff Ogilvy
Louis Oosthuizen
Kenny Perry
D.A. Points
Justin Rose
Charl Schwartzel
Adam Scott
Webb Simpson
Brandt Snedeker
Jordan Spieth
Henrik Stenson
Kevin Streelman
Steve Stricker
Nick Watney
Bubba Watson
Boo Weekley
Gary Woodland
Tiger Woods
Y.E. Yang
a-amateur
About the USGA
The USGA conducts the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open, as well as 10 national amateur championships, two state team championships and international matches, attracting players and fans from more than 160 countries. Together with The R&A, the USGA governs the game worldwide, jointly administering the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, equipment standards and World Amateur Golf Rankings. The USGA’s reach is global with a working jurisdiction in the United States, its territories and Mexico, serving more than 25 million golfers and actively engaging 150 golf associations.
The USGA is one of the world’s foremost authorities on research, development and support of sustainable golf course management practices. It serves as a primary steward for the game’s history and invests in the development of the game through the delivery of its services and its ongoing “For the Good of the Game” grants program. Additionally, the USGA’s Course Rating and Handicap systems are used on six continents in more than 50 countries.
For more information about the USGA, visit http://www.usga.org.
Brian DePasquale, United States Golf Association, http://www.usga.org, +1 (908) 326-1884, [email protected]
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