"This was an incredibly difficult decision, as qualifying is a cornerstone of USGA championships"; major set to be held at Winged Foot in September
Tuesday 19 May 2020 16:36, UK
The US Open will not have qualifying for the first time since 1924.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which already has postponed the US Open at Winged Foot from June to September, has forced the USGA into the decision.
Open qualifying is the hallmark of golf's second-oldest championship. The USGA often points out that typically half of the 156-man field has to go through either 36-hole qualifying or 18-hole and 36-hole qualifying.
It even invested in a marketing campaign that was rolled out in February, titled 'From Many, One', to illustrate that more than 9,000 people apply to play in the US Open, eventually yielding to one winner.
The USGA did not announce on Monday how other players would become exempt.
Among those who have yet to qualify is Phil Mickelson, a runner-up six times in the only major he has not won.
Mickelson said in February he would not ask the USGA for an exemption, and that if he failed to qualify or become exempt, he would not play. Winged Foot is where Mickelson made double bogey on the final hole in 2006 to lose by one.
The field presumably will be smaller because of the later date, though the USGA did not mention the field size in its April 6 announcement that the US Open was moving to September 17-20 at Winged Foot, in Mamaroneck, New York.
"As you can imagine, this was an incredibly difficult decision, as qualifying is a cornerstone of USGA championships," said John Bodenhamer, senior managing director of championships for the USGA.
"We take great pride in the fact that many thousands typically enter to pursue their dream of qualifying for the US Open and we deeply regret that they will not have that opportunity this year."
Bodenhamer said no qualifying provides the best path forward to holding the US Open.
The USGA said there would not be qualifying for three other championships it will hold this year; the US Women's Open (moved to December in Houston) and the US Amateur and US Women's Amateur, both still scheduled for August.
The US Open, which dates to 1895, had so many players wanting to compete in the years after World War I that it introduced qualifying in 1924. Then, it went to two stages of qualifying in 1959, 18-hole local qualifying and 36-hole sectional qualifying.
Ken Venturi in 1964 and Orville Moody in 1969 are the only US Open champions who got through both stages. Lucas Glover in 2009 was the last US Open champion to go through 36-hole qualifying.
The USGA had 108 local qualifiers planned in 45 states and one in Canada, followed by 12 sectional qualifiers, nine in the US, one each in Canada, England and Japan.
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When the US Open was postponed, 50 players were exempt through various categories, such as past champions the last 10 years or top 10 from last year's US Open, major champions from the last five years and the top 30 players who reached the Tour Championship last year.
The pandemic shut down golf on March 13, two months before the top 60 in the world ranking would have been exempt for the US Open. The world ranking has been frozen since the shutdown. It was unclear when it would resume because while the PGA Tour is to resume on June 11, circuits in Europe, Japan and Asia have not said when they would return.
The USGA, meanwhile, has lost 10 championships to the coronavirus. It said Monday that four more were canceled the US Mid-Amateur and Women's Mid-Amateur, and the US Senior Amateur and US Senior Women's Amateur.
