Latest golf news: 3 South Africans added to US Open field

On Monday an additional 27 golfers, including major champions Adam Scott and Bubba Watson, earned full exemptions into the 121st US Open to be played from June 17-20, 2021 on the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course, in San Diego, California.

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These exemptions bring the number of fully exempt players to 76.

Exemptions were awarded to 24 players who earned a place in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) as of May 24, who were not otherwise exempt.

Scott, who will compete in his 20th US Open, won the 2013 Masters. He is ranked 39th.

Watson, the 2012 and 2014 Masters champion, is ranked 58th. It will be Watson’s 15th US Open.

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Brian Harman and Tommy Fleetwood, who were US Open runners-up in 2017 and 2018, respectively, also earned entry through the OWGR. Fleetwood is No 31 and Harman No 49 in the rankings.

The other players who earned full exemptions through the current Official World Golf Ranking are: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Paul Casey, Corey Conners, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Russell Henley, Garrick Higgo, Max Homa, Matt Jones, Si Woo Kim, Jason Kokrak, Matt Kuchar, K.H. Lee, Robert MacIntyre, Carlos Ortiz, Victor Perez, Kevin Streelman, Matt Wallace and Lee Westwood.

Kuchar (1997) and Fitzpatrick (2013) are past US Amateur champions.

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At No 15, Cantlay is the highest-ranked player in the current OWGR who was not previously exempt into the US Open. He will play in his sixth US Open.

Phil Mickelson, who on May 14 accepted a special exemption from the USGA into this year’s US Open, moved up 83 spots from his previous world ranking to No 32 by winning the PGA Championship on Sunday for his sixth major title. Mickelson, a six-time US Open runner-up, will be competing in his 30th US Open and is now exempt through 2025.

Three other players earned exemptions based on their performances on other professional tours.

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Wade Ormsby was the top finisher on the 2020 Asian Tour Final Order of Merit. Brad Kennedy earned his spot as the top finisher on the 2020 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Final Order of Merit. Wilco Nienaber is currently the leading player on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit.

Bezuidenhout, Higgo and Nienaber will join Louis Oosthuizen as the four current South Africans in the field for the year’s third major.

Oosthuizen qualified for the US Open thanks to his third-place finish in last year’s tournament, but would’ve qualified through his now 20th world rankings in any case.

Meanwhile, the top 10 aggregate point earners, who are otherwise not exempt, in the three-event US Open 2021 European Tour Qualifying Series (May 15-June 6) will earn places in the US Open.

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Any multiple winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship will also earn an exemption.

The number of fully exempt golfers may increase with the addition of the top 60 players from the OWGR as of Monday, June 7.

There are also a number of US Open qualifiers taking place which will determine the remainder of the 156-man field.

The South Course at Torrey Pines is hosting its second US Open.

One of the most dramatic US Opens was contested there in 2008 when Tiger Woods outdueled Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff to win his third US Open.

Woods made par on the first extra hole after the two were tied following an 18-hole playoff. Woods had forced the playoff by making a 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole.

Thanks for a car crash in February, Woods will not play at this year’s US Open.