126th U.S. Open field now complete with 156 players
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Mic'd up with Bud Cauley after winning RBC Canadian Open
The United States Golf Association (USGA) announced Monday that two additional players have earned full exemptions into the 126th U.S. Open Championship, to be contested June 18-21 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, bringing the number of fully exempt players to 88. Additionally, five alternates from the final qualifying were added to complete the 156-player field.
J.T. Poston, of Hickory, North Carolina, earned an exemption based on the current Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). He moved up 56 spots in the last two weeks to No. 38 after his victory at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, the fourth PGA TOUR win of his career. Due to weather delays, Poston had to play a marathon 33 holes on Sunday, June 7, knowing he would have had 36 holes of U.S. Open Final Qualifying ("Golf’s Longest Day") in Columbus, Ohio, the following day. The 33-year-old will play in his seventh U.S. Open and has three made cuts, with his best finish being a T32 at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club (Course No. 2) in 2024.
Bud Cauley, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, also earned an exemption based on the current OWGR. After his win at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday, Cauley jumped 28 spots to No. 40. It was the 36-year-old’s first PGA TOUR win. He will tee it up in his fourth U.S. Open and has one made cut, a T63 in 2011 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, right after he finished his junior season at the University of Alabama and turned professional. Before winning in Canada, Cauley fell in a 4-for-1 playoff for the second alternate spot at the final qualifier at Lakes Golf and Country Club in Westerville, Ohio, on "Golf’s Longest Day."
The USGA held seven spots in the field for those players who could potentially become exempt. With two claiming spots, five alternates from final qualifying were added to the field: Hennie Du Plessis, Spencer Tibbits, Bryan Lee, Jack Schoenberger and Harry Higgs.
Additionally, Preston Stout, 21, of Dallas, Texas, gained a full exemption on June 1 when he won the NCAA Division I Championship. Chandler Phillips, 29, of Bryan, Texas, replaced exempt player Marco Penge when he withdrew on June 9. Phillips will make his U.S. Open debut as the first alternate from the Dallas final qualifier.
The U.S. Open was previously contested at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in 1896 (James Foulis), 1986 (Raymond Floyd),1995 (Corey Pavin), 2004 (Retief Goosen) and 2018 (Brooks Koepka).
Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, one of the USGA’s five founding member clubs, is the only venue to host the national championship in three different centuries.
