US Open 2023: Why so few South Africans?

There will be precious few South Africans in the year’s third Major – the US Open – as the LIV Golf fallout continues to wreck havoc on the OWGR.

As long as the OWGR continues to ignore players in LIV Golf events, this trend will continue.

Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel all missed the PGA Championship because of their slide down the rankings.

None are present in the field as it stands at the time of publishing for the US Open.

ALSO READ: Sunshine Tour: New Order of Merit sponsor delivers

Dean Burmester managed to get into the PGA Championship but he’s not in for the US Open.

So while the Stingers GC players are making loads of cash, their days in the Majors are numbered.

ALSO READ: Explained: Louis Oosthuizen may never play the Masters again

Only Louis Oosthuizen of the LIV Golf crew will make it to The Open. Charl Schwartzel is a previous Masters winner and can play for as long as he likes.

South Africans in this year’s US Open include amateur star Aldrich Potgieter, qualifiers Deon Germishuys and Wilco Nienaber alongside DP World Tour member Thirston Lawrence.

That’s it.

ALSO READ: Major golf in 2023: When are they and who can play?

Christiaan Bezuidenhout is currently ranked 78th in the world and is South Africa’s top-ranked player but he’s been unable to get into the 2023 US Open to date.

ALSO READ: Koepka wins fifth Major title at PGA Championship

Tiger Woods has officially withdrawn from next month’s US Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

US OPEN PLAYERS (EXEMPT AND QUALIFIED)

Abraham Ancer, 22

Sam Bennett (a), 4

Keegan Bradley, 2, 22

Hayden Buckley, 13

Sam Burns, 11, 22

Patrick Cantlay, 11, 22

Ben Carr (a), 5

Gunn Charoenkul, FQ

Wyndham Clark, 22

Corey Conners, 11, 22

Joel Dahmen, 2

Jens Dantorp, FQ

Cam Davis, 22

Jason Day, 22

Bryson DeChambeau, 1

Alejandro Del Rey, FQ

Wenyi Ding (a), 5

Austin Eckroat, FQ

Harris English, 22

Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (a), 21

Tony Finau, 11, 12, 22

Ross Fisher, FQ

Matt Fitzpatrick, 1, 2, 11, 22

Tommy Fleetwood, 22

Rickie Fowler, 22

Ryan Fox, 22

Sergio Garcia, FQ

Deon Germishuys, FQ

Brent Grant, FQ

Adam Hadwin, 2

Paul Haley II, FQ

Brian Harman, 11, 22

Padraig Harrington, 3

Tyrrell Hatton, 22

Russell Henley, 22

Lucas Herbert, 22

Tom Hoge, 11, 22

Max Homa, 11, 12, 22

Billy Horschel, 11, 22

David Horsey, FQ

Viktor Hovland, 11, 22

Mackenzie Hughes, 13

Sungjae Im, 11, 22

Ryo Ishikawa, FQ

Dustin Johnson, 1, 6

Martin Kaymer, 1

Si Woo Kim, 22

Tom (Joohyung) Kim, 12, 22

Chris Kirk, 22

Kurt Kitayama, 22

Brooks Koepka, 1, 7, 22

Matt Kuchar, 22

Thirston Lawrence, 15

Hank Lebioda, FQ

K.H. Lee, 11, 22

Min Woo Lee, 16

Shane Lowry, 8, 10, 22

Hideki Matsuyama, 2, 6, 11, 22

Denny McCarthy, 2, 22

Matthew McClean (a), 5

Rory McIlroy, 2, 11, 12, 22

Adrian Meronk, 22

Phil Mickelson, 7

Keith Mitchell, 22

Francesco Molinari, 8

Taylor Montgomery, 13

Taylor Moore, 22

Collin Morikawa, 2, 7, 8, 11

Ryutaro Nagano, FQ

Joaquin Niemann, 11, 22

Wilco Nienaber, FQ

Alex Noren, 22

Matthieu Pavon, FQ

Mito Pereira, 22

Victor Perez, 22

Thomas Pieters, 22

J.T. Poston, 22

Aldrich Poltgieter (a), 18

Seamus Power, 22

Andrew Putnam, 13

Jon Rahm, 1, 6, 11, 12, 22

Patrick Reed, 22

Justin Rose, 1, 22

Xander Schauffele, 11, 12, 22

Scottie Scheffler, 2, 6, 9, 11, 12, 22

Adam Scott, 11, 22

Roger Sloan, FQ

Cameron Smith, 8, 9, 11, 22

Jordan Smith, 15

Jacob Solomon, FQ

Jordan Spieth, 1, 11, 22

Scott Stallings, 11

Sepp Straka, 11, 22

Justin Suh, 14

Adam Svensson, 22

Nick Taylor, 13

Sahith Theegala, 11, 22

Justin Thomas, 7, 9, 11, 22

Aaron Wise, 11, 22

Gary Woodland, 1, 2

Cameron Young, 11, 22

Carson Young, FQ

NOTE: Tiger Woods and Will Zalatoris both qualified for the championship, but will not play due to injury.

EXEMPTION CATEGORIES

1. Winners of the U.S. Open the last 10 years (2013-22)

2. From the 2022 U.S. Open, the 10 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 10th place

3. Winner of the 2022 U.S. Senior Open

4. Winner of the 2022 U.S. Amateur

5. Winners of the 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur, and the 2022 U.S. Amateur runner-up (must be an amateur)

6. Winners of the Masters Tournament (2019-2023)

7. Winners of the PGA Championship (2018-2023)

8. Winners of The Open Championship, conducted by The R&A (2018-2022)

9. Winners of The Players Championship (2021-2023)

10. Winner of the 2022 DP World Tour BMW PGA Championship

11. Those players who qualified and were eligible for the season-ending 2022 Tour Championship*

12. Multiple winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the FedEx Cup, from the conclusion of the 2022 U.S. Open (June 16-19) to the initiation of the 2023 U.S. Open

13. The top five players in the 2022-23 FedEx Cup standings as of May 22, 2023, who are not otherwise exempt*

14. The points leader from the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season using combined points earned on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List and points earned in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals*

15. The top two players from the final 2022 DP World Tour Rankings who are not otherwise exempt as of May 22, 2023**

16. The top player on the 2023 Race to Dubai Rankings as of May 22, 2023, who is not otherwise exempt**

17. The top two finishers from the 2023 DP World Tour U.S. Open Qualifying Series, who are not otherwise exempt**

18. Winner of the 2022 British Amateur (must be an amateur)

19. Winner of the 2022 Mark H. McCormack Medal (Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking) (must be an amateur)

20. Winner of the 2023 NCAA D-I Men’s Golf Championship (must be an amateur)

21. Winner of the 2023 Latin America Amateur (must be an amateur)

22. From the current Official World Golf Ranking, the top 60 point leaders and ties as of May 22, 2023

23. From the current Official World Golf Ranking, the top 60 point leaders and ties as of June 12, 2023 (if not previously exempt)

24. Special exemptions selected by the USGA

*Note 1: For Exemptions F-11, F-13 and F-14, players must be considered eligible per PGA Tour regulations at the time the exemption is determined to qualify for the exemption.

**Note 2: For Exemptions F-15, F-16 and F-17, players must be in DP World Tour Membership at the time the exemption is determined to qualify for the exemption.