2008 US Open Qualification

Nick Dougherty of England hits his approach shot to the 18th green during the first round of the 107th U.S. Open Championship at Oakmont Country Club on June 14, 2007 in Oakmont, Pennsylvania The 2008 US Open is set to take place at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California in June of 2008. There are a number of factors that determine which golf players may automatically qualify for the US Open. You can read profiles of these 2008 US Open players on our 2008 US Open player profile page. These players have all already qualified for the 2008 US Open based on various key major championship wins in the last few years.

The US Open can be contested by any professional golfer or amateur golfer who has a handicap of not more than 1.4. There are no minimum age limits. Qualification can be gained either through playing at qualifying tournaments or can be granted automatically through wins at other major championship tournaments.

Approximately half of the field of 156 players competing in any US Open is comprised of players who automatically qualified for the tournament. There are a number of ways for players to gain exemption from 2008 US Open qualification, these include:

  • Winning the US Open within the last ten years
  • Finishing in the top 15 at the previous year's US Open
  • Winning The Masters championship within the last five years
  • Winning The Open Championship within the last five years
  • Winning the PGA Championship within the last five years
  • Finishing in the top 30 on the PGA Tour money list from the preceding year
  • Finishing in the top 15 on the European Tour money list from the preceding year
  • Being in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings as of two weeks prior to the championship

Players who do not automatically qualify for the US Open by meeting at least one of the above criteria must successfully qualify for the tournament through performing well in local qualifying and sectional qualifying. Local qualifying, consisting of 18 holes, is played at 100 courses in the United States. Successful players from local qualifying go through to sectional qualifying, which is played over 36 holes mostly across the United States, with one qualifying event in Europe and one in Japan.