Eric Spencer, a 51-year-old amateur from Bloomfield, Michigan, submitted his entry only 15 seconds before the deadline. Benjamin Knott, a 32-year-old amateur from Boston, Massachusetts, was the first entrant on Feb. 22.
All in all, 10,187 golfers have entered to compete in the 2023 U.S. Open, coming June 15-18 at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course. That’s the highest number of entries in history and only the second time more than 10,000 people have entered, including 2014 at Pinehurst No. 2.
The USGA accepted entries from golfers in all 50 states, including 1,282 from California, as well as Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and 87 foreign countries.
“The U.S. Open is unique in major championship golf in that the qualifying process provides thousands of professional and amateur golfers with diverse backgrounds from around the world the opportunity to follow their dream and earn a place in the field,” John Bodenhamer, the USGA Chief Championships Officer, said in a release. “We look forward to returning to Los Angeles for the first time in 75 years, welcoming the 156 players to the championship and showcasing The Los Angeles Country Club.”
It’s the first time Los Angeles Country Club has hosted the U.S. Open and the first time since 1948 that the U.S. Open has been contested in Los Angeles.
Eleven past champions are fully exempt into the field, including 2022 winner Matt Fitzpatrick, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
Local qualifying, conducted over 18 holes at 109 sites in 44 states and Canada, will take place between April 17-May 22. Players who advance out of local qualifying will join a group of locally exempt players in final qualifying, which will be conducted over 36 holes at 10 sites in the United States and three international sites. Final qualifying returns to England for the first time since 2019 on May 16, while two qualifiers are set for May 22, one in Texas and one in Japan, and 10 are scheduled on Monday, June 5: two in Ohio and one each in California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Washington and Canada.
Four U.S. Open champions – Geoff Ogilvy (2006), Lucas Glover (2009), Graeme McDowell (2010) and Webb Simpson (2012) – are registered for the 123rd championship and are exempt into final qualifying. McDowell is scheduled to play in Dallas on May 22, while Ogilvy, Glover and Simpson will attempt to qualify on June 5; Ogilvy and Glover in Columbus, Ohio, and Simpson in Toronto, Canada.
To be eligible, players must have a Handicap Index not exceeding 1.4, or be a professional.
The number of fully exempt players will increase with the inclusion of the top-60 point leaders and ties from the Official World Golf Ranking, as of May 22 and June 12. The winner of the PGA Championship (May 18-21) and any multiple winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship will also earn exemptions. Also, the top-five players in the 2022-23 FedEx Cup Standings as of May 22 who are not otherwise exempt, will secure a place in the field.
As of April 13, there are 52 golfers fully exempt into the 156-player field.