2024 U.S. Open: Final List of Qualified LIV Golf Players Explored

Greg Norman’s army of LIV Golfers at the U.S. Open will be a little slimmer than last year. Only twelve from the Saudi-backed side will take a trip to Pinehurst No. 2. Nine of them were already exempt based on the existing criteria. Three of them joined their LIV Golf peers after the final qualifying on June 3. With that, we have a full list of LIV golfers the third major of the season. 

Past champions of the U.S. Open

Bryson DeChambeau (2020), Brooks Koepka (2017), Jon Rahm (2021), Dustin Johnson (2016), and Martin Kaymer (2014) are exempt based on the first criteria itself. USGA grants a ten-year exemption to former U.S. Open champions. 

The 2021 U.S. Open was Jon Rahm’s first major triumph. The Legion XIII captain was also the first Spaniard to win the U.S. Open. The Spaniard was the best performer from this group at Los Angeles Country Club last year. 

Top-10 and ties from last year’s U.S. Open

Cameron Smith of Ripper GC was exempt based on the second criterion. Golfers who finish within the top 10 or tie for the 10th spot earn an automatic spot for the next year. The Aussie was the best performer among the fifteen players. 

Winner of the PGA Championship

Phil Mickelson is qualified for this year’s U.S. Open based on his 2021 PGA Championship victory. Lefty became the oldest major winner at Ocean Course three years ago, edging past Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen, both of whom are, incidentally, now LIV Golf Pros, by two strokes. Notably, the 53-year-old already received a special invite for the 2021 U.S. Open, which he didn’t require eventually. 

2023 Race to Dubai rankings

Race to Dubai Rankings, i.e., the top players in the DP World Tour, is a direct pathway for European Tour players. Adrian Meronk, who joined LIV Golf this year, earned his spot in that category. 

Meronk was fourth in the 2023 Race to Dubai Rankings, and USGA grants an exemption to the top two players. However, Rory McIlroy, Nicolai Hojgaard, and Jon Rahm, who were ahead of him, were already exempt through other criteria, which opened the doors for Pinehurst No.2 for the Austrian. 

Qualified and ‘eligible’ for Tour Championship

Last year, Talor Gooch missed out on the U.S. Open because of a last-minute tweak to the criteria. The USGA made it mandatory that only those who qualified and are ‘eligible’ to play in the Tour Championship will qualify for the national major. Tyrell Hatton, who joined Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII this year after playing in two PGA Tour events, earned his spot through this criteria. Hatton was T16 at last year’s Tour Championship. 

This year’s U.S. Open Qualifiers

Only three LIV Golf pros punched their tickets at the U.S. Open qualifiers, two from the 17 in the final qualifier of June 3. Eugenio Chacarra was the first to do so two weeks ago in Dallas. The U.S. Open will be the 24-year-old’s major debut. His Fireballs captain, Sergio Garcia, though, had to settle for the first alternate after crashing out in the playoff. 

On June 3, David Puig, and Dean Burmester, both of who are also exempt into the Open Championship, emerged with a broad smile on their faces. Burmester of Stinger GC netted a T6 at The Bear’s Club in Jupiter, Florida. Whereas, Puig, 22, qualified from Daly City on the back of a brilliant 12-under.

Bigwigs like Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, and Ian Poulter will miss the 2024 U.S. Open. Niemanna failed to qualify on June 3. Reed withdrew from the qualifier earlier. Talor Gooch never enlisted himself in the field, citing scheduling conflicts.