10 Past Champs Among 3,001 Entries for 42nd U.S. Senior Open

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The USGA has accepted 3,001 entries for the 42nd U.S. Senior Open Championship, scheduled for June 23-26, 2022 on Saucon Valley Country Club’s Old Course, in Bethlehem, Pa. Ten champions are among the 77 players who are currently fully exempt into the championship.

Jim Furyk, the 2021 champion and a Pennsylvania native, and nine other Senior Open champions are fully exempt from having to qualify for the championship. They are: Olin Browne (2011), Roger Chapman (2012), Fred Funk (2009), Bernhard Langer (2010), Jeff Maggert (2015), Colin Montgomerie (2014), Gene Sauers (2016), Steve Stricker (2019) and David Toms (2018). Furyk posted a three-stroke victory last year at Omaha (Neb.) Country Club to become the eighth player to win both the U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open.

“The USGA is pleased to bring senior golf’s most prestigious championship to Saucon Valley Country Club and the Lehigh Valley for a third time,” said John Bodenhamer, chief championships officer for the USGA. “It is gratifying to see the worldwide interest that thousands of golfers have in competing for both a place in the championship field and ultimately earning the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy as champion.”

This year’s total number of entries is the third-highest in championship history. The record was established in 2002, when 3,101 golfers applied to play, while 3,007 entered in 2000. The USGA accepted entries from golfers in 49 states, including 116 from host state Pennsylvania, as well as the District of Columbia and 40 foreign countries.

The U.S. Senior Open is open to professional golfers, and amateurs with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 3.4 who are at least 50 years of age by the start of championship play.

Qualifying will be played over 18 holes at 33 sites across the United States between May 2 and June 1. There are qualifying sites in 25 states, including five in California, three in Florida and two each in Pennsylvania and Texas. Additional places in the 156-player field are reserved for eligible winners of official PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions events in the weeks remaining before the 2022 U.S. Senior Open.

There are five U.S. Open champions among the 77 exempt players. They include two-time champions Ernie Els (1994, 1997), Retief Goosen (2001, 2004) and Lee Janzen (1993, 1998), as well as Michael Campbell (2005) and Furyk (2003). Nine U.S. Open runners-up are also entered: David Duval (2009), Els (2000), Furyk (2006, 2007, 2016), Miguel Angel Jimenez (2000), Tom Lehman (1996), Davis Love III (1996), Rocco Mediate (2008), Montgomerie (1994, 1997, 2006) and Jeff Sluman (1992).

Major champions are also among the group of exempt players and include Masters winners – Fred Couples, Langer, Mark O’Meara, Vijay Singh and Mike Weir; PGA champions – Padraig Harrington, Love III, Singh, Sluman, Toms and Y.E. Yang; and winners of The Open Championship – Mark Calcavecchia, Darren Clarke, Duval, Els, Harrington, Lehman and O’Meara.

Rick Sanders, a 58-year-old amateur from La Mirada, Calif., submitted his entry eight minutes before the deadline of 5 p.m. EDT on April 27. Tim Taylor, a 57-year-old amateur from Chandler, Ariz., was the first entrant on Feb. 22.

Saucon Valley Country Club will become the first course to host the U.S. Senior Open Championship three times. The club was the host site in 1992 when Larry Laoretti posted a four-stroke victory over Jim Colbert and in 2000 when five-time USGA champion Hale Irwin defeated Bruce Fleisher by three strokes for the second of his two Senior Open titles.

To see the full list of 77 currently exempt golfers, click here.