Officials from the 43rd U.S. Senior Open Championship, conducted by the USGA have announced that Wisconsin natives Steve Stricker, the 2019 champion, and Jerry Kelly, a two-time runner-up, have filed entries as exempt players. The 2023 U.S. Senior Open will be contested at SentryWorld, in Stevens Point, Wis., from June 27-July 2.
Stricker, a Madison resident who is originally from Edgerton, posted a record-tying six-stroke victory in 2019 at Notre Dame’s Warren Course. He also carded a final-round 65 last year at Saucon Valley Country Club’s Old Course, in Bethlehem, Pa., to come up one stroke shy of champion Padraig Harrington. Stricker, 56, has captured 12 PGA Tour and 12 PGA Tour Champions titles, and captained the U.S. to victory in the 2021 Ryder Cup Matches in his home state (Whistling Straits). Stricker, a veteran of 22 U.S. Opens, won the 1984 Wisconsin state high school championship at SentryWorld and has claimed five Wisconsin State Opens.
Kelly, 56, of Madison, has tied for second in two U.S. Senior Opens and owns four top-10 finishes in five starts. He was runner-up at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs in 2018 and to Stricker at Notre Dame in 2019. Kelly has recorded 11 PGA Tour Champions victories, including a pair of Bridgestone Senior Players titles in 2020 and 2022. A three-time PGA Tour winner, Kelly has competed in 10 U.S. Opens and captured the 1992 Wisconsin State Open.
Additionally, Stricker joins a list of five U.S. Senior Open champions who have recently filed entries. The list includes Brad Bryant (2007), Roger Chapman (2012), Jeff Maggert (2015) and David Toms (2018).
The U.S. Senior Open Championship is for golfers age 50 and older and is open to any professional and any amateur with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 3.4.
Those champions who were previously announced as having entered are: Fred Funk (2009), Bernhard Langer (2010), Olin Browne (2011), Kenny Perry (2013, 2017), Colin Montgomerie (2014), Gene Sauers (2016), Jim Furyk (2021) and Harrington (2022).
Ticket information can be found by clicking here. A daily championship gallery ticket is $50 and a weekly gallery ticket is $165. Hospitality experiences include PJ’s Champions Club and Experience WI (Wisconsin).
The championship provides free admission to all youths 17 and under who are accompanied by a ticketed adult. All ticket holders receive complimentary parking with shuttle service to the championship.
SentryWorld, a public, parkland course in central Wisconsin, was developed by Sentry Insurance in 1982 as part of a sports complex that includes indoor tennis courts, banquet space and restaurants. At the heart of the 200-acre property lies the championship layout, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. In 2013, Jones oversaw a major renovation that was led by architects Bruce Charlton and Jay Blasi. The facility has hosted two previous USGA championships: the 1986 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links won by Cindy Schreyer and the 2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior won by current Stanford golfer Lei Ye.
