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Friday, August 28, 2020

Seven Amateurs Added to Field for 120th U.S. Open Championship at Winged Foot

Exemptions Based on Current World Amateur Golf Ranking / WAGR


(LIBERTY CORNER, N.J.) – The United States Golf Association (USGA) announced that seven amateurs have earned entry into the 120th U.S. Open Championship, which will be hosted by Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course), in Mamaroneck, N.Y., on Sept. 17-20, 2020.

As previously announced, the 144-player field for the championship will be entirely comprised of exempt players due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The seven amateurs earned exemptions based on the World Amateur Golf Ranking / WAGR as of Aug. 19.

Those exempt are in the top seven of the WAGR: No. 1 Takumi Kanaya, of Japan; No. 2 Ricky Castillo, of Yorba Linda, Calif.; No. 3 Chun An Yu, of Chinese Taipei; No. 4 Davis Thompson, of Saint Simons Island, Ga.; No. 5 Eduard Rousaud, of Spain, No. 6 Sandy Scott, of Scotland and No. 7 John Pak, of Scotch Plains, N.J.

Kanaya, 22, will compete in his first U.S. Open. He won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in 2018 and was the runner-up last year. Kanaya also tied for third in last December’s Australian Open. Castillo, 19, earned first-team All-America recognition as a freshman at the University of Florida in 2019-20.

Yu, 22, who is a fifth-year senior at Arizona State University, will play in his third consecutive U.S. Open. He was a quarterfinalist in the 2017 U.S. Amateur. Thompson, 21, was chosen first-team All-America as a junior at the University of Georgia and advanced to the quarterfinals in the 2020 Western Amateur. Rousaud, 20, won two tournaments this year in Spain and reached the Round of 32 in the 2019 U.S. Amateur.

Scott, 22, and Pak, 21, both competed in the 2019 Walker Cup Match at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in England. Scott, a member of the Great Britain and Ireland Team, earned second-team All-America recognition as a senior at Texas Tech University in 2019-20. Pak, who is entering his senior year at Florida State University, won all three of his matches as a member of the victorious USA Team. He is a three-time All-American and All-South Region selection.

With the addition of these players, 13 amateurs are currently in the 2020 U.S. Open field. Andy Ogletree and John Augenstein earned exemptions as last year’s U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up, respectively, at Pinehurst No. 2. In 2019, Preston Summerhays (U.S. Junior Amateur) and Lukas Michel (U.S. Mid-Amateur) won USGA championships. Cole Hammer was last year’s Mark H. McCormack Medal recipient as the world’s top-ranked amateur, while James Sugrue won the 2019 Amateur Championship, conducted by The R&A.

To learn more, visit usga.org.

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