A total of 18 European Tour Members and nine past Champions are among 63 players currently exempt at close of entries for the 2003 US Open Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club, Matteson, Illinois, from June 12-15.
The number of fully exempt players will increase with the inclusion of the top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking,the top ten money winners on the US PGA Tour and the leading two players on the Volvo Order of Merit as of May 26.
Among the list of former Champions are South Africans Ernie Els (winner in 1994 and 1997) and Retief Goosen (2001), currently first and 11th respectively on the Volvo Order of Merit.
Also included in the list of exemptions are Nick Faldo of England and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, who both missed out in play-offs for the US Open Championship in 1988 and 1994 respectively.
The list of European Tour Members is: Thomas Björn, Angel Cabrera, Michael Campbell, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen, Padraig Harrington, Trevor Immelman, Paul Lawrie, Stephen Leaney, Peter Lonard, Colin Montgomerie, José Maria Olazábal, Eduardo Romero, Justin Rose, Adam Scott and Vijay Singh.
