United States Amateur Championship (golf)

While most players at the U.S. Amateur advance through sectional qualifying, many players are exempt each year. Below are the exemptions:

1. Winners of the U.S. Amateur each of the last ten years.
2. Runner-up of the U.S. Amateur each of the last three years.
3. Semi-finalists of the U.S. Amateur each of the last two years.
4. Quarter-finalists of the U.S. Amateur the previous year.
5. Any player who qualified for the current year's U.S. Open.
6. Those returning 72 hole scores from the previous year's U.S. Open.
7. The amateur with the lowest score from the current year's U.S. Senior Open.
8. From the U.S. Mid-Amateur: winner each of the last two years and runner-up from the previous year.
9. From the U.S. Amateur Public Links: winner each of the last two years and runner-up from the previous year. Because the Amateur Public Links was discontinued after its 2014 edition, the runner-up exemption disappeared after the 2015 U.S. Amateur, and the winner's exemption disappeared after 2016.
10. From the U.S. Junior Amateur: winner each of the last two years and runner-up from the previous year.
11. From the U.S. Senior Amateur: winner each of the last two years and runner-up from the previous year.
12. Playing members of the two most recent Walker Cup teams.
13. Playing members of the two most recent U.S. Eisenhower Trophy teams.
14. Playing members of the current year's U.S. Men's Copa de las Américas team.
15. Winner of the current year's individual NCAA Division I Championship.
16. Winner of the British Amateur Championship each of the last five years.
17. Top fifty golfers in World Amateur Golf Ranking.
18. Winner of the current year Latin America Amateur Championship.[2]

In all cases, the exemptions only apply if the player has not turned professional as of the tournament date.

Eighteen players have won more than one U.S. Amateur, through 2023:

• 5 wins: Bobby Jones
• 4 wins: Jerome Travers
• 3 wins: Walter Travis, Tiger Woods
• 2 wins: H. J. Whigham, Chandler Egan, Robert Gardner, Chick Evans, Francis Ouimet, Lawson Little, Bud Ward, Willie Turnesa, Harvie Ward, Charles Coe, Jack Nicklaus, Deane Beman, Gary Cowan, Jay Sigel

Twelve players have won both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open Championships, through 2023:

• Jerome Travers: 1907, 1908, 1912, 1913 Amateurs; 1915 Open
• Francis Ouimet: 1914, 1931 Amateurs; 1913 Open
• Chick Evans:^ 1916, 1920 Amateurs; 1916 Open
• Bobby Jones:^ 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930 Amateurs; 1923, 1926, 1929, 1930 Opens
• Lawson Little: 1934, 1935 Amateurs; 1940 Open
• Johnny Goodman: 1937 Amateur; 1933 Open
• Gene Littler: 1953 Amateur; 1961 Open
• Arnold Palmer: 1954 Amateur; 1960 Open
• Jack Nicklaus: 1959, 1961 Amateurs; 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980 Opens
• Jerry Pate: 1974 Amateur; 1976 Open
• Tiger Woods: 1994, 1995, 1996 Amateurs; 2000, 2002, 2008 Opens
• Bryson DeChambeau: 2015 Amateur; 2020 Open
• Matt Fitzpatrick: 2013 Amateur; 2022 Open

Thirteen players have won both the U.S. Amateur and British Amateurs, through 2023:

• Walter Travis: 1900, 1901, 1903 U.S.; 1904 British
• Harold Hilton:^ 1911 U.S.; 1900, 1901, 1911, 1913 British
• Jess Sweetser: 1922 U.S.; 1926 British
• Bobby Jones:^ 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930 U.S.; 1930 British
• Lawson Little:^ 1934, 1935 U.S.; 1934, 1935 British
• Willie Turnesa: 1938, 1948 U.S.; 1947 British
• Dick Chapman: 1940 U.S.; 1951 British
• Harvie Ward: 1955, 1956 U.S.; 1952 British
• Deane Beman: 1960, 1963 U.S.; 1959 British
• Bob Dickson:^ 1967 U.S.; 1967 British
• Steve Melnyk: 1969 U.S.; 1971 British
• Vinny Giles: 1972 U.S.; 1975 British
• Jay Sigel: 1982, 1983 U.S.; 1979 British

Two players have won both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur through 2023:

• Tiger Woods: 1994, 1995, 1996 Amateurs; 1991, 1992, 1993 Junior Amateur
• Nick Dunlap: 2023 Amateur; 2021 Junior Amateur

Two players have won both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links in the same year, through 2023:

• Ryan Moore: 2004
• Colt Knost: 2007

^ Won both in same year. Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam in 1930, winning the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open, British Amateur, and British Open.

• Six
  • Merion Golf Club (1916, 1924, 1930, 1966, 1989, 2005)
  • The Country Club (1910, 1922, 1934, 1957, 1982, 2013)
  • Oakmont Country Club (1919, 1925, 1938, 1969, 2003, 2021)
• Five
  • Pebble Beach Golf Links (1929, 1947, 1961, 1999, 2018)
• Four
  • Chicago Golf Club (1897, 1905, 1909, 1912)
  • Garden City Golf Club (1900, 1908, 1913, 1936)
  • Baltusrol Golf Club (1904, 1926, 1946, 2000)

Source[3][4][5]

The U.S. Amateur results lead to exemptions into other tournaments. Except for the U.S. Open exemption for the winner, the exemption holds only if the golfer retains their amateur status. All the exemptions listed below pertain to only the winner of the U.S. Amateur, unless otherwise stated.

Here are the major exemptions:

• The next 10 years of the U.S. Amateur
• The next 3 years of the U.S. Amateur (runner-up)
• The next 2 years of the U.S. Amateur (semi-finalists)
• The following year's U.S. Amateur (quarter-finalists)
• The following year's U.S. Open (winner and runner-up) (winner is permitted to turn professional before the tournament)
• The following year's Masters Tournament (winner and runner-up)
• The following year's Open Championship[6]
• The next 10 years of the Amateur Championship[7]

Here are the other exemptions:

• The following year's Monroe Invitational (top 8 + top 20 stroke portion)[8]
• The following year's Northeast Amateur (top 8)[9]

• Official site - most of the information is in the archive sections