The USGA announced that 35 additional golfers, including 2015 U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth, have earned full exemptions into the 126th U.S. Open, to be contested June 18-21 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y. These exemptions bring the total number of exempt players to 86. 

Aaron Rai, winner of the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, received a five-year exemption into the U.S. Open, including a return to Philadelphia for the 2030 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. 

Exemptions were awarded to 24 players who earned a place in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking® (OWGR) as of May 18, 2026. 

Adam Scott, No. 49 in the OWGR, will make his 100th straight appearance in a major at the 2026 U.S. Open, joining World Golf Hall of Famer and four-time U.S. Open champion Jack Nicklaus as the only two players to compete in 100–or–more consecutive majors. Scott began his streak at the 2001 Open Championship, and the 2013 Masters champion has played in every U.S. Open since 2002. 

Spieth, a three-time major champion, ended 2025 ranked No. 80 in the OWGR but has made 12 out of 13 cuts on the PGA Tour this season, including three top-20s in signature events and a tie for 11th at The Masters, which propelled him 33 spots to No. 47. He joins 10 other U.S. Open champions who are currently exempt for 2026. 

At No. 21, Patrick Reed is the highest-ranked player in the current OWGR who was not previously exempt. Reed will make his 12th straight U.S. Open start. The 2018 Masters champion has missed the cut just once in his U.S. Open career, shooting 74-74 at Oakmont in 2016. He finished fourth in 2018 at Shinnecock, his only top-10 finish in the championship. Si Woo Kim is the next highest-ranked player at No. 24 who was not previously exempt. Kim will make his 10th consecutive start at the U.S. Open and has five made cuts, including a tie for 13th in his first start in 2017 at Erin Hills. 

Kristoffer Reitan will make his U.S. Open debut as a professional after jumping 48 spots in the OWGR following his signature event win at the Truist Championship, his first PGA Tour victory in just 15 starts. Reitan, as an amateur, became the first Norwegian to qualify for the U.S. Open in 2018 at Shinnecock Hills, his only other U.S. Open start (fellow Norwegian Viktor Hovland won the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach later that year). 

Alex Smalley moved up 36 spots after his T-2 finish at the PGA Championship and will make his second U.S. Open start, and first since 2017 at Erin Hills. 

The other players who earned full exemptions through the current OWGR are: Nicolai Hojgaard, Kurt Kitayama, Min Woo Lee, Ryan Gerard, Rickie Fowler, Jake Knapp, Jason Day, Marco Penge, Daniel Berger, Michael Kim, Matt McCarty, Nicolas Echavarria, Samuel Stevens, Ryan Fox, Michael Brennan, Pierceson Coody, David Puig and Ryo Hisatsune. 

Ten other players earned exemptions based on their performances in four additional categories. The top five players in the PGA Tour FedEx Cup standings are Alex Fitzpatrick, Sahith Theegala, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Patrick Rodgers and Matthias Schmid. The top two players from the final 2025 DP World Tour Race to Dubai Rankings, who were not otherwise exempt, are Laurie Canter and Adrien Saddier. Jayden Schaper is the highest ranked player on the current Race to Dubai Rankings who was not otherwise exempt. 

Joaquin Niemann is the top player who is not otherwise exempt and finished the top three of the 2025 LIV Golf League individual standings. Lucas Herbert is the top player who is not otherwise exempt and in the top three of the current LIV Golf League individual standings. 

Looking ahead, the individual winner of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship (May 29 - June 3) and any multiple winners of PGA Tour events since last year’s U.S. Open that award a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship prior to the U.S. Open will also earn an exemption. The number of fully exempt golfers may increase with the addition of the top 60 players from the OWGR as of Monday, June 15. 

Two of the final qualifiers for the 2026 U.S. Open were held in Dallas and England on Monday, May 18. Japan’s final qualifier is May 25.  

The final 36-hole qualifiers will take place at 10 sites on June 8: Del Paso Country Club (Sacramento, Calif.), Springfield (Ohio) Country Club, Emerald Valley Golf Club (Creswell, Ore.), Woodmont Country Club (Rockville, Md.), BallenIisles Country Club (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Century Country Club and Golf Club of Purchase (N.Y.), Gaston Country Club (Gastonia, N.C.), Lakes Golf & Country Club (Westerville, Ohio), Hawks Ridge Golf Club (Ball Ground, Ga.) and Lambton Golf & Country Club (Canada). 

The U.S. Open was previously contested at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in 1896 (James Foulis), 1986 (Raymond Floyd),1995 (Corey Pavin), 2004 (Retief Goosen) and 2018 (Brooks Koepka). 

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, one of the USGA’s five founding member clubs, is the only venue to host the national championship in three different centuries.