2010 U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN; 68 GOLFERS CURRENTLY FULLY EXEMPT
Far Hills, N.J. (May 6) - The United States Golf Association has accepted a record 1,296 entries for the 2010 U.S. Women's Open, to be played July 8-11 at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club.
It is the second consecutive year a record number of entries were accepted for the Women's Open. The previous record of 1,278 entries was set in 2009. It is the seventh consecutive year the number of entries for the championship has surpassed 1,000.
The first to file an entry was Catriona Matthew of Scotland, who was one of 31 people to enter on March 3, the first day online applications were available. The last to file was Sherry Andonian Smith of Castle Rock, Colo., who submitted her entry online at 4:57:12 p.m. on May 5, less than three minutes before the official deadline. More than 92 percent of the total entries were received online, including 70 on the last day applications were accepted.
The youngest entrant is 10-year-old Karen Kim of Corona, Calif., with a birth date of May 20, 1999. The oldest player who listed her date of birth on her entry form is Narelle Kirkland of Bryn Mawr, Pa., at age 64.
Entries were received from 47 states (all except Alaska, Maine and Wyoming) and the District of Columbia. In addition to the USA, entries were received from: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, People's Republic of China, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.
Sixty-eight golfers are currently fully exempt from sectional qualifying for the upcoming championship. Defending champion Eun-Hee Ji leads the list of seven past winners who are fully exempt. Ji is joined by: Juli Inkster (1999, 2002); Cristie Kerr (2007); Meg Mallon (1991, 2004); Se Ri Pak (1998); Inbee Park (2008) and Karrie Webb (2000, 2001). Two other past champions, Laura Davies (1987) and Liselotte Neumann (1988), have entered sectional qualifying.
Six spots are reserved for anyone who is not already fully exempt who wins an official LPGA Tour event through the weekend prior to the start of the 2010 Women's Open.
The remainder of the field will be filled via sectional qualifying, which will be played at 20 sites. Qualifying begins May 17 and runs through June 3.
A list of the 68 golfers who are currently fully exempt into the Women's Open follows.
PLAYERS FULLY EXEMPT (68) FOR THE 2010 U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN (as of 5/6/10)
|
Helen Alfredsson |
7 |
| Chie Arimura | 10 |
| Kyeong Bae | 6, 7 |
| Becky Brewerton | 10 |
| Na Yeon Choi | 6, 7, 9 |
| Paula Creamer | 6, 7 |
| Tania Elosegui | 10 |
| Meaghan Francella | 7 |
| Sandra Gal | 7 |
| Natalie Gulbis | 7 |
| Sophie Gustafson | 7, 9, 10 |
| Hee-Won Han | 7 |
| Maria Hjorth | 7 |
| Katherine Hull | 7 |
| M. J. Hur | 7, 9 |
| Pat Hurst | 7 |
| Vicky Hurst | 7 |
| Juli Inkster | 1 |
| Jeong Jang | 4 |
| Mi-Jeong Jeon | 10 |
| Eun-Hee Ji | 1, 6, 7 |
| *Jennifer Johnson | 2 |
| Cristie Kerr | 1, 6, 7, 8 |
| Christina Kim | 7 |
| In-Kyung Kim | 6, 7 |
| Song-Hee Kim | 6, 7, 8 |
| Candie Kung | 6, 7 |
| Brittany Lang | 7 |
| Bo-Mee Lee | 10 |
| Jee Young Lee | 7 |
| Jeong-Eun Lee | 10 |
| Meena Lee | 7 |
| Seon Hwa Lee | 7 |
| Stacy Lewis | 7, 8 |
| Brittany Lincicome | 5, 6, 7 |
| Meg Mallon | 1 |
| Catriona Matthew | 4, 7, 10 |
| Kristy McPherson | 7 |
| Yuko Mitsuka | 10 |
| Ai Miyazato | 6, 7, 8, 9 |
| Mika Miyazato | 7 |
| Shinobu Moromizato | 10 |
| Anna Nordqvist | 3, 7, 9 |
| Ji Young Oh | 7 |
| Se Ri Pak | 3, 7 |
| Hee Young Park | 6, 7 |
| Inbee Park | 1, 7, 8 |
| Suzann Pettersen | 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
| Morgan Pressel | 5, 6, 7 |
| Michele Redman | 7 |
| So-Yeon Ryu | 10 |
| Hee-Kyung Seo | 9, 10 |
| Jiyai Shin | 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
| Marianne Skapnord | 10 |
| Bo Bae Song | 9 |
| *Jennifer Song | 2, 6 |
| Angela Stanford | 7 |
| Sherri Steinhauer | 4 |
| Yani Tseng | 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 |
| Momoko Ueda | 7 |
| Wendy Ward | 7 |
| Karrie Webb | 1, 5, 7 |
| Michelle Wie | 7, 8, 9 |
| Lindsey Wright | 7 |
| Amy Yang | 7 |
| Eunjung Yi | 7 |
| Sakura Yokomine | 10 |
| Sun Young Yoo | 7 |
* = amateur
Key to Player Exemptions -
| 1) | Winners of the U.S. Women's Open Championship for the last 10 years (2000-2009). |
| 2) | Winner and runner-up of the 2009 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship (must be an amateur). |
| 3) | Winners of the LPGA Championship the last five years. |
| 4) | Winners of the Ricoh Women's British Open Championship the last five years. |
| 5) | Winners of the Kraft Nabisco Championship the last five years. |
| 6) | 15 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 15th place from the 2009 U.S. Women's Open Championship. |
| 7) | Top 50 money leaders from the 2009 final official LPGA money list. |
| 8) | Top 10 money leaders from the 2010 official LPGA money list, through May 5. (Must have filed an entry by May 5). |
| 9) | Winners of LPGA co-sponsored events, whose victories are considered official, from the conclusion of the 2009 U.S. Women's Open Championship to the initiation of the 2010 U.S. Women's Open Championship. |
| 10) | Top five money leaders from the 2009 Japan LPGA Tour, Korea LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour. |
| 11) | Special exemptions selected by the USGA. |
About the USGA
The USGA is the national governing body of golf in the USA and Mexico. The USGA annually conducts the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open, U.S. Senior Open and 10 national amateur championships. It also conducts two state team championships and helps conduct the Walker Cup Match, Curtis Cup Match and World Amateur Team Championships.
The USGA also writes the Rules of Golf, conducts equipment testing, provides expert course maintenance consultations, maintains a Handicap System® and celebrates the history of the game. Since 1983, the USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program has awarded more than $31 million to more than 400 research projects for better turf and a better environment at universities across the country. The USGA also funds an ongoing "For the Good of the Game" grants program, which has allocated more than $65 million over 13 years to programs that bring the game's values to youths from disadvantaged backgrounds and people with disabilities.
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