DUBLIN, Ohio – The Memorial Tournament honored Grayson Murray in a pre-tournament ceremony, as the two-time PGA Tour winner who died by suicide on May 25 had qualified for the tournament by virtue of his victory at the Sony Open in January.
Murray, 30, who died at his Florida home after withdrawing from the Charles Schwab Challenge, was also exempt from next week’s US Open at Pinehurst No. 2 as he was in the top 60 in the Official World Rankings. Golf to May 20.
The OWGR in a statement said it still lists Murray “for the time being as a golf community mourns his loss.”
At No. 61 in the rankings, Murray could return to the top 60 after the Memorial Tournament due to the system’s formula that ranks based on events played exactly in the last two years.
If that happens, the United States Golf Association is prepared to remove him from its qualifying criteria if that would affect another player who might otherwise have qualified through the top 60 exemption category, which will be used to help to fill the field on Monday.
“Grayson was fully exempt for the US Open through the F-21 exemption category (Top 60 in the official world rankings as of May 20, 2024) and his place has been returned to the rankings according to the protocols in place when a player exempt is no longer. competing in the championship,” the USGA said in a statement.
Casey Jarvis, who was the first substitute after England’s final qualifier on May 20, has been moved to camp next week.
The F-22 exemption category is the top 60 ranked players as of June 10. “Grayson Murray will be removed from the OWGR list used to determine the top 60 ranked players,” the statement said.
Adam Scott, who lost in a tiebreaker and is the first alternate in the Springfield, Ohio, qualifier, is ranked 60th in the OWGR but is not competing in the Memorial Tournament. His divisor in the OWGR formula allows for the possibility of him moving up, but seven of the next nine players behind Scott in the OWGR are in the Memorial field and have the potential to move into the top 60.
The US Open field currently has 150 players. Robert MacIntyre, who won the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday, moved up to 39th place and will earn a spot through the June 10 exemption bracket.
That leaves five openings for players who move into the OWGR top 60 and are not otherwise exempt. If those spots are left unfilled (three or four are more than likely left open), the USGA uses an undisclosed allocation list for players who are alternates across its 13 qualifying sites.
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