The US Golf Association confirms another 24 players for the 2012 US Open
The US Golf Association has announced 24 players, who will be part of next month’s US Open at the Lake Course of The Olympic Club, San Francisco, scheduled from June 14 to 17, 2012.
According to the USGA, the names were added according to the current rankings of the players in the Official World Golf Rankings.
With the addition of these 24 players, the field has now increased to 77 players.
Ernie Els, the two-time US Open Champion, is also among the newly added players, as he is currently listed at the 44th place in the rankings.
Els missed the chance of playing the Masters Tournament this year, as he was ranked outside the top 50, the least criteria for the qualification for the first major event of the year.
It was a major blow for him as he never missed the Masters in the last 18 years. Therefore, he was really disappointed for not being called on special invitation for the tournament.
Yet, he respected the tournament official’s choice for not inviting him for the event as he believed that they might have some solid reasons behind the decision.
"Of course I'll miss it, but I can't blame the Masters committee for not inviting me," Els wrote on his website after he failed to record a win at the Transitions Championship in March that could have earned him a ticket to the Augusta National. "It is an
invitational event, and they have their reasons to invite somebody or not".
“To be honest, it'll be quite a weird feeling not being there," he added.
However, this time he did not have any issues related to his chances for making it to the US Open because of the improvement in his rankings in the last few weeks.
Despite missing the chance to play the Masters, the golf commentators believe that he can be a strong contender in the US open because of his recent form.
Right after the week of the Masters, he recorded two consecutive fourth-place finishes in the Tavistock Cup and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.
He also stood second in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans after losing to Jason Dufner in the playoffs.
Therefore, he just needs to focus a little extra on his putting that can change the scores in his favour and help him register the first title win in two years.
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