European Senior Tour Members have been given two additional exempt places in this year’s US Senior Open Championship, meaning that Paul Wesselingh and Chris Williams will now be part of the field at Omaha Country Club, in Nebraska.
The United States Golf Association has extended its exemption category from the top four on the previous year’s Senior Tour Order of Merit to the top six.
That means Wesselingh and Williams, who finished fifth and sixth respectively on the Order of Merit, are now exempt for the 34th US Senior Open, from July 11-14.
They will join Barry Lane (second), Tim Thelen (third) Peter Fowler (fourth) in the field, as well as defending champion Roger Chapman, the winner of the 2012 European Senior Tour Order of Merit.
Colin Montgomerie, the 2010 European Ryder Cup Captain who turns 50 in June, will also be exempt to make his Senior Tour debut in the event under the category of playing members of the five most current United States and European Ryder Cup teams.
Andy Stubbs, Managing Director of the European Senior Tour, said: “We are grateful to the USGA Championship Committee for agreeing to extend its exemption to six players from our Order of Merit, allowing two more of our members the opportunity to play in the US Senior Open.
“I’m sure that this chance will be wholeheartedly accepted and we hope that one of the Senior Tour members can emulate the success of Roger Chapman and his inspirational victory at Indianwood in 2012.”
Chapman finished two shots clear of the American trio of Fred Funk, Tom Lehman and Corey Pavin and German Bernhard Langer last year to add the title to the US Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid he won two months previously. He became only the fourth player after Gary Player (1987), Jack Nicklaus (1991) and Hale Irwin (1998) to claim both trophies in the same season.
