8 big names missing from the US Open

The full field is now set as major championship golf makes a long awaited return to Los Angeles this week.

Amidst the backdrop of the shock merger between the sport’s warring factions, the stars will battle it out for the US Open title at the Los Angeles Country Club in California.

Matt Fitzpatrick defends his crown in LA at a new USGA venue that is regarded as one of the most exclusive clubs in all of America.

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Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler are the favourites for the third major of the year and will head a world class 156-man field.

However, some notable names will still be missing from the event. Here’s a look at eight players who will not be pegging it up at the US Open this week…

Ludvig Aberg

For a player who has only just made his first professional appearance, it is hardly alarming news that Aberg will not be teeing it up in the third major of the year. But such is the hype around this talented young Swede, it was more surprising that he missed out on the field at Los Angeles.

Aberg was ranked the world No.1 amateur before finishing T25 at the Canadian Open on his pro debut and has been tipped to shine immediately on the PGA Tour after earning his card through the inaugural University rankings list. There are even growing whispers he could be a wildcard option for Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup team in Rome. But he missed out in qualifying by three shots in Toronto and will not be at the US Open.

Will Zalatoris

There was welcome news for Will Zalatoris fans at the PGA Championship last month, where he confirmed he was pain-free for the first time in two years and targeting a September return. But there will be more frustration as he sits and watches this US Open tournament from afar as he ramps up his recovery. The American was agonisingly edged out by Fitzpatrick in last year’s event and plays his best golf in major championships.

Talor Gooch

Gooch was at the centre of the biggest controversy concerning the field for this year’s US Open after accusing the USGA of “retroactively” changing the goalposts to make him ineligible for the tournament. It appeared Gooch had qualified through making the FedEx Cup’s Tour Championship finale last season, but he could not compete in that event because he was suspended for his move to LIV Golf. He was way off the cut mark at the PGA Championship and the USGA’s rule tweak means he won’t be teeing it up at the LA Country Club.

Tiger Woods

The absence of Woods in the field is hardly surprising, but there is always less interest from the wider sporting audience in a major without the 15-time major champion. He is still recovering from his latest fusion surgery after withdrawing from the Masters and it is highly unlikely we will see him in competitive action before next year’s tournament at Augusta National.

Lee Westwood

Westwood was for so long a fixture in majors but the veteran did not tee it up at the Masters or PGA Championship and did not even attempt to qualify for the US Open. The LIV golfer’s former European Ryder Cup teammate Sergio Garcia did make it through the gruelling qualifying stages, but the Englishman, who has twice finished third in the tournament, will not be competing.

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Marc Leishman

There will be 15 LIV players teeing it up in Los Angeles, but Leishman was one of those to miss out. Carlos Ortiz, Sebastian Munoz and David Puig joined Garcia in the field in final qualifying, but Leishman’s second round 74 in his bracket meant he missed the mark by three. It is the first major Leishman will have missed since the 2015 Masters.

Graeme McDowell

McDowell’s world ranking has slid into oblivion since his move to LIV but he came agonisingly close to playing once again in a tournament he so famously won at Pebble Beach in 2010. The Northern Irishman’s US Open exemptions have long since expired but he almost made it the hard way, finishing one short of a playoff when Garcia qualified in Dallas.

Harold Varner III

Varner is not a name frequently found at the top of major championship leaderboards, but his form heading into qualifying for the US Open made him favourite to make the field. He had just won LIV’s Washington DC event, but will miss his first major since this event in 2021 after finishing three short in qualifying in North Carolina.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.