Scotland's Robert MacIntyre has received a timely boost ahead of his return to competitive golf, with confirmation of his place in this year's rescheduled US Open.
The United States Golf Association today announced new exemption categories for the championship, now due to take place at Winged Foot Golf Club from September 17-20 following its COVID-19 enforced postponement.
They include spots in the field for all players ranked within the top-70 on the OWGR as of March 15, when the rankings were frozen due to the coronavirus pandemic.
That has opened the door for Glencruitten man MacIntyre, who was ranked 67th that week.
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Consequently, the reigning European Tour 'Rookie of the Year' can now look forward to playing in his first-ever US Open.
To date, the 23-year-old has only played in one major championship, last summer's Open Championship at Royal Portrush where he finished in a tie for sixth.
He also has August's rescheduled US PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco to look forward to.
Speaking to bunkered.co.uk, MacIntyre's manager Iain Stoddart said: "We're obviously delighted that Bob is in the US Open. It's what we had expected when we got word that they were planning to rejig the entry criteria following the cancellation of the qualifying events.
"We now have to weigh up what that will actually mean in practical terms, considering the restrictions that are still in place due to COVID-19, and try to build a schedule around about it."
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With the US still imposing strict quarantining on all inbound visitors, one could reasonably assume that these plans could include trying to land some sponsors' invites for MacIntyre to PGA Tour events leading up to the US Open.
Like the majority of the players on the European Tour, MacIntyre hasn't played a competitive round since the final round of the Qatar Masters on March 8, after which the tour went into coronavirus lockdown.
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