Rising SA golf stars earn spot in US Open field

South Africa’s Garrick Higgo, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Wilco Nienaber have earned their spot in the field for this year’s US Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

On Monday, the United States Golf Association (USGA) announced that 27 players earned a place in the 121st US Open Championship, which is scheduled to be held from 17-20 June on the South Course at Torrey Pines.

Players from the top 60 in the world rankings as of 24 May, who had not already qualified, all secured trips to this year’s third major of the year.

Bezuidenhout, ranked 43rd, will be playing in his second US Open after finishing 55th at Winged Foot last year.

Higgo has had a whirlwind few months following his two wins in three weeks on the European Tour and the 22-year-old will be making his US Open debut and playing in his second consecutive major after finishing tied for 64th at last week’s PGA Championship.

Wilco Nienaber of South Africa will make his major debut at the US Open next month. Picture: Luke Walker/Getty Images

Meanwhile, Nienaber will make his major debut at Torrey Pines next month after booking his place in the prestigious field.

Nienaber joined Wade Ormsby (Asian Tour) and Brad Kennedy (PGA Tour of Australasia), who earned exemptions based on their performances on other professional tours.

Twenty-one-year-old Nienaber currently leads the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit following his maiden title win at the Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt earlier this month.

The trio will join SA’s top-ranked golfer, Louis Oosthuizen, who automatically qualified for this year’s event thanks to his third-place finish at last year’s US Open.