I do not get this one at all why does our US Open offer Qualifying in England and Japan

Does the British Open offer it outside of Britain

Does the Austrailian Open offer it outside of Austrailia

Why?

Is the USGA trying to keep more American players out.

Now if I am wrong and these other countrys are doing it so be it.

But come on fair is fair


So what do you guys think?

British Open has qualifying all over the world, including Michigan this year

Exactly why I asked and how long has this been going on

US OPEN its open to all players and by having qualifying in multiple countries you get the best players to play. When the best players play they make more money.

smiles and waits for a simple answer how long has this qualifying outside the states and outside of the Uk for the Open Championship been going on?

you coulda just looked it up it took all of 5 seconds to find out.

this is from wikipedia .

Local Qualifying is open to players from all over the world, and it used to attract some big names. In order to make it easier for professionals from outside Britain and Ireland to compete for a place, the R&A introduced International Qualifying in 2004. This comprises five 36-hole qualifying events, one each in Africa, Australasia, Asia, America and Europe. Only players who have a rating in the Official World Golf Rankings may enter, which is a more stringent standard than for Local Qualifying. Thirty-six places are available in International Qualifying. Eligible players may choose whether to enter local qualifying or international qualifying, but they may not enter both.

Having qualifying sites outside of the US is fine with me. It's an international game. I don't think of it as "ours" and "theirs".

See the press release from the USGA website below. It appears the USGA added international qualifying one year after the British Open did so, and for the same reason: to attract more of the big name internationals....

USGA Introduces International Qualifying For This Year's U.S. Open

February 14, 2005
E-mail address: mediarelations@usga.org

Two international qualifying sites will be among the 13 sectional qualifiers held to determine spots for the 2005 U.S. Open, the United States Golf Association has announced. The 36-hole international qualifiers will be conducted at Ono Golf Club near Kobe, Japan, May 30 and at Walton Heath Golf Club near London, England, June 6. The remaining 11 sectional qualifiers will be held from June 6-7 at sites in the U.S.

The 2005 U.S. Open will be held from June 16-19 at Pinehurst (No. 2 Course) Resort in Pinehurst, N.C. Sectional qualifiers historically determine roughly 80 spots in the 156-player U.S. Open field, with the remaining golfers having earned full exemptions from having to qualify.

The move is intended to encourage participation from a growing number of international players who are exempt from first-stage qualifying (local) but who, historically, have not competed in the final stage of qualifying (sectional) in the USA because of scheduling and travel-related issues.

The Japan qualifier will be conducted with assistance from officials of the Japan Golf Association, while the England qualifier will be aided by officials from the European PGA Tour and the R&A.