7. Juniors get a pass to the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open
It’s not all that unusual for an amateur to play a major championship – six play the Masters each year and a handful usually make it through sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open. A junior golfer is not often among that group, however.
The USGA created an avenue to the U.S. Open for at least one junior each year when it announced in 2017 that the winner of the U.S. Junior would be exempt into the following year’s U.S. Open. The winner of the U.S. Girls’ Junior would also be exempt into the U.S. Women’s Open. (It’s less unusual to see an amateur on this stage, however, considering that women’s golf skews much younger.)
Noah Goodwin and Erica Shepherd were the first two players to reap the benefits of the exemption in the summer of 2018, but Michael Thorbjornsen really made the most of it in 2019 when the 17-year-old made the cut at Pebble Beach. He was one of only four amateurs to play the weekend.