The USGA announced four new exemption categories have been added for entry into the 2023 US Open. Just as noteworthy was what the governing body didn’t mention.

Invitations to this year’s championship at Los Angeles Country Club will, for the first time, go to the reigning Latin America Amateur champion and the NCAA men’s individual champion (assuming both players remain amateurs), the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season points leader and the top five players in the FedEx Cup standings as of May 22 who are otherwise not exempt. Both the LAAC and KFT exemptions had previously been announced, with Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira and Justin Suh winning those respective invites.

The US Women’s Open also will extend a spot to the reigning NCAA women’s individual champion for this year’s contest at Pebble Beach.

“The USGA is pleased to offer these exemptions for both the US Open and US Women’s Open,” said USGA chief championships officer John Bodenhamer in a release detailing the entire qualifying criteria for its premier men’s and women’s championships. “These categories provide another avenue for ensuring the presence of those players who are playing their best leading into both national championships.”

It should be noted that LIV Golf was not mentioned in the release, indicating the likelihood that there would be no ban of golfers from the circuit who otherwise qualify for exemptions under the 2023 criteria, or for any who wish play their way into the championship via Local and Final Qualifying. On the USGA’s website for the current field for the 2023 US Open, seven LIV golfers are currently listed as exempt: Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Martin Kaymer (as US Open winners in the last 10 years), Phil Mickelson (off his 2021 PGA Championship victory), Cameron Smith (2022 Open Championship) and Joaquin Niemann (qualifying for the 2022 Tour Championship).

Last year LIV Golf launched the week before the US Open, and the USGA allowed the circuit’s members into the competition at The Country Club in Brookline.

“We pride ourselves in being the most open championship in the world and the players who have earned the right to compete in this year’s championship, both via exemption and qualifying, will have the opportunity to do so,” read a statement. “Our field criteria were set prior to entries opening earlier this year and it’s not appropriate, nor fair to competitors, to change criteria once established.”

During the week of the championship, USGA CEO Mike Whan explained his organisation’s viewpoint toward a potential LIV Golf ban. “We definitely feel responsibility to this game, and we feel a responsibility to the competitors that play it. We did sit down and have a long conversation about a week before the US Open, did where somebody else play and what promoter they played it with, disqualify them for this event?” Whan said. “We decided no on that, with all the awareness that not everyone would agree with that decision.

“I’m sure there are players that both came through our qualifying and maybe teeing it up that are sponsored by those different — so we asked ourselves the question of one, one week before if you play somewhere where you’re not approved to play, would you be disqualified for the 2022 US Open? And we said no. And we also had to ask the question, if you’re going to put that kind of clause in, who gets in, we’ve got to go back to 9,300 people and played last week but who played ever, where, sponsored by. It becomes a pretty slippery slope to try to apply that across 9,300 people.”

However, Whan later added that the USGA’s decision this year would not be its ruling in perpetuity. “Could you envision a day where it would be harder for some folks doing different things to get into a US Open? I could,” Whan said. “Will that be true? I don’t know, but I can definitely foresee that day.”

It appears, for now, that day will not be in 2023.