Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell has joined Aussies Robert Allenby and Adam Scott among the 14 players who received exemptions to play in the US Open in June.

McDowell tied for 28th in the BMW PGA Championship in England Sunday but he didn't learn of the exemption until the finish of the Byron Nelson Championship in Texas later in the day.

The combination of his performance at the BMW and the Byron Nelson final standings kept the 30-year-old from Portrush in the top 50 in world rankings. McDowell is No. 49 and is exempt from qualifying for both the US Open and the British Open.

European players will go through a 36-hole qualifying event Monday at Walton Heath.

This was the final week to earn an exemption to the US Open by getting into top 50 in the world ranking, top 10 on the PGA Tour money list or top five on the European Tour earnings list.

Allenby and Scott had already received exemptions along with Camilo Villegas, Charl Schwartzel, Robert Karlsson, Alvaro Quiros, KJ Choi, Edoardo Molinari, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Ben Crane, Peter Hanson, Louis Oosthuizen and Thongchai Jaidee.

© 2010 AFP/sid