LIV Golf champion: I deserve to be in US Open

The field for the 124th US Open is set.

Pinehurst No.2 will host the 156-player line up and include everything from past champions to science teachers.

LIV Golf stars don’t have their special exemption into the field as of yet, but a dozen of the Saudi-backed circuit’s finest will still be in town.

Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau lead the way, whilst Jon Rahm tries to overcome an injury scare in time, but there is one man missing.

And that man is Carlos Ortiz who, after winning his first LIV Golf title in Houston on Sunday, claimed he ‘deserves’ a place in the third major championship of the season.

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“I’ve been playing great,” he said after scooping the $4 million first place prize. “It’s a shame I doubled the last hole to miss the qualifier. It hurt a lot.

“But I think with time, we’re going to get back into the majors because I know that I’m one of the best players in the world right now, and I deserve to be there. But the way things are happening right now, it’s kind of hard.

“I’ll do my best to get into the British Open, and I also have the summer Olympics, too, other than the LIV tournaments coming up.”

Ortiz, 33, has finished inside the top 25 in his last six starts, including Sunday’s win and a T4 finish at LIV Golf Hong Kong in March.

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The Mexican also won the Asian Tour’s International Series Oman event in February.

However, he is yet to contest a major this season after missing out on the Masters and the PGA Championship before failing to progress at US Open final qualifying.

Ortiz was one of 15 men from Greg Norman’s startup who struggled during ‘golf’s longest day’ and, ultimately, failed to secure one of 11 spots at Dallas Athletic Club.

He has played in four US Opens, with results of: MC (2016), T52 (2019), MC (2021), MC (2023).

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.