Poulter and Jimenez among 25 players exempt for U.S. Open

[May 27, 2015]  (Reuters) - England's Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and Frenchman Victor Dubuisson are among 25 players who have booked their places at next month's U.S. Open via this week's world rankings.

The quartet are fully exempt for the year's second major championship, to be played at Chambers Bay in Washington State from June 18-21, after earning spots in the world's top 60, the United States Golf Association announced on Tuesday.

Among those also sealing berths for the Open are South Korean An Byeong-hun, who won the European Tour's BMW PGA Championship on Sunday, Italy's Francesco Molinari, India's Anirban Lahiri, Thai Thongchai Jaidee and American J.B. Holmes.

An, who won the 2009 U.S. amateur title at Southern Hills, rocketed 78 places up the world rankings to 54th following his spectacular six-shot victory in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Pony-tailed Spaniard Jimenez climbed 25 spots to 44th after tying for second in the European Tour's flagship event on Sunday.

Other players gaining full U.S. Open exemptions via the rankings included South Africa's George Coetzee, Welshman Jamie Donaldson, Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, Ireland's Shane Lowry and Englishmen Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood and Danny Willett.

Further spots at Chambers Bay will be on offer when 36 holes of sectional qualifying take place at 10 locations in the United States on June 8.

The U.S. Open will be staged for the first time in the Pacific Northwest where Germany's Martin Kaymer will defend the title he won by a commanding eight shots at Pinehurst Resort last year.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)

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