Ernie Els (AP Photo/Dave Thompson, File) & Jim Furyk (AP Photo/Phil Long, File)

FAR HILLS, New Jersey (AP) — Ernie Els and Jim Furyk have received a special exemption to play in the U.S. Open this year at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, New York.

Els is a two-time U.S. Open champion who would have faced qualifying because his five-year exemption from winning the 2012 British Open ran out last year. Els won the U.S. Open at Oakmont in 1994 and at Congressional in 1997. This will be his 29th consecutive U.S. Open.

Furyk won the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields.

They received the first U.S. Open exemptions since Retief Goosen in 2016. Goosen is a two-time Open champion, including 2004 when it was last held at Shinnecock Hills.