The U.S. Open field is arguably the most democratic in golf. It is truly open, with almost half the field reserved for those working their way through the qualifying process. This year, the qualifiers are exactly half the field, with 78 earning a spot through sectional qualifying and the other 78 getting in via the USGA’s usual 14 exemptions. There may be a late withdrawal on Thursday that alters that balance but more on that in a minute.

The 156-man field is the biggest in golf. The Open Championship and PGA Championship match that size, but none is bigger. It’s a logistical challenge for the USGA, but one they’ve learned to master over the years. The course is jammed with threesomes using split tees for sun-up to sundown golf over the first two rounds. Even when we get a major wash-out, like last year at Oakmont, where Thursday featured minimal golf, the USGA can still hustle to get this massive field back on track for a Sunday night finish.

Here’s the group that did not have to go through the qualifying process. The last addition was Chris Wood, who moved into the Top 60 in the world this week and rounded out the exemptions at 78. Each player is listed under the first exemption they fulfill — for example, Jordan Spieth is exempt four different ways, but listed under the first one as a U.S. Open Champion from the past 10 years. The USGA is the least forgiving to its past champs — the other three grant lifetime exemptions (British Open winners are exempt to age 60, which is close to a golf lifetime). Next year will be Tiger Woods’ final exempt year triggered by his 2008 U.S. Open win at Torrey Pines, but the UGSA is almost certain to give him something they call a "special exemption" due to his history of success and status at the national championship.

2017 U.S. OPEN EXEMPTIONS Winners of U.S. Open the last 10 Years Angel Cabrera Lucas Glover Dustin Johnson Martin Kaymer Graeme McDowell Rory McIlroy Justin Rose Webb Simpson Jordan Spieth Winner and Runner-up of 2016 U.S. Amateur Brad Dalke (winner Curtis Luck turned pro, forfeiting exemption) British Amateur Champion Scott Gregory Top Amatuer in 2016 Am Rankings Maverick McNealy Masters winner last 5 years Sergio Garcia Adam Scott Bubba Watson Danny Willett Open Championship winner last 5 years Ernie Els Zach Johnson Phil Mickelson Henrik Stenson PGA Championship winner last 5 years Jason Day Jason Dufner Jimmy Walker Players Championship winners last 3 years Rickie Fowler Si Woo Kim Euro Tour BMW PGA Champion Alex Noren 2016 U.S. Senior Open winner Gene Sauers Top 10 (and ties) from 2016 U.S. Open Jim Furyk Branden Grace Shane Lowry Kevin Na Scott Piercy Daniel Summerhays Final 30 Qualifers for FedExCup's TOUR Championship Daniel Berger Paul Casey Roberto Castro Kevin Chappell Emiliano Grillo J.B. Holmes Kevin Kisner Russell Knox Matt Kuchar Hideki Matsuyama William McGirt Sean O'Hair Patrick Reed Charl Scwartzel Brandt Snedeker Justin Thomas Jhonattan Vegas Gary Woodland Top 60 in World Rankings as of May 22, 2017 Byeong-Hun An Wesley Bryan Rafael Cabrera-Bello Ross Fisher Matthew Fitzpatrick Tommy Fleetwood Bill Haas Adam Hadwin Brian Harman Tyrrell Hatton Russell Henley Charley Hoffman Billy Horschel Yuta Ikeda Brooks Koepka Marc Leishman Francesco Molinari Louis Oosthuizen Pat Perez Thomas Pieters Jon Rahm Brendan Steele Hideto Tanihara Jeunghun Wang Lee Westwood Bernd Wiesberger Top 60 in World Rankings as of June 12, 2017 Chris Wood

In order to qualify for the U.S. Open, all you need is a small entry fee ($175 last year) and a USGA handicap index not exceeding 1.4. The entries usually approach 10,000 for local qualifying, and that’s whittled down to 12 sectional qualifying sites -- 10 in the United States, one in Japan, and one in Great Britain. The spots open at each sectional vary from site to site. The Columbus sectional always opens up the biggest swath of spots because of all the PGA Tour talent coming over from the nearby Memorial the day prior. Some sectionals have as few as three spots.

The alternate list is always a bit of mystery, too, with players just missing the cutoff at sectionals getting an alternate status to fill out the field the week of the championship. No one ever really knows how they sort the alternates or pick and choose which ones get in from which sectional. This year, six alternates got in and one more, Roberto Diaz, may join the field on Thursday. Diaz is the next man up if Phil Mickelson cannot make his Thursday afternoon tee time, which is likely. Mickelson will need a four-hour delay, at least, in order to get from his daughter’s graduation in Southern California to Wisconsin for his tee time. Here are your sectional qualifiers, a strong mix of PGA Tour regulars, amateur superstars, and longshot pros.