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The 2026 Open Championship, officially the 154th Open Championship, is a golf tournament to be played from 16–19 July 2026 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. It will be the 11th Open held at the club.[1][2]

Field

The Open Championship field is made up of 156 players, who gained entry through various exemption criteria and qualifying tournaments. The criteria include past Open champions, recent major winners, top ranked players in the world rankings and from the leading world tours, and winners and high finishers from various designated tournaments, including the Open Qualifying Series; the winners of designated amateur events, including The Amateur Championship and U.S. Amateur, also gained exemption provided they remain an amateur. Anyone not qualifying via exemption, and had a handicap of 0.4 or lower, can gain entry through regional and final qualifying events.

Criteria and exemptions

Each player is classified according to the first category in which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses.[3][a]

1. The Open Champions aged 60 or under on 19 July 2026 (for all champions before 2024)

2. The Open Champions aged 55 or under on 19 July 2026 (for all champions from 2024)

3. The Open Champions for 2015–2025[b]

4. Top 10 finishers and ties in the 2025 Open Championship

5. Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) for Week 21, 2026

6. Top 25 in the final 2025 Race to Dubai rankings

7. Recent winners of the BMW PGA Championship (2023–2025)

8. Top five players, not already exempt, within the top 20 of the 2026 Race to Dubai Rankings through the BMW International Open

  • 5 July

9. Recent winners of the Masters Tournament (2022–2026)

10. Recent winners of the PGA Championship (2022–2026)

11. Recent winners of the U.S. Open (2022–2026)

12. Top 30 players from the 2025 FedEx Cup points list

13. Recent winners of The Players Championship (2024–2026)

14. Top five players, not already exempt, within the top 20 of the 2026 FedEx Cup points list through the Travelers Championship

  • 28 June

15. Top player, not already exempt, in the top 5 of the 2026 LIV Golf League individual standings through LIV Golf Andalucía

16. Top five players from the OWGR’s International Federation Ranking List as of Week 21, 2026

17. Winner of the 2025 Senior Open Championship

18. Winner of the 2025 U.S. Amateur[d]

19. Recipient of the 2025 Mark H. McCormack Medal[d]

20. Winner of the 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship[d]

21. Winner of the 2026 Latin America Amateur Championship[d]

22. Winner of the 2026 Africa Amateur Championship[d]

23. Winner of the 2026 Amateur Championship[d]

  • 20 June

24. Winner of the 2026 European Amateur[d]

  • 27 June

25. Winner of the 2026 Open Amateur Series[d][e]

  • 27 June

Open Qualifying Series

The Open Qualifying Series (OQS) for the 2026 Open Championship consists of 15 events. Places are available to the leading players (not otherwise exempt) who make the cut. In the event of ties, positions go to players ranked highest according to that week’s OWGR.[4]

Location Tournament Date Spots Qualifiers
Spain Open de España 12 Oct 2025 1 Marco Penge (5,6)
Japan Japan Open Golf Championship 19 Oct 2025 1 Naoyuki Kataoka
Hong Kong Link Hong Kong Open 1 Nov 2025 1 Tom McKibbin
Australia Crown Australian Open 7 Dec 2025 3 Michael Hollick, Kim Si-woo (5), Adam Scott (5)
New Zealand New Zealand Open 1 Mar 2026 1 Lucas Herbert
South Africa Investec South African Open Championship 1 Mar 2026 3 Casey Jarvis (16), Frédéric Lacroix, Francesco Laporta
Argentina Visa Argentina Open 1 Mar 2026 1 Alistair Docherty
United States Arnold Palmer Invitational 8 Mar 2026 1 Daniel Berger (5)
Singapore Singapore Open 26 Apr 2026 2 Ham Jeong-woo, Cameron John
Korea Kolon Korea Open 24 May 2026 1 Yang Ji-ho
Japan Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open 31 May 2026 3 Ryutaro Nagano, Shaun Norris, Ren Yonezawa
United States Memorial Tournament 7 Jun 2026 1 J. T. Poston
Canada RBC Canadian Open 14 Jun 2026 3 Bud Cauley, Jackson Suber, Jesper Svensson
Italy DS Automobiles Open d’Italia 28 Jun 2026 1
Scotland Genesis Scottish Open 12 Jul 2026 3

Final qualifying

Regional qualifying events will be held on 22 June at 15 locations.[5] Final qualifying events will be played on 30 June at four locations.[6]

Location Spots Qualifiers[a][f]
Burnham & Berrow
Dundonald Links
Royal Cinque Ports
West Lancashire

Last-Chance Qualifier

One spot will be given to the winner of an 18-hole qualifier held on 13 July, three days before the start of the Championship. The field for the Last-Chance Qualifier will consist of twelve players who narrowly failed to qualify through other means.[7]


Notes

  1. ^ a b (a) – denotes amateur.
  2. ^ All will be aged 55 or under on 19 July 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e Qualified via the Open Qualifying Series before becoming exempt.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Players must remain amateurs in order to be exempt under this category.
  5. ^ Cumulative World Amateur Golf Ranking points from the St Andrews Links Trophy, The Amateur Championship, and the European Amateur.
  6. ^ (R) – denotes a player who progressed through regional qualifying.

References

  1. ^ Rorabaugh, Dan (17 July 2025). “Heading to Royal Birkdale for the 2026 British Open? Here’s how to get tickets”. Golfweek.
  2. ^ “Where Is The 2026 Open Championship?”. Golf Monthly. 20 July 2025.
  3. ^ “The 154th Open | Exemptions”. The Open Championship. The R&A. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  4. ^ “The Open Qualifying Series”. The Open Championship. The R&A. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  5. ^ “Regional Qualifying”. The Open Championship. The R&A. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  6. ^ “Final Qualifying”. The Open Championship. The R&A. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  7. ^ “Last-Chance Qualifier | All You Need to Know”. The Open Championship. The R&A. Retrieved 25 May 2026.