Open Qualifying Series

Five Open qualifying places. Three continents. One week.

Players competing in South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina in the coming days will have the opportunity to earn a much-coveted spot at The 154th Open as the Road to Royal Birkdale continues to gather pace.

The Investec South African Open Championship, the 105th New Zealand Open presented by Millbrook Resort and the 119 Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro all form part of the Open Qualifying Series (OQS), with Birkdale berths available at each event when they take place from Thursday 26 February to Sunday 1 March.

The Open Qualifying Series gives players across the globe the opportunity to gain an exemption for The Open.

Marco Penge, Naoyuki Kataoka, Tom McKibbin, Si Woo Kim, Michael Hollick and Adam Scott have already taken this route and qualified for this summer’s Championship through OQS events.

OQS South Africa – The Investec South African Open Championship

Legendary two-time Champion Golfer Ernie Els is among the players teeing it up at Stellenbosch Golf Club for The Investec South African Open Championship.

While Els has already guaranteed a spot at Birkdale courtesy of his two Open triumphs – at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 2012 and Muirfield in 2002 – there are three Open qualifying places to be gained when play gets under way on Thursday. These will go to the highest placed finishers who make the cut and are not already exempt for the Championship.

The man affectionately known as The Big Easy finished sixth the last time The Investec South African Open Championship was staged at Stellenbosch, in 1999, and two other top ten finishers that week in Hennie Otto and Jean Hugo will also be returning for the 2026 edition.

Otto, whose best Open result was T10 at Royal St George’s in 2003, finished fifth at the event 27 years ago, while Hugo ended the week in ninth while still an amateur.

The tournament, co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour, is one of the oldest national opens in golf, having first been played in 1903.

Champion Golfers Gary Player, Bobby Locke, Louis Oosthuizen and Els himself are among those to have won it throughout its rich history.

In 2025 Dylan Naidoo was triumphant after a play-off with Laurie Canter, picking up a maiden DP World Tour title and earning his first appearance in The Open.

Learn more about The Investec South African Open and view the field here.

OQS New Zealand – The 105th New Zealand Open presented by Millbrook Resort

Ryan Peake stole the show in 2025 when he won the New Zealand Open and punched his ticket to Royal Portrush for The 153rd Open.

This year, with the event again at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown, another qualifying place is available to the highest placed finisher who makes the cut and is not already exempt.

Peake will attempt to defend his title while Kevin Na, who last played at The Open ten years ago, is also in the field along with the likes of John Catlin, Lucas Herbert and Riki Kawamoto who featured in golf’s original championship at Portrush last July.

Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle and Ian Baker-Finch are among the Champion Golfers to have triumphed in the New Zealand Open in years gone by.

Learn more about the 105th New Zealand Open preseted by Millbrook Resort.

OQS Argentina – 119 Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro

One Open qualifying place will be available at the 119 Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro when it takes place at the Jockey Club in Buenos Aires.

The Korn Ferry Tour event runs from Thursday 26 February to Sunday 1 March, with the highest placed finisher who makes the cut, and is not already exempt for Royal Birkdale, earning a place at The Open.

Last year Justin Suh won with a remarkable 23-under-par total of 257, enough for a five-shot win over Ian Holt, Cole Sherwood and S.H. Kim.

Learn more about the 119 Visa Argentina Open.

You can follow all Open qualification updates, and see a full list of players already exempt for Royal Birkdale, on our qualification tracker.