Qualifying tracker

The Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard provides the next opportunity for players to qualify for The 154th Open.

One Royal Birkdale spot is available at the PGA TOUR event, taking place at Bay Hill from 5 to 8 March, as part of the Open Qualifying Series (OQS).

This comes the week after five players claimed their places at the Open during a bumper Sunday of qualifying.

Alistair Docherty qualified through the 119 Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro. The American made a crucial birdie putt at the 72nd hole to pip Chris Norte and SY Noh by one stroke and win with a 22-under-par total of 258.

Lucas Herbert booked his place in golf’s original championship by finishing runner-up to the already exempt Daniel Hillier at the 105th New Zealand Open presented by Millbrook Resort.

Meanwhile Casey Jarvis, Frederic Lacroix and Francesco Laporta will all compete at The Open for the first time after qualifying through the Investec South African Open Championship.

A full list of qualification pathways, along with players already exempt for The 154th Open, can be found below.

Already exempt

• The Open Champions aged 60 or under on 19 July 2026 (for all Champions up to and including 2023).

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

• The Open Champions for 2015-2025.

• First 10 players and anyone tying for 10th place at The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush in 2025.

• The Senior Open champion for 2025.

• The US Amateur champion for 2025*.

• First 30 players from the Final 2025 FedExCup Points List.

• The Mark H McCormack Medal (Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®)) winner for 2025*.

• The BMW PGA Championship winners for 2023-2025.

• The Masters Tournament champions for 2022-2025.

• The PGA champions for 2022-2025.

• The US Open champions for 2022-2025.

• THE PLAYERS champions for 2024-2025.

• OQS Spain qualifier.

• OQS Japan qualifier.

• Asia-Pacific Amateur champion*.

• OQS Hong Kong qualifier.

• Top 25 in the final Race to Dubai rankings.

• OQS Australia qualifiers.

• Latin America Amateur champion*.

• Africa Amateur Champion*.

• OQS New Zealand qualifier.

• OQS South Africa qualifiers.

• OQS Argentina qualifier.

Exempt players

A - F

Ludvig Aberg; Angel Ayora; Akshay Bhatia; Keegan Bradley; Jacob Bridgeman; Daniel Brown; Jack Buchanan; Sam Burns; Laurie Canter; Patrick Cantlay; Stewart Cink; Wyndham Clark; Darren Clarke; Corey Conners; Martin Couvra; Ben Curtis; John Daly; Bryson DeChambeau; Alistair Docherty; David Duval; Ernie Els; Harris English; Matt Fitzpatrick; Tommy Fleetwood; Ryan Fox.

G - L

Chris Gotterup; Ben Griffin; Harry Hall; Todd Hamilton; Brian Harman; Padraig Harrington; Tyrrell Hatton; Russell Henley; Lucas Herbert; Kazuki Higa; Daniel Hillier; Nicolai Hojgaard; Rasmus Hojgaard; Michael Hollick; Billy Horschel; Viktor Hovland; Mason Howell (a); Sungjae Im; Casey Jarvis; Zach Johnson; Kota Kaneko; Naoyuki Kataoka; Si Woo Kim; Brooks Koepka; Jackson Koivun (a); Frederic Lacroix; Joakim Lagergren; Fifa Laopakdee (a); Francesco Laporta; Paul Lawrie; Justin Leonard; Haotong Li; Shane Lowry.

M - R

Robert MacIntyre; Hideki Matsuyama; Tom McKibbin; Rory McIlroy; Maverick McNealy; Phil Mickelson; Francesco Molinari; Collin Morikawa; Keita Nakajima; Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen; Alex Noren; Andrew Novak; Louis Oosthuizen; John Parry; Marco Penge; Mateo Pulcini; Jon Rahm; Aaron Rai; Kristoffer Reitan; Justin Rose.

S - Z

Adrien Saddier; Xander Schauffele; Scottie Scheffler; Adam Scott; Cameron Smith; Jordan Smith; Elvis Smylie; JJ Spaun; Jordan Spieth; Henrik Stenson; Sepp Straka; Nick Taylor; Justin Thomas; Tiger Woods; Cameron Young.

This list is up to date as of Sunday 1 March and will be updated as further exemptions are finalised.

Qualification pathways

October, November, December

• OQS Spain - Open de España presented by Madrid (Marco Penge qualified) – 9 – 12 October.

• OQS Japan - Japan Open Golf Championship (Naoyuki Kataoka qualified) – 16 – 19 October.

• Asia-Pacific Amateur champion* (Fifa Laopakdee qualified) - 26 October.

• OQS Hong Kong - Link Hong Kong Open (Tom McKibbin qualified) – 30 October – 2 November.

• Top 25 in the Final Race to Dubai Rankings (17 players qualified) – 16 November.

• OQS Australia - Australian Open (Si Woo Kim, Michael Hollick and Adam Scott qualified) – 4 – 7 December.

January, February, March

• Latin America Amateur champion* (Mateo Pulcini qualified) – 18 January.

• Africa Amateur champion* (Jack Buchanan qualified) – 7 February.

• OQS New Zealand - 105th New Zealand Open (Lucas Herbert qualified) – 26 February – 1 March.

• OQS South Africa - Investec South African Open Championship (Casey Jarvis, Frederic Lacroix and Francesco Laporta qualified) – 26 February – 1 March.

• OQS Argentina - 119 Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro (Alistair Docherty qualified) – 26 February – 1 March.

• OQS USA - Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (one place to the leading player, not already exempt, who makes the cut) – 5-8 March.

• The PLAYERS champion for 2026 (one place) – 15 March.

April and May

• The Masters Champion for 2026 (one place) – 12 April.

• OQS Singapore - Singapore Open (two places to the leading two players, not already exempt, who make the cut) – 23 - 26 April.

• PGA Champion for 2026 (one place) – 17 May.

• Top 5 from the Federation Ranking List – 24 May.

• Top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking – 24 May.

• OQS Korea – Kolon The 68th KOREA Open Golf Championship (one place to the leading player, not already exempt, who makes the cut) – 21 - 24 May.

• OQS Japan – Mizuno Open (three places to the leading three players, not already exempt, who make the cut) – 28 – 31 May.

June and July

• OQS USA - the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (one place to the leading player, not already exempt, who makes the cut) – 4 – 7 June.

• OQS Canada - RBC Canadian Open (three places to the leading three players, not already exempt, who make the cut) – 11 – 14 June.

• The Amateur champion for 2026* (one place) – 20 June.

• US Open champion for 2026 (one place) – 21 June.

• Regional Qualifying (places in Final Qualifying available) – 22 June.

• European Amateur champion for 2026* (one place) – 27 June.

• The Open Amateur Series winner for 2026* (one place) – 27 June.

• OQS Italy - Open d’Italia (one place to the leading player, not already exempt, who makes the cut) – 25 – 28 June.

• Leading player in the 2026 LIV Golf Individual Season Rankings, on completion of LIV Golf Louisiana (one place) – 28 June.

• Top 5 in the FedExCup points list (top 5, not already exempt within the top 20, of the FedExCup points list on completion of the Travelers Championship) – 28 June.

• Final Qualifying (places TBC) – 30 June.

• Top 5 in the Race to Dubai Rankings (top 5, not already exempt, within the top 20 of the Race to Dubai Rankings on completion of the BMW International Open) – 5 July.

• OQS Scotland - Genesis Scottish Open (three places to the leading three players, not already exempt, who make the cut) – 9 – 12 July.

• Last-Chance Qualifier (one place) – 13 July.

*The winner must maintain their amateur status to take up the exemption.