Qualification tracker

Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai are among the players to have qualified for The 154th Open after the top 25 in the Race to Dubai rankings all secured exemptions.

Eight of the top 25, including winner Rory McIlroy, had already guaranteed a place at Royal Birkdale, however 17 new names can now be added and will join them in Southport come July.

In addition to Hatton and Rai, Daniel Brown, who finished T10 at The 152nd Open, has qualified along with John Parry whose hole-in-one at The 153rd Open this summer will live long in the memory.

The trio of Joakim Lagergren, Angel Ayora and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen will also all make their Open debuts.

The following players gained exemptions on 16 November through their place in the Race to Dubai rankings: Tyrrell Hatton, Laurie Canter, Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, John Parry, Aaron Rai, Keita Nakajima, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Jordan Smith, Daniel Brown, Daniel Hillier, Martin Couvra, Angel Ayora, Nicolai Hojgaard, Elvis Smylie, Joakim Lagergren, Rasmus Hojgaard.

The next opportunity to qualify for Royal Birkdale will come at the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne, part of the Open Qualifying Series. This begins on Thursday 4 December, offering three places at golf’s original championship.

A full schedule of qualification pathways, along with a list of golfers already exempt, can be found below. This page will be updated as players qualify throughout the year.

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.

Exempt players

A - F

Ludvig Aberg; Angel Ayora; Akshay Bhatia; Keegan Bradley; Jacob Bridgeman; Daniel Brown; Sam Burns; Laurie Canter; Patrick Cantlay; Stewart Cink; Wyndham Clark; Darren Clarke; Corey Conners; Martin Couvra; Ben Curtis; John Daly; Bryson DeChambeau; 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; Daniel Hillier; Nicolai Hojgaard; Rasmus Hojgaard; Billy Horschel; Viktor Hovland; Mason Howell (a); Sungjae Im; Zach Johnson; Naoyuki Kataoka; Brooks Koepka; Jackson Koivun (a); Joakim Lagergren; Fifa Laopakdee (a); 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; Jon Rahm; Aaron Rai; Kristoffer Reitan; Justin Rose.

S - Z

Adrien Saddier; Xander Schauffele; Scottie Scheffler; 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 17 November 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 (three places to the leading three players, not already exempt, who make the cut) – 4 – 7 December.

January, February, March

• Latin America Amateur champion* (one place) – 18 January.

• Africa Amateur champion* (one place) – 7 February.

• OQS New Zealand - 105th New Zealand Open (one place to the leading player, not already exempt, who makes the cut) – 26 February – 1 March.

• OQS South Africa - Investec South African Open Championship (three places to the leading three players, not already exempt, who make the cut) – 26 February – 1 March.

• OQS Argentina - 119 Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro (one place to the leading player, not already exempt, who makes the cut) – 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.

• Asian Tour Event TBC (two places to the leading two players, not already exempt, who make the cut) – date TBC.

• 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 Korea Open (one place to the leading player, not already exempt, who makes the cut) – May or June.

• 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.