Qualifying pathways

Fifa Laopakdee booked his place at The 155th Open after winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship for the second consecutive year.

He successfully defended his title at the 2026 edition of the Championship, winning by three strokes at Te Arai Links' South Course in New Zealand.

Laopakdee, from Thailand, joins Hideki Matsuyama as the only players to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur back-to-back, with Matsuyama having done so in 2010 and 2011.

His success at the 2025 event secured a place at Royal Birkdale for The 154th Open, and Laopakdee can now return to compete for the Claret Jug when the world's best players arrive at St Andrews in July.

His victory comes one week after John Catlin qualified for The 155th Open thanks to an emphatic success at the Link Hong Kong Open.

The American finished the week on 20-under-par, five shots clear of his closest challengers Matthew Cheung and Kalle Samooja, to pick up his seventh win on the Asian Tour.

One St Andrews spot was on offer at the event as part of The Open Qualifying Series (OQS), and Catlin will now make his fifth Open appearance.

OQS provides opportunities for players to qualify for The 155th Open through 19 events in 15 countries being played on the PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour, DP World Tour, Asian Tour, KPGA Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.

Please click here to view the full schedule of events in The Open Qualifying Series.

Exemption categories are also reviewed and updated annually to ensure that places awarded in The Open reflect results achieved by golfers on the professional tours. The exemption for the LIV Golf Order of Merit remains under review until the 2027 LIV Golf schedule is confirmed.

Please click here to view the full list of exemptions for The 155th Open.

The Capital.com Australian Open will offer three places in December, while the 106th New Zealand Open presented by Millbrook and the 120 Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro will provide further opportunities in February. Three places will also be available at the Investec South African Open Championship in March.

In North America, places will be available via the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday and the RBC Canadian Open, while the John Deere Classic will also offer a place in July.

The Deutsche Bank Singapore Open, KOLON Korea Open and Mizuno Open will offer further opportunities for golfers to qualify in Asia-Pacific.

In Europe, the Amgen Irish Open and the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club will provide two of the final opportunities for golfers aiming to book their place at St Andrews.

Regional and Final Qualifying events, which are open to professional and amateur golfers worldwide who meet the entry criteria, will take place at venues around Great Britain and Ireland in June ahead of the Championship. Final Qualifying will be played at Burnham & Berrow, Gailes Links, Prince’s and West Lancashire on 29 June.

The Last-Chance Qualifier will be played at St Andrews on Monday 12 July. The field of players competing for the final place in the Championship will be determined using an approach which complements the existing qualification criteria for The Open.