How do you qualify for the Open Championship?

The beauty of golf’s oldest major is that anyone – and we mean anyone – has a chance to make it into the field. But how does Open Championship qualifying work? Well, you’re in the right place.

There are a number of ways in which golfers can qualify for The Open, but we’ll start with those earning an automatic invite…

Open Championship exemptions

There are currently 26 ways in which players can be exempt for The Open.

They are…

Win The Open: The obvious one, really. Any Champion Golfer of Year is handed an exemption to play in golf’s oldest major up to the age of 60 – though this is being changed to 55 for all winners from 2024 onwards.

Win The Open in the last ten years: Any Open champion in the previous ten renewals will be exempt regardless of age.

Finish in the top ten at the previous year’s Open: Any player in the top ten – including ties – will be exempt for the following year’s Open.

Be in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings: All those ranked in the top 50 in week 21 of the OWGR calendar will automatically qualify for The Open.

Finish in the top 30 in the Race to Dubai Rankings: Any player who finished in the top 30 of previous year’s Race to Dubai will qualify for the next edition of The Open.

Win the BMW PGA Championship: The last three winners of the DP World Tour’s signature event at Wentworth will earn a spot at The Open.

Be one of the top five DP World Tour members or Race to Dubai members, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai Rankings on completion of the BMW International: If you are in the top five of the Race to Dubai rankings after the BMW International and you’re not already in, you will qualify for The Open.

Win the Masters: The last five Masters champions will earn a spot at The Open.

Win the PGA Championship: The last five PGA champions will earn a spot at The Open.

Win the US Open: The last five US Open champions will earn a spot at The Open.

Win The Players Championship: The last three Players champions will earn a spot at The Open.

Finish in the top 30 of the FedEx Cup Points List: The top 30 in the previous year’s FedEx Cup will qualify for The Open.

Be one of the top five PGA Tour members not exempt in the top 20 of the FedEx Cup on completion of the Travelers Championship: Any player in the top five – including ties – of the FedEx Cup after the completion of the Travelers who are otherwise not exempt will earn a spot at The Open.

Win the Open de Argentina: The most recent winner of the VISA Open de Argentina will earn a spot at The Open.

Finish in the top five of the Federations Ranking List of of the closing date: Any player in the top five of the Federations Ranking List will qualify for The Open.

Win the Japan Open: The most recent winner of the Japan Open will earn a spot at The Open.

Win the Senior Open: The winner of the previous year’s Senior Open will earn a spot at The Open.

Win the Amateur Championship: The reigning Amateur champion will qualify for The Open.

Win the US Amateur: The reigning US Amateur champion will qualify for The Open.

Win the European Amateur: The reigning European Amateur champion will qualify for The Open.

Win the Mark H McCormack Medal: The player ranked top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking following the Amateur Championship, US Amateur and European Amateur will qualify for The Open.

Win the Asia-Pacific Amateur: The reigning Asia-Pacific Amateur champion will qualify for The Open.

Win the Latin America Amateur: The reigning Latin America Amateur champion will qualify for The Open.

Win the Open Amateur Series: The player who accumulates the most points across the St Andrews Links Trophy, the Amateur Championship, and the European Amateur Championship will qualify for The Open.

Win the African Amateur Championship: The reigning Latin America Amateur champion will qualify for The Open.

Have a medical exemption: Any player with a medical exemption that is eligible for The Open will qualify.

It is worth noting that any amateurs earning an Open exemption must retain his amateur status for the tournament in order to take part.

Open Championship qualifying

Then, of course, there is the chance to qualify for The Open.

The qualification process for golf’s oldest major was introduced in 1907 and has remained a strong pillar of The Open’s identity ever since.

Open Qualifying is broken down into two events: Regional Qualifying and Final Qualifying. Both take place in the month running up to The Open.

First up is Regional Open Qualifying – often known as “the longest day in golf”.

Any amateur or professional golfer in the UK with a scratch handicap or better can enter Regional Qualifying for a fee of £150. Usually played in the last week of June, around 2,000 players take part in Regional Qualifying at 15 golf courses around Great Britain and Ireland.

Roughly 100 of these will make it through to Final Open Qualifying to join other players who were able to bypass the first stage of qualifying.

Held in the first week of July at four venues – the current rota is Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports, and West Lancashire – players will compete over 36 holes for a minimum of 16 spots, with the four lowest scorers at each venue sealing their spot in The Open later that month.

There is also an Open Qualifying Series at 12 tour events around the world in the months running up to The Open.

The three highest-finishing players at each of these tournaments, who are otherwise not yet exempt, will earn their place in the final men’s major of the year.

They are:

• OQS South Africa – Joburg Open
• OQS Australia – ISPS Handa Australian Open
• OQS USA – Arnold Palmer Invitational
• OQS Malaysia – IRS Prima Malaysian Open
• OQS Japan – Mizuno Open
• OQS Canada – RBC Canadian Open
• OQS USA – the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday
• OQS Korea – KOLON Korea Open
• OQS Netherlands – KLM Open
• OQS Italy – Italian Open
• OQS USA – John Deere Classic
• OQS Scotland – Genesis Scottish Open

You can find out more on The Open website.