GOLF
How do golfers qualify for the 2024 British Open?
158 players will tee off in the first round of the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon. But how did they get in the field?
The 2024 Open Championship will be played at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland from Thursday, July 18 to Sunday, July 21. 158 players will start round one, with Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa tipped to challenge for the Claret Jug. For others, just taking part in the tournament was the main goal, but how was it decided which golfers would make up the field?
There is a long list of ways in which players can qualify for the Open Championship, some of which are obvious, while others are more remote. One player, Michael Hendry of New Zealand, will play because of a medical exemption.
2024 British Open qualifying criteria
Previous Open champions under 60
Former Open champions under the age of 60 are exempt, which accounts for 20 players. They include several who would’ve qualified via other categories anyway (McIlroy, Morikawa, Shane Lowry), but this rule is the reason three-time winner Tiger Woods (and LIV defector Phil Mickelson) is playing at Troon this week.
Top 10 players in 2023 British Open
Players who finished in the top 10 (including ties) in last year’s Open are in. LIV star Jon Rahm is in this category, as is Max Homa.
Major winners in the last five years
Winners of the other three men’s majors (the Masters, the PGA Championship and the US Open) in the last five years automatically qualify. This group features Scheffler, Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau.
BMW PGA Championship winners in the last thee years
Similarly, any player who has won the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship in the last three years is also in if not already qualified (Ryan Fox and Billy Horschel).
FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai standings
The top 30 from last year’s FedEx Cup (Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau) and Race to Dubai (Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre, the Hojgaard twins) also qualify, as do some players from this year’s edition.
A maximum of five players from the top 20 in the 2024 FedEx Cup standings after the Travelers Championship qualify, along with the top five from the 2024 Race to Dubai after the BMW International Open.
Top 50 from Official World Golf Ranking
Then we need to take a look at two different rankings. First up, the Official World Golf Ranking. All players who were in the top 50 on 26 May qualify if they haven’t done so in any other category (Ludvig Aberg, Sahith Theegala, Akshay Bhatia, Will Zalatoris).
Top five from International Federation Ranking
The same goes for the top five players from the International Federation Ranking (for upcoming international players on the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, and the Sunshine Tour) on May 30.
Most recent winners of certain tournaments
The most recent winners of the Argentina Open (Mason Andersen), Japan Open (Aguri Iwasaki) and Senior British Open (Alex Cejka) were rewarded for their victories with a place in the Open Championship, in addition to cash prizes.
Best performers in Open qualifying series around the world
Next come a whole list of tournaments that have been played over the last few months which have been used as Open qualifiers in different parts of the world.
LIV’s Joaquin Niemann and Adam Scott qualified thanks to their performances in the Australian Open last December. The Joburg Open (South Africa), Malaysian Open, Mizuno Open (Japan) and Korea Open also offered a route into the 2024 Open Championship.
Similarly, a number of recent events on the PGA Tour (Arnold Palmer Invitational, RBC Canadian Open, Memorial, John Deere Classic) allowed the likes of Davis Thompson and Adam Hadwin to qualify after strong showings.
Last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, the KLM Open and Italian Open offered the same reward on the DP World Tour, with Aaron Rai and Alex Noren sneaking into Troon after fine displays at The Renaissance Club.
Amateur event winners
Seven amateurs are in the field, including the British, European, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa Amateur champions.
Also playing are the Mark H. McCormack Medal winner (the leading player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking after the last ‘elite’ event of the season) and the Open Amateur Series champion.
Final Open qualifying
Finally, any players who hadn’t qualified had the chance to take part in final Open qualifying in the run-up to the event. Sergio García tried but came up short, with Justin Rose the highest-profile player to book his place in the field this way.