British Open 2026: Here's everybody in the field (so far) at Royal Birkdale

[ASFN Admin]

There’s still nearly two months until the oldest championship in golf is contested for the 154th time. But anticipation is building for the 2026 Open Championship, to be held at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.

That’s particularly the case after this weekend as 11 professionals earned exemptions into the championship based on being inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. That, in addition, to Jiho Yang joining the field after winning the Korea Open, brings the total number of exemption competitors to earn their spots in the 156-player Birkdale field up to 109.

This is the 11th time the R&A is bringing the Open to Royal Birkdale. Since the course staged the Open for the first time in 1954, only St. Andrews has hosted the championship more times. And it also has an impressive list of past champions:

1954: Peter Thomson 1961: Arnold Palmer 1965: Peter Thomson 1971: Lee Trevino 1976: Johnny Miller 1983: Tom Watson 1991: Ian Baker-Finch 1998: Mark O’Meara 2008: Padraig Harrington 2017: Jordan Spieth

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Jordan Spieth was The Open winner in 2017, the last time Royal Birkdale hosted the championship.

Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

R&A CEO Mark Darbon says they expect attendance to exceed 300,000 for the week, which would break the record for the most in history. More than 1 million applications for tickets were received.

Below is the list of players who have qualified to date, and the criteria for which they earned their spots. There remains a handful of ways for players to still earn exemptions, including play in various Open Qualifying Series events (Japan Open, Memorial, Canadian Open, Scottish Open), winners of the British Amateur and European Amateur, LIV Golf’s top-ranked player and more.

Like with the U.S. Open, there is Final Qualifying events where 16 players earn spots. And new this year is a Last Chance Qualifier where 12 players will compete at Birkdale on Monday of Open Championship week for one last spot in the championship. Darbon says the field for the event will include the runner-up from our amateur championship, people that have just missed out through final qualifying, people who haven't quite made it on the OWGR list but may be reserves already for the championship. “I think we're going to create some drama and excitement at the start of the week,” Darbon said.

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What's in a name How does a golf club get to call itself 'Royal'? The field 1: Open Champions aged 60 or under on July 19 2026. (for all Champions up to and including 2023).
Brian Harman Cameron Smith Collin Morikawa Shane Lowry Francisco Molinari Jordan Spieth Henrik Stenson Zach Johnson Rory McIlroy Phil Mickelson Ernie Els Darren Clarke Louis Oosthuizen Stewart Cink Padraig Harrington Tiger Woods Todd Hamilton Ben Curtis David Duval Paul Lawrie Justin Leonard John Daly

2: Open Champions aged 55 or under on 19 July 2026. (for all Champions from 2024).
Scottie Scheffler Xander Schauffele

3: Open Champions for 2015-2025.
Scottie Scheffler Xander Schuaffele Brian Harman Cameron Smith Collin Morikawa Shane Lowry Francesco Molinari Jordan Spieth Henrik Stenson Zach Johnson

4: First 10 players and ties in 2025 Open at Royal Portrush
Scottie Scheffler Harris English Chris Gotterup Haotong Li Matt Fitzpatrick Wyndham Clark Xander Schauffele Robert MacIntyre Rory McIlroy Corey Conners Brian Harman Russell Henley Bryson DeChambeau

5: First 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2026 (May 24)
Scottie Scheffler Rory McIlroy Cameron Young Matt Fitzpatrick Justin Rose Collin Morikawa Tommy Fleetwood Xander Schauffele J.J. Spaun Chris Gotterup Jon Rahm Russell Henley Ludvig AbergAaron Rai Robert MacIntyre Justin ThomasBen GriffinSepp StrakaSi Woo KimHideki MatsuyamaAlex Noren Harris English Patrick Reed Jacob BridgemanKristoffer ReitanAkshay BhatiaTyrrell HattonNicolai HojgaardKurt Kitayama Min Woo Lee Viktor Hovland Bryson DeChambeau Patrick CantlayMaverick McNealyKeegan Bradley Sam BurnsRyan Gerard Rickie Fowler Jake Knapp Shane Lowry Alex Smalley Jason Day Daniel Berger Wyndham Clark Marco Penge Jordan Spieth Gary WoodlandMichael KimMatt McCartyAdam Scott

6: First 25 players in the Final Race to Dubai Rankings for 2025
Rory McIlroy Marco Penge Matt Fitzpatrick Tyrrell Hatton Tommy Fleetwood Robert MacIntyre Laurie Canter Kristoffer Reitan Adrien Saddier Alex Noren John Parry Aaron Rai Haotong Li Keita Nakajima Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen Jordan Smith Daniel Brown Daniel Hillier Martin Couvra Angel Ayora Nicolai Hojgaard Justin Rose Elvis Smylie Joakin Lagergren Rasmus Hojgaard

7: BMW PGA Championship winners for 2023-2025
Alex Noren Billy Horschel Ryan Fox

8: First 5 DP World Tour members and ties, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai Rankings on completion of the 2026 BMW International Open
TBD

9: Masters Champions for 2022-2026
Rory McIlroy Scottie Scheffler Jon Rahm

10: PGA Champions for 2022-2026
Aaron Rai Scottie Scheffler Xander Schauffele Brooks Koepka Justin Thomas

11: U.S. Open Champions for 2022-2026
TBD (2026) J.J. SpaunBryson DeChambeau Wyndham Clark Matt Fitzpatrick

12: First 30 players from the Final 2025 FedEx Cup Points List
Ludvig Aberg Akshay Bhatia Keegan Bradley Jacob Bridgeman Sam Burns Patrick Cantlay Corey Conners Harris English Tommy Fleetwood Chris Gotterup Ben Griffin Harry Hall Brian Harman Russell Henley Viktor Hovland Sungjae Im Shane Lowry Robert MacIntyre Hideki Matsuyama Rory McIlroy Maverick McNealy Collin Morikawa Andrew Novak Justin Rose Scottie Scheffler J.J. Spaun Sepp Straka Nick Taylor Justin Thomas Cameron Young

13: Players Champions for 2024-2026
Cameron Young Rory McIlroy Scottie Scheffler

14: First five PGA Tour members and ties, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the 2026 FedEx Cup Points List on completion of the Travelers Championship
TBD

15: First player and ties, not otherwise exempt, in the 2026 LIV Golf Individual Season Standings on completion of LIV Golf Andalucia
TBD

16: First five players on the 2026 Federation Ranking List as of OWGR Week 21, 2026 (May 24). Places 1-4 on this List may be determined before The Open closing date, as each season-ending Included Order of Merit is published
Kazuki Higa Casey Jarvis Kota Kaneko Travis Smyth Scott Vincent

17: British Senior Open Champion for 2025
Padraig Harrington

18: U.S. Amateur Champion for 2025
Mason Howell (a)

19: Mark H McCormack Medal (Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking) winner for 2025
Jackson Koivun (a)

20: Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion 2025
Fifa Laopakdee (a)

21: Latin America Amateur Champion 2026
Mateo Pulcini (a)

22: Africa Amateur Champion 2026
Jack Buchanan (a)

23: British Amateur Champion for 2026
TBD

24: European Amateur Champion for 2026
TBD

25: Open Amateur Series winner 2026
TBD

Open Qualifying Series
Daniel Berger (USA, Arnold Palmer Invitational) Alistair Docherty (Argentina) Jeongwoo Ham (Singapore) Lucas Herbert (New Zealand) Michael Hollick (Australia) Casey Jarvis (South Africa) Cameron John (Singapore) Naoyuki Kataoka (Japan) Frederic Lacroix (South Africa) Francesco Laporta (South Africa) Tom McKibbin (Hong Kong) Marco Penge (Spain) Adam Scott (Australia) Jiho Yang (South Korea) TBD (Mizuno Open)TBD (Mizuno Open)TBD (Mizuno Open) TBD (Memorial) TBD (RBC Canadian Open) TBD (RBC Canadian Open) TBD (RBC Canadian Open) TBD (Italian Open) TBD (Scottish Open)

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