The 151st Open

The R&A has confirmed the schedule of events that will make up The Open Qualifying Series for 2023 and the exemption categories for The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool.

Golfers aiming to book their place in The Open will have opportunities at 15 professional events in nine countries.

A total of 34 places are available through events being played around the world on the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour. The number of places at Final Qualifying has been increased by four to provide a minimum of 16 places through events being held at Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire on 4 July.

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director – Championships at The R&A, said, “We have created an exciting schedule of events which takes in many regions around the world and provides the chance for golfers to earn a place in The Open at Royal Liverpool. We are grateful to our colleagues at the professional tours for their support and look forward to seeing who emerges from each event to book a sought-after place in the Championship this year.”

Three PGA TOUR events are included in the schedule, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, the Wells Fargo Championship and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. Each event will offer three qualifying places.

In Asia, a total of ten places will be available through the World City Championship presented by the Hong Kong Golf Club on the Asian Tour, the Mizuno Open on the Japan Golf Tour and the KOLON Korea Open, which is co-sanctioned by the Korean Golf Association and Asian Tour.

On the DP World Tour, three places will be awarded at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo, Made in HimmerLand and Genesis Scottish Open.

Six golfers have already earned places through the Joburg Open and ISPS HANDA Australian Open which were played at the end of last year.

In a change to previous criteria, qualifying places will now be awarded to the leading players who make the cut and are not already exempt as of the closing date of entries for The Open on 1 June.

Any golfer earning a qualifying place who then becomes exempt under one or more categories before the closing date of entries will result in that place being awarded to the next non-exempt golfer, which will determined by a reserve list for each event played before 1 June.

The R&A has also confirmed the exemption categories for The 151st Open.

A new exemption has been added for elite amateur golfers in which the player who accumulates the most points awarded by the World Amateur Golf Ranking® in the St Andrews Links Trophy, The Amateur Championship and European Amateur Championship will earn a place in The Open.

The Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup exemption, which rotated each year, has been removed while the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup exemption is not included for 2023 as the event will not be played this year.

For the full list of exemptions click here.

The Open Qualifying Series will offer the following qualification places in The 151^st Open:

OQS South Africa - Joburg Open, 24-27 Nov 2022 - 3 places to the leading three players, not already exempt as of the closing date of entries for The Open, who make the cut.

OQS Australia - ISPS Handa Australian Open, 1-4 Dec 2022 - 3 places to the leading three players, not already exempt as of the closing date of entries for The Open, who make the cut.

OQS USA - Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, 2-5 March 2023 - 3 places to the leading three players, not already exempt as of the closing date of entries for The Open, who make the cut.

OQS Hong Kong - World City Championship presented by the Hong Kong Golf Club, 23-26 March 2023 - 4 places to the leading four players, not already exempt as of the closing date of entries for The Open, who make the cut.

OQS USA - Wells Fargo Championship, 4-7 May 2023 - 3 places to the leading three players, not already exempt as of the closing date of entries for The Open, who make the cut.

OQS Japan - Mizuno Open, 25-28 May 2023 - 4 places to the leading four players, not already exempt as of the closing date of entries for The Open, who make the cut.

OQS USA - the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, 1-4 June 2023 - 3 places to the leading three players, not already exempt, who make the cut.

OQS Korea - KOLON Korea Open, 22-25 June 2023 - 2 places to the leading two players, not already exempt, who make the cut.

Regional Qualifying - 26 June 2023

OQS England - Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo, 29 June - 2 July 2023 - 3 places to the leading three players, not already exempt, who make the cut.

Final Qualifying - 4 July 2023 - Minimum 16 places (four places per venue - Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports, West Lancashire).

OQS Denmark - Made in HimmerLand, 6-9 July 2023 - 3 places to the leading three players, not already exempt, who make the cut.

OQS Scotland - Genesis Scottish Open - 13-16 July 2023 - 3 places to the leading three players, not already exempt, who make the cut.

Total: Minimum 50 places in The 151st Open