2023 Open Championship field

This page lists the criteria used to determine the field for the 2023 Open Championship and the players who qualified.

The Open Championship field is made up of 156 players, who gained entry through various exemption criteria and qualifying tournaments. The criteria included past Open champions, recent major winners, top ranked players in the world rankings and from the leading world tours, and winners and high finishers from various designated tournaments, including the Open Qualifying Series; the winners of designated amateur events, including The Amateur Championship and U.S. Amateur, also gained exemption provided they remain an amateur. Anyone not qualifying via exemption, and had a handicap of 0.4 or lower, can gain entry through regional and final qualifying events.

Most exemption criteria remained unchanged from previous years; changes included the removal of exemptions for recent Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup players, and a new exemption for amateur golfers.

Criteria and exemptions

Each player is classified according to the first category in which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses.

1. The Open Champions aged 60 or under on 23 July 2023

2. The Open Champions for 2012–2022

3. Top 10 finishers and ties in the 2022 Open Championship

4. Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) for Week 21, 2023

5. Top 30 in the final 2022 DP World Tour Rankings

6. Recent winners of the BMW PGA Championship (2019–2022)

7. Top five players, not already exempt, within the top 20 of the 2023 Race to Dubai through the BMW International Open

8. Recent winners of the U.S. Open (2018–2023)

9. Recent winners of the Masters Tournament (2018–2023)

10. Recent winners of the PGA Championship (2017–2023)

11. Recent winners of The Players Championship (2021–2023)

12. The top 30 players from the 2022 FedEx Cup points list

13. Top five players, not already exempt, within the top 20 of the 2022–23 FedEx Cup points list through the Travelers Championship

14. Winner of the 2022 Visa Open de Argentina

15. Winner of the 2022–23 PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit

16. Winner of the 2022–23 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit

17. Winner of the 2022 Japan Open Golf Championship

18. Top two players on the 2022 Japan Golf Tour Official Money List

19. The top player, not already exempt, on the 2023 Japan Golf Tour Official Money List through the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup

20. Winner of the 2022 Senior Open Championship

21. Winner of the 2023 Amateur Championship

22. Winner of the 2022 U.S. Amateur

23. Winner of the 2023 European Amateur

24. Recipient of the 2022 Mark H. McCormack Medal

25. Winner of the 2022 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship

26. Winner of the 2023 Latin America Amateur Championship

27. Winner of the 2023 Open Amateur Series

Open Qualifying Series

The Open Qualifying Series (OQS) for the 2023 Open Championship consists of 11 events. Places are available to the leading players (not otherwise exempt) who make the cut. In the event of ties, positions go to players ranked highest according to that week's OWGR. Unlike in previous years, if a player who has qualified through OQS becomes exempt through other criteria before 1 June, the next highest non-exempt finisher from that OQS event will become exempt.

LocationTournamentDateSpotsQualifiersRef.
South AfricaJoburg Open27 Nov 20223Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Dan Bradbury, Sami Välimäki
AustraliaISPS Handa Australian Open4 Dec 20223Haydn Barron, Alejandro Cañizares, Min Woo Lee
United StatesArnold Palmer Invitational5 Mar 20233Ben Griffin, Trey Mullinax, Davis Riley
Hong KongWorld City Championship26 Mar 20234Michael Hendry, Kho Taichi, Kim Bi-o, Travis Smyth
United StatesWells Fargo Championship7 May 20233Michael Kim, Denny McCarthy, Brendon Todd
JapanGateway to The Open Mizuno Open28 May 20234Kensei Hirata, Takumi Kanaya, Keita Nakajima, Kazuki Yasumori
United StatesMemorial Tournament4 Jun 20233Lee Hodges, Andrew Putnam, Adam Schenk
South KoreaKolon Korea Open25 Jun 20232Seungsu Han, Kang Kyung-nam
EnglandBetfred British Masters2 Jul 20233Daniel Hillier, Gunner Wiebe, Oliver Wilson
DenmarkMade in HimmerLand9 Jul 20233Nacho Elvira, Kalle Samooja, Marc Warren
ScotlandGenesis Scottish Open16 Jul 20233An Byeong-hun, Nicolai Højgaard, David Lingmerth

Final Qualifying

Final qualifying was played on 4 July at four locations, with 117 players who advanced from regional qualifying events (held on 26 June at 15 locations) as well as those exempt from regional qualifying.

LocationSpotsQualifiers
Dundonald Links4Connor McKinney (R), Marco Penge, Graeme Robertson (R), Michael Stewart
Royal Cinque Ports5Thomas Detry, Branden Grace, Martin Rohwer, Antoine Rozner, Charl Schwartzel
Royal Porthcawl5Laurie Canter, Oliver Farr, Jazz Janewattananond, Brandon Robinson-Thompson, Matthew Southgate
West Lancashire5Kyle Barker, Tiger Christensen (a), Alex Fitzpatrick, Matthew Jordan, Matt Wallace

Notes

  1. 1 2 (a) – indicates the player is an amateur.
  2. ↑ All will be aged 60 or under on 23 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 Wyndham Clark initially qualified through the Wells Fargo Championship, but after he subsequently qualified through category 4, his OQS spot was reallocated to Brendon Todd.
  4. 1 2 3 Harris English and Kurt Kitayama initially qualified through the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but after both subsequently qualified through category 4, their OQS spots were reallocated to Ben Griffin and Trey Mullinax.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Players must remain amateurs in order to be exempt under this category.
  6. ↑ Bennett forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
  7. ↑ Nakajima forfeited his exemption by turning professional, but subsequently qualified through the Open Qualifying Series.
  8. ↑ Cumulative World Amateur Golf Ranking points from the St Andrews Links Trophy, The Amateur Championship and European Amateur.
  9. ↑ Michael Hendry did not play after being diagnosed with leukemia in May 2023. The following year, he was given a medical exemption into the 2024 Open.
  10. ↑ (R) – indicates a golfer who came through Regional Qualifying.
  11. ↑ In May, Royal Porthcawl was announced as a replacement for Burnham & Berrow due to the condition of the course.

References

  1. ↑ "Qualification for The 151st Open". The Open Championship. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  2. ↑ McDonald, Patrick (21 February 2023). "R&A removes Open Championship exemptions for Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, will still allow LIV golfers". CBS Sports. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  3. ↑ Beall, Joel (21 February 2023). "R&A announces Open Championship exemptions; LIV Golf players remain in field". Golf Digest. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  4. ↑ "The 151st Open | Exemptions". The Open Championship. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  5. ↑ "Tiger Woods: American will miss the Open Championship to continue recovery from ankle surgery". BBC Sport. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "The Open Qualifying Series / All You Need To Know". The Open Championship. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  7. ↑ "Joburg Open | Bradbury among trio to qualify for The 151st Open". The Open Championship. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  8. ↑ "ISPS Handa Australian Open | Three more qualify for Royal Liverpool". The Open Championship. 4 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  9. ↑ "Kitayama leads trio of Bay Hill qualifiers". The Open Championship. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  10. ↑ Webeck, Tony (16 May 2023). "Hendry withdraws from The Open to fight cancer battle". PGA of Australia. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "Cancer-free Hendry gets special invite to Open Championship". RNZ. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  12. ↑ "Home winner Kho leads Hong Kong qualifiers". The Open Championship. 26 March 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "Wells Fargo | Wyndham Clark, Michael Kim and Denny McCarthy qualify for The 151st Open". The Open Championship. 7 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "Four Japanese players qualify at Mizuno Open". The Open Championship. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  15. ↑ "Putnam books dream Open return | Schenk and Hodges also qualify at Memorial". The Open Championship. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  16. ↑ "Han and Kang qualify for Royal Liverpool". The Open Championship. 25 June 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  17. ↑ "Daniel Hillier, Gunner Wiebe and Oliver Wilson book spots at Royal Liverpool". The Open Championship. 2 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  18. ↑ "Made In HimmerLand | Nacho Elvira, Kalle Samooja and Marc Warren book their spots at The 151st Open". The Open Championship. 9 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  19. ↑ Ferguson, Doug (16 July 2023). "Rory McIlroy finishes birdie-birdie to deny Robert MacIntyre at Scottish Open". Golf Channel. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  20. ↑ "Final Qualifying". The Open Championship. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  21. ↑ "Regional Qualifying". The Open Championship. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  22. ↑ "Royal Porthcawl to host Final Qualifying". The Open Championship. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.