As always, the Open Championship will be the last major of the season and will take place from July 16-19.
Royal Birkdale will play host to the tournament, as it goes to Merseyside, following Scottie Scheffler’s sublime victory at Royal Portrush in 2025.
Jordan Spieth was the Champion Golfer of the Year the last time the Open headed to Southport in 2017. The American took a three-shot victory over compatriot Matt Kuchar, achieving his second wire-to-wire major victory and third overall.
A series of stars from the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and LIV Golf, as well as Open champions from previous years, will head to the famous links for the 154th running of the tournament.
A large field will line up at Birkdale, having qualified through a number of different routes throughout the season.
Previous Open champions are given exemptions into the tournament until they are 60, or 55 if their victory came after 2024. Louis Oosthuizen, Darren Clarke and David Duval will take up their places in the field under this exemption.
In 2025, the R&A announced the creation of a new LIV Golf category. One spot went to the LIV Golfer not otherwise exempt who finished highest in the LIV Golf standings, plus they had to be in the top five, through the LIV Dallas event at the end of June.
Sergio Garcia became the first-ever player to qualify for The Open via these LIV rankings. He was fourth in the list through the Dallas event, which meant he could play at Portrush, as each player ranked above him had already qualified. In 2026, Joaquin Niemann earned the LIV spot.
In June 2025, the R&A revealed that the Last-Chance Qualifier on 13 July next year will see up to 12 players compete for a spot at Birkdale by competing over 18 holes at the Merseyside venue to decide who earns the final place in the field ahead of the draw being announced.
Advertisement
Conditions to earn a spot in the Last-Chance Qualifier were announced in the following December, with the invited players announced on 7 July.
