The Open Championship field 2027: Who is exempt for St Andrews?

As always, the Open Championship will be the last major of the season and will take place from July 15-18.

The Old Course at St. Andrews will play host to the tournament, with the tournament back in Scotland for the first time since 2022. Ryan Fox won the 2026 edition at Royal Birkdale, producing a final-hole birdie to beat Cameron Young by a single shot.

Cameron Smith was Champion Golfer of the Year the last time the Open was held at the Old Course, beating Young and Rory McIlroy on a mammoth final day. The Aussie joined LIV the next month, but will be exempt for the tournament next year.

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 155th running of the tournament.

A large number of players have already secured their places in the 2027 Open.

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.

Sergio Garcia became the first-ever player to qualify for The Open via these LIV rankings. He was fourth on the list through the Dallas event of that year, 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 a Last-Chance Qualifier, which saw 12 players compete for a spot at Birkdale by playing 18 holes at the Merseyside venue to decide who earned the final place in the field. Joe Dean was the winner.

The qualifier took place on the Monday of Championship week. The traditional Regional and Final Qualifying events took place in the weeks leading up to the Open Championship as well.

ALSO: How to qualify for The Open Championship

On August 26, 2025, the Masters announced several new criteria for qualification, which concerned winning national championships. You can read more about this here.

This was announced jointly with the R&A to align aspects of the qualification criteria, awarding invitations to winners/top finishers of select national opens beginning immediately.

The Open Qualifying Series has existed since 2013 and offers players entry into The Open through events across the world.

So, who will lift the Claret Jug next summer? Here is the field so far for The Open Championship in 2027: