The USGA has co-opted the expression “golf’s longest day,” attaching to the Monday prior to U.S. Open week when it conducts 10 Final Qualifying events. In reality, the R&A has a rightful claim to the title in reference to the first and second rounds of the Open Championship (aka the British Open). The long summer nights in the U.K. allow for all 156 players in the field to tee off the first hole, the initial threesome heading out around 6:30 a.m. local time while the final game goes off some time after 4 p.m. and ends somewhere near 10 p.m.
It’s a wider separation than anything on the PGA Tour (which employs split tees at almost all its events). And it will happened, again, when Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush hosts the 153rd edition of the game’s oldest major. In turn, it will create anxiousness for the 156 players in the field waiting to see if where their names land on the starter’s sheet and whether that might leave them on the “good” or “bad” side of the draw.
Don’t believe us? Well, we’re going lean back on the example that we often use from the Open that helps illustrate what this means. Forgive us for repeating ourselves, but in 2010, when the Open was held on the Old Course at St. Andrews, golfers who teed off in the morning during Friday’s second round played in calm conditions, eventual winner Louis Oosthuizen shooting a 67. Those who teed off in the afternoon, however, played in blustery winds and rain squalls. Rory McIlroy, after an opening-round 63, shot a second-round 80 to essentially end his chances at claiming the claret jug just 36 holes into the championship.
“When you feel like you’re playing well and you get the wrong side of the draw and you feel like the best you can finish is 10th, it’s a bitter pill to swallow,” McIlroy said in 2017. “But you have to realize in a 25- or 30-year career, you’re going to get some years that you’re on the good side of the draw.”
Players will be competing in threesomes on Thursday and Friday at Portrush. Official tee times have not been announced so we are simply listing all the players in the field here. Check back here closer to the start of the championship and we’ll have the tee times posted as soon as they go live.
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Ludvig Aberg, 5, 12
Cameron Adam (a), 28
Mikiya Akutsu, OQS Japan
Byeong Hun An, 5, 12
John Axelsen, Final Qualifying
Daniel Berger, 5
Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 12
Akshay Bhatia, 5, 12
George Bloor, Final Qualifying
Keegan Bradley, 5, 12
Daniel Brown, 4
Dean Burmester, Final Qualifying
Sam Burns, 5, 12
Brian Campbell, OWGR
Laurie Canter, 6
Patrick Cantlay, 5, 12
John Catlin, 18
Bud Cauley, OWGR
Sebastian Cave (a), Final Qualifying
K.J. Choi, 20
Stewart Cink, 1
Wyndham Clark, 5, 11, 12
Darren Clarke, 1
Corey Conners, 5, OQS USA, Arnold Palmer Invitational
Martin Couvra, OQS Italy
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Jason Day, 5
Bryson DeChambeau, 5, 11
Thomas Detry, 5
Nicolas Echavarria, OWGR
Ernie Els, 1
Harris English, 5
Ethan Fang (a), 26
O.J. Farrell, Final Qualifying
Darren Fichardt, OQS South Africa
Tony Finau, 5, 12
Matt Fitzpatrick, 11
Tommy Fleetwood, 5, 6, 12
Rickie Fowler, OQS USA
Ryan Fox, 7
Sergio Garcia, 15
Lucas Glover, 5
Connor Graham (a), Final Qualifying
Max Greyserman, 5
Ben Griffin, 5
Julien Guerrier, 6
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Harry Hall, Final Qualifying
Brian Harman, 1, 3, 5
Padraig Harrington, 1
Justin Hastings (a), 24
Tyrrell Hatton, 5, 6
Russell Henley, 4, 5, 12
Lucas Herbert, Final Qualifying
Angel Hidalgo, Final Qualifying
Daniel Hillier, 8
Tom Hoge, 5, 12
Rasmus Hojgaard, 6
Rikuya Hoshino, 6
Viktor Hovland, 5, 12
Mackenzie Hughes, 5
Sungjae Im, 4, 5, 12
Shugo Imahira, 19
Stephan Jaeger, 5
Felip Jakubcik (a), 27
Dustin Johnson, 9
Zach Johnson, 1, 3
Ryggs Johnston, OQS Australia
Frazer Jones (a), Final Qualifying
Matthew Jordan, 4
Sadom Kaewkanjana, OQS Korea
Takumi Kanaya, 18
Riki Kawamoto, OQS Japan
Tom Kim, 5
Michael Kim, OWGR
Nathan Kimsey, Final Qualifying
Chris Kirk, 12
Chris Knipes, Final Qualifying
Brooks Koepka, 10
Jason Kokrak, OQS Macau
Romain Langasque, 6
Thriston Lawrence, 4, 6
Min Woo Lee, 5
Marc Leishman, OQS Australia
Justin Leonard, 1
Haotong Li, 8
Oliver Lindell, Final Qualifying
Shane Lowry, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12
Curtis Luck, OQS Australia
Robert MacIntyre, 5, 6, 12
Matteo Manassero, 6
Hideki Matsuyama, 5, 9, 12
Denny McCarthy, 5
Matt McCarty, OQS Canada
Rory McIlroy, 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13
Tom McKibbin, 6
Maverick McNealy, 5
Phil Mickelson, 1, 10
Guido Migliozzi, 6
Francesco Molinari, 1, 3
Collin Morikawa, 1, 3, 5, 10, 12
Dylan Naidoo, OQS South Africa
Bryan Newman, (a), 25
Joaquin Niemann, 6
Niklas Norgaard, 6
Shaun Norris, 8
Andrew Novak, 5
Thorbjorn Olesen, 6
Jacob Skov Olesen, Final Qualifying
Louis Oosthuizen, 1
Carlos Ortiz, OQS Macau
Matthieu Pavon, 12
Ryan Peake, OQS New Zealand
Taylor Pendrith, 5, 12
Marco Penge, OQS South Africa
John Perry, 8
J.T. Poston, 5
Aldrich Potgieter, OWGR
Jon Rahm, 4, 9, 11
Aaron Rai, 5, 12
Patrick Reed, 18, OQS Macau
Kristoffer Reitan, 8
Justin Rose, 4, 5
Antoine Rozner, 6
Adrian Saddier, OQS Italy
Jacob Sandborg, Final Qualifying
Xander Schauffele, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 12
Scottie Scheffler, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16
Adam Scott, 4, 5, 6, 12
Cameron Smith, 1, 3
Jordan Smith, 6
Elvis Smylie, 18
Sebastian Soderberg, 6
Younghan Song, OQS Japan
J.J. Spaun, 5, 11
Jordan Spieth, 1, 3
Henrik Stenson, 1, 3
Sepp Straka, 5, 12
Justin Suh, 17
Jesper Svensson, 6
Nick Taylor, 5
Sahith Theegala, 5, 12
Justin Thomas, 5, 10, 12
Davis Thompson, OWGR
Richard Tider (a), Final Qualifying
Daniel Van Tonder, 18
Jhonattan Vegas, 5
Matt Wallace, 6
Justin Walters, Final Qualifying
Paul Waring, 6
Lee Westwood, Final Qualifying
Cameron Young, OQS Canada
Daniel Young, Final Qualifying
Kevin Yu, OQS Canada
Sampson Zheng, Final Qualifying
Note: Past champions Ben Curtis, John Daly, Todd Hamilton, Paul Lawrie and Tiger Woods are eligible to compete but have not entered the championship.
Alternate list
Si Woo Kim
Davis Riley
Exemption Categories
1. The Open Champions aged 60 or under on 20 July 2025 (for all Champions up until 2024)
2. The Open Champions aged 55 or under on 20 July 2025 (for all Champions from 2024)
3. The Open Champions for 2014-2024
4. First 10 and anyone tying for 10th place in The 152nd Open at Royal Troon in 2024
5. The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2025
6. First 25 in the Final Race to Dubai Rankings for 2024
7. The BMW PGA Championship winners for 2022-2024
8. First 5 DP World Tour members and any DP World Tour members tying for 5th place, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai Rankings on completion of the 2025 BMW International
9. Masters Champions for 2020-2025
10. PGA Champions for 2019-2025
11. U.S. Open Champions for 2020-2025
12. Top 30 players from the Final 2024 FedEx Cup Points List
13. The Players Champions for 2023-2025
14. First 5 PGA Tour members and any PGA Tour members tying for 5th place, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Points List for 2025 on completion of the 2025 Rocket Classic.
15. The first player and anyone tying for that place, not otherwise exempt, in the top 5 of the 2025 LIV Golf Individual Season Standings on completion of LIV Golf Dallas.
16. The 2024 Olympic Men’s Golf Gold Medalist
17. The 118th VISA Open de Argentina 2025 Champion
18. The first 5 players on the 2025 Federations Ranking List as of closing date
19. 2024 Japan Open Champion
20. 2024 Senior Open Champion
21. 2024 U.S. Amateur Champion
22. 2024 Mark H McCormack Medal (Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking) winner
23. 2024 Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion
24. 2025 Latin America Amateur Champion
25. 2025 Africa Amateur Champion
26. 2025 Amateur Champion
27. 2025 European Amateur Champion
28. 2025 Open Amateur Series winner
Note: Exemptions 21-28 can only be taken up by players retaining their amateur status.
• • •
Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
