The Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) has announced exemptions for the 151st Open in July. Following the lead of the Masters and US Open, LIV Golf members will be able to compete in the championship.
In releasing its schedule for the qualifying events and exemption categories for the 2023 event, the R&A listed the players that have already earned an invite to Royal Liverpool.
Reigning champion Cameron Smith, as well as past champions like Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Louis Oosthuizen are in, as are LIV members who finished top 10 at St Andrews last year (Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau). Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed will compete through their major championship wins since 2018, with Thomas Pieters and Richard Bland in by finishing in the top 30 in last year’s Race to Dubai standings. Other LIV notables include Joaquin Niemann and Talor Gooch, who grabbed spots in the field by finishing in the top 30 in the 2022 FedEx Cup standings.
That LIV members will be allowed in this year’s Open is not necessarily a surprise, as R&A chief Martin Slumbers signalled as much in October. “We’ll go public in January/February with what we are going to do with regard to LIV golfers,” Slumbers had said. “But if you want a guide, go back to what I said in July. We’re not banning anyone. We are not going to betray 150 years of history and have the Open not be open. The name says it all. And that’s important. What we will do is ensure that there are appropriate pathways and ways to qualify. I’m looking forward to seeing Cam Smith tee-up around 9.40 am on the first day of the Open next year. The Open needs to set itself aside from what’s going in terms of disagreements and make sure we stay true to our principle, which is to have the best players in the world competing.”
The Open Qualifying Series will return, with field invites available for the top finishers at the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, Wells Fargo Championship and Memorial, along with the DP World Tour co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open. The DP World Tour will also have spots available at the Betfred British Masters and Made in HimmerLand events. Other invites will be on the line at the World City Championship presented by the Hong Kong Golf Club, the Korea Open and the Japan’s Mizuno Open. Spots were already awarded at the Joburg Open and Australian Open.
There will also be regional and final qualifying spots, with 16 spots open through four final sites. The R&A also announced 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.
“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,” said Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, executive director of champions at the R&A. “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.”
The 151st Open begins July 20 at Royal Liverpool.
