The field is nearly set for the final men’s major of the year, but who has qualified for The 153rd Open and how can players still earn their spot at Royal Portrush?
The Open returns to Northern Ireland for the first time since 2019, with Scottie Scheffler arriving as pre-tournament favourite and Rory McIlroy looking to lift the Claret Jug on home soil and register a sixth major title.
Xander Schauffele returns as defending champion – after last year’s victory at Royal Troon – and JJ Spaun chases back-to-back major titles, following his win at the US Open last month, with Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau all looking to add to their major tally.
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Watch highlights from the final round of last year’s Open at Royal Troon, where Xander Schauffele claimed victory
There are 153 players – as of July 7 – already confirmed to tee it up in next week’s major, exclusively live on Sky Sports, with the final three places up for grabs this week at the Genesis Scottish Open.
The leading three players – not already exempt – who make the cut at The Renaissance Club will secure a last-minute invite to The Open the following week, with past Ryder Cup players and DP World Tour regulars among those looking to secure a late major spot.
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Which players in Scotland have yet to qualify?
Alex Noren earned his place in The Open last year through his finish at the Genesis Scottish Open and is going to need to do the same again, with Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald also chasing a major spot.
Danny Willett, the 2016 Masters champion, and his 2016 Ryder Cup team-mate Andy Sullivan are among the others trying to qualify, along with Scottish trio Connor Syme, Ewen Ferguson and Richie Ramsay.
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Speaking on the Sky Sports Golf podcast, Wayne Riley believes that Europe are now Ryder Cup favourites amid the debate surrounding whether Keegan Bradley should play and captain Team USA
Luke Clanton was awarded the Mark McCormack Medal as No 1 amateur last summer but lost his exemption by turning professional, meaning he is not in The Open as things stand, with US Ryder Cup vice-captain Brandt Snedeker looking to use a sponsor’s invite into this week’s event to earn major qualification.
Nicolai Hojgaard aims to join his brother Rasmus in The Open field, with Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Victor Perez, Pablo Larrazabal and Alex Fitzpatrick among the others still chasing a major place. The full Genesis Scottish Open field is available here.
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Who has recently qualified for The Open?
Six players have earned their spots via the latest world rankings, published on July 7, with Aldrich Potgieter (50), Nicolas Echavarria (51), Brian Campbell (55), Michael Kim (56), Bud Cauley (59) and Davis Thompson (60) all going through.
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Highlights from day four of the John Deere Classic, as Brian Campbell gets his second PGA Tour win
John Parry, Haotong Li, Daniel Hillier and Shaun Norris all had their spots confirmed via the Race to Dubai rankings the previous day, with the first five DP World Tour members – not already exempt – and in the top 20 in the rankings earning a spot.
Former world No 1 Lee Westwood was among 20 players to progress through Final Qualifying on July 1 and secure his major return, while Adrien Saddier and Martin Couvra booked their spots with their Italian Open finishes.
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Highlights from Final Qualifying for The 153rd Open, where plenty of notable names were in action
Field for the 153rd Open Championship
Correct as of July 7; USA unless stated; (x) denotes amateurs
Ludvig Åberg (Swe)
Cameron Adam (Sco) (x)
Mikiya Akutsu (Jpn)
Byeong Hun An (Kor)
John Axelsen (Den)
Daniel Berger
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa)
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Watch our pick of the best shots in the history of The Open, including Tiger Woods, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth
Akshay Bhatia
George Bloor (Eng)
Keegan Bradley
Daniel Brown (Eng)
Dean Burmester (Rsa)
Sam Burns
Brian Campbell
Laurie Canter (Eng)
Patrick Cantlay
John Catlin
Bud Cauley
Sebastian Cave (Eng) (x)
KJ Choi (Kor)
Stewart Cink
Wyndham Clark
Darren Clarke (NIrl)
Corey Conners (Can)
Martin Couvra (Fra)
Jason Day (Aus)
Bryson DeChambeau
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Highlights from Bryson DeChambeau’s final round at The Masters, where he missed out on major victory to Rory McIlroy
Thomas Detry (Bel)
Nicolas Echavarria (Col)
Ernie Els (Rsa)
Harris English
Ethan Fang (x)
OJ Farrell (Eng)
Darren Fichardt (Rsa)
Tony Finau
Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng)
Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)
Rickie Fowler
Ryan Fox (Nzl)
Sergio Garcia (Esp)
Lucas Glover
Connor Graham (Sco) (x)
Max Greyserman
Ben Griffin
Julien Guerrier (Fra)
Harry Hall (Eng)
Brian Harman
Padraig Harrington (Irl)
Justin Hasting (Cay) (x)
Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
Russell Henley
Lucas Herbert (Aus)
Angel Hidalgo (Esp)
Daniel Hillier (Nzl)
Tom Hoge
Rasmus Hojgaard (Den)
Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn)
Viktor Hovland (Nor)
Mackenzie Hughes (Can)
Sungjae Im (Kor)
Shugo Imahira (Jpn)
Stephan Jaeger (Ger)
Filip Jakubcik (Cze) (x)
Zach Johnson
Dustin Johnson
Ryggs Johnston
Frazer Jones (Eng) (x)
Matthew Jordan (Eng)
Sadom Kaewkanjana (Tha)
Takumi Kanaya (Jpn)
Riki Kawamoto (Jpn)
Michael Kim
Tom Kim (Kor)
Nathan Kimsey (Eng)
Chris Kirk
Curtis Knipes (Eng)
Brooks Koepka
Jason Kokrak
Romain Langasque (Fra)
Thriston Lawrence (Rsa)
Min Woo Lee (Aus)
Marc Leishman (Aus)
Justin Leonard
Haotong Li (Chn)
Oliver Lindell (Fin)
Shane Lowry (Irl)
Curtis Luck (Aus)
Robert MacIntyre (Sco)
Matteo Manassero (Ita)
Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn)
Denny McCarthy
Matt McCarty
Rory McIlroy (NIrl)
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Watch Rory McIlroy’s best shots from his five major wins, including shots from his most recent victory at Augusta National
Tom McKibbin (NIrl)
Maverick McNealy
Phil Mickelson
Guido Migliozzi (Ita)
Francesco Molinari (Ita)
Collin Morikawa
Dylan Naidoo (Rsa)
Bryan Newman (Rsa) (x)
Joaquin Niemann (Chl)
Niklas Norgaard (Den)
Shaun Norris (Rsa)
Andrew Novak
Thorbjorn Olesen (Den)
Jacob Skov Olesen (Den)
Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)
Carlos Ortiz (Mex)
John Parry (Eng)
Matthieu Pavon (Fra)
Ryan Peake (Aus)
Taylor Pendrith (Can)
Marco Penge (Eng)
JT Poston
Aldrich Potgieter (Rsa)
Jon Rahm (Esp)
Aaron Rai (Eng)
Patrick Reed
Kristoffer Reitan (Nor)
Justin Rose (Eng)
Antoine Rozner (Fra)
Adrien Saddier (Fra)
Jesper Sandborg (Swe)
Xander Schauffele
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Watch all six of Xander Schauffele’s birdies from the final round of The Open at Royal Troon, as he claimed a second major title
Scottie Scheffler
Adam Scott (Aus)
Jordan Smith (Eng)
Cameron Smith (Aus)
Elvis Smylie (Aus)
Sebastian Soderberg (Swe)
Younghan Song (Kor)
JJ Spaun
Jordan Spieth
Henrik Stenson (Swe)
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A look back to 2016, when Henrik Stenson defeated Phil Mickelson in a final-round masterclass at Royal Troon
Sepp Straka (Aut)
Justin Suh
Jesper Svensson (Swe)
Nick Taylor (Can)
Richard Teder (Est) (x)
Sahith Theegala
Justin Thomas
Davis Thompson
Daniel van Tonder (Rsa)
Jhonattan Vegas (Ven)
Matt Wallace (Eng)
Justin Walters (Rsa)
Paul Waring (Eng)
Lee Westwood (Eng)
Cameron Young
Daniel Young (Sco)
Kevin Yu (Tpe)
Sampson Zheng (Chn)
Past champions not playing (winning year in brackets):
Ben Curtis (2003), John Daly (1995), David Duval (2001), Todd Hamilton (2004), Paul Lawrie (Sco) (1999), Tiger Woods (2000, 2005, 2006)
How do players qualify for The Open?
All past champions under the age of 60 get to return, along with the top 10 and ties from the previous year at Royal Troon and the last six winners of the other three majors.
The world’s top 50 at the start of July, the leading 25 in last year’s Race to Dubai standings and everyone who reaches the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship the previous season all get a spot, as do the past three winners of the BMW PGA Championship and The Players.
There is a new category for the leading player – not already exempt – in the LIV Golf League standings, plus places available to winners of the biggest amateur events and those who top the Order of Merits in a variety of tours.
The Open Qualifying Series – which includes the Genesis Scottish Open – offers golfers around the world opportunities to earn qualification spots at certain events across the calendar, with 20 of those places coming through Final Qualifying.
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When is The Open live on Sky Sports?
Sky Sports is once again the exclusive home of The Open, with live coverage from all seven days of tournament week from July 14-20 and round-the-clock coverage of the final men’s major of the year.
There are seven hours of live coverage on the Monday and Tuesday practice days at Royal Portrush before a bumper nine hours of live programming on Wednesday, starting at 9am each morning.
Wall-to-wall coverage of The Open then begins at 6.30pm on Thursday July 17, with live action available for all four tournament days and a host of extra feeds also available. Not got Sky? Stream The Open and more with no contract.

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