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Inside the Field: The Open Championship

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Inside the Field

Inside the Field: The Open Championship


    Written by Staff

    The field for the 151st Open Championship, set for July 16-23, was released Friday with four-time major winner Rory McIlroy among the star names leading the field next week at Royal Liverpool. McIlroy will be aiming to break his major drought of exactly nine years on the course where he last won a major (the 2014 Open). Also in the field is Rickie Fowler, who is expected to have his best shot at a major in years after falling outside the top 150 in the world and missing last year's Open. He finished second to McIlroy at the 2014 Open and recently broke a four-plus-year win drought at the Rocket Mortgage Classic before contending again at the Genesis Scottish Open.

    Other players of note in the field include Mateo Fernandez de Olivera of Argentina, the record-breaking winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship in January, who'll be teeing it up on the same course where fellow Argentinian Roberto de Vicenzo became the first and only winner of the Claret Jug from his country in 1967. While there'll be no Tiger Woods at Royal Liverpool, there will be Tiger Christensen of Germany – the 19-year-old amateur who tied Alex Fitzpatrick in Final Qualifying. Fitzpatrick is the younger brother of 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick. Fun fact: Alex Fitzpatrick holed a bunker shot from his knees on the way to punching his ticket into the Open, carding rounds of 70 and 65 at West Lancshire Golf Club in Liverpool to secure one of five available spots.

    The following players have secured exemptions for The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool.

    A list of exemption categories is shown at the foot of the page.

    Ancer, Abraham -- Exemption Category 4
    Arnaus, Adri -- 5
    Ballester, Jose Luis -- 23
    Barker, Kyle -- Final Qualifying West Lancashire
    Barron, Haydn -- OQS Australia
    Bezuidenhout, Christiaan -- OQS South Africa
    Bjork, Alexander -- 7
    Bland, Richard -- 5
    Bradbury, Dan -- OQS South Africa
    Bradley, Keegan -- 4
    Burns, Sam -- 4, 12
    Campillo, Jorge -- 7
    Canizares, Alejandro -- OQS Australia
    Canter, Laurie -- Final Qualifying Royal Porthcawl
    Cantlay, Patrick -- 3, 4, 12
    Christensen, Tiger (a) -- Final Qualifying West Lancashire
    Cink, Stewart -- 1
    Clark, Wyndham -- 4, 8
    Clarke, Darren -- 1, 20
    Conners, Corey -- 4, 12
    Crowe, Harrison (a) -- 25
    Daly, John -- 1
    Day, Jason -- 4
    DeChambeau, Bryson -- 3, 8
    Detry, Thomas -- Final Qualifying Royal Cinque Ports
    Els, Ernie -- 1, 2
    Elvira, Nacho -- OQS Denmark
    English, Harris -- 4
    Farr, Oliver -- Final Qualifying Royal Porthcawl
    Ferguson, Ewen -- 5
    Fernandez De Oliveira, Mateo (a) -- 26
    Finau, Tony -- 4, 12
    Fischer, Zack -- 14
    Fitzpatrick, Alex -- Final Qualifying West Lancashire
    Fitzpatrick, Matt -- 4, 5, 8, 12
    Fleetwood, Tommy -- 3, 4, 5
    Fowler, Rickie -- 4
    Fox, Ryan -- 4, 5
    Gooch, Talor -- 12
    Grace, Branden -- Final Qualifying Royal Cinque Ports
    Griffin, Ben -- OQS Arnold Palmer
    Grillo, Emiliano -- 4
    Han, Seungsu -- OQS Korea
    Harman, Brian -- 3, 4, 12
    Harrington, Padraig -- 1
    Hatton, Tyrrell -- 4, 5, 6
    Henley, Russell -- 4
    Herbert, Lucas -- 4
    Higa, Kazuki -- 18
    Hillier, Daniel -- OQS England
    Hirata, Kensei -- OQS Japan
    Hodges, Lee -- OQS Memorial
    Hoge, Tom -- 4, 12
    Hojgaard, Rasmus -- 5
    Homa, Max -- 4, 12
    Horschel, Billy -- 4, 6, 12
    Hoshino, Rikuya -- 18
    Hovland, Viktor -- 3, 4, 5, 12
    Im, Sungjae -- 4, 12
    Iwata, Hiroshi -- 19
    Janewattananond, Jazz -- Final Qualifying Royal Porthcawl
    Johnson, Dustin -- 3, 9
    Johnson, Zach -- 1, 2
    Jordan, Matthew -- Final Qualifying West Lancashire
    Kanaya, Takumi -- OQS Japan
    Kang, Kyungnam -- OQS Korea
    Kho, Taichi -- OQS Hong Kong
    Kim, Bio -- OQS Hong Kong
    Kim, Michael -- OQS Wells Fargo
    Kim, Si Woo -- 4
    Kim, Tom -- 4
    Kirk, Chris -- 4
    Kitayama, Kurt -- 4
    Koepka, Brooks -- 4, 8, 10
    Lamprecht, Christo -- 21
    Langasque, Romain -- 7
    Larrazabal, Pablo -- 5
    Lawrence, Thriston -- 5
    Lee, KH -- 4, 12
    Lee, Min Woo -- OQS Australia
    Long, Hurly -- 5
    Lowry, Shane -- 1, 2, 4, 5, 6
    Luiten, Joost -- 7
    MacIntyre, Robert -- 5
    Maguire, Alex -- 27
    Matsuyama, Hideki -- 4, 9, 12
    McCarthy, Denny -- OQS Wells Fargo
    McIlroy, Rory -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12
    McKinney, Connor -- Final Qualifying Dundonald Links
    Meronk, Adrian -- 4, 5
    Micheluzzi, David -- 15
    Mickelson, Phil -- 1, 2, 10
    Migliozzi, Guido -- 5
    Molinari, Francesco -- 1, 2
    Moore, Taylor -- 4
    Morikawa, Collin -- 1, 2, 4, 10, 12
    Mullinax, Trey -- OQS Arnold Palmer
    Nakajima, Keita -- OQS Japan
    Niemann, Joaquin -- 4, 12
    Noren, Alex -- 5
    Olesen, Thorbjorn -- 5
    Oosthuizen, Louis -- 1
    Otaegui, Adrian -- 5
    Paul, Yannik -- 5
    Penge, Marco -- Final Qualifying Dundonald Links
    Perez, Victor -- 5
    Pieters, Thomas -- 5
    Poston, JT -- 12
    Power, Seamus -- 4
    Putnam, Andrew -- OQS Memorial
    Rahm, Jon -- 4, 5, 8, 9, 12
    Ramsay, Richie -- 5
    Reed, Patrick -- 4, 9
    Riley, Davis -- OQS Arnold Palmer
    Robertson, Graeme -- Final Qualifying Dundonald Links
    Robinson Thompson, Brandon -- Final Qualifying Royal Porthcawl
    Rohwer, Martin -- Final Qualifying Royal Cinque Ports
    Rose, Justin -- 4
    Rozner, Antoine -- Final Qualifying Royal Cinque Ports
    Samooja, Kalle -- OQS Denmark
    Schauffele, Xander -- 4, 12
    Scheffler, Scottie -- 4, 9, 11, 12
    Schenk, Adam -- OQS Memorial
    Schwartzel, Charl -- Final Qualifying Royal Cinque Ports
    Scott, Adam -- 4, 12
    Semikawa, Taiga -- 17
    Sharma, Shubhankar -- 5
    Shinkwin, Callum -- 5
    Siem, Marcel -- 7
    Smith, Cameron -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 12
    Smith, Jordan -- 5
    Smyth, Travis -- OQS Hong Kong
    Southgate, Matthew -- Final Qualifying Royal Porthcawl
    Spieth, Jordan -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 12
    Stallings, Scott -- 12
    Stenson, Henrik -- 1, 2
    Stewart, Michael -- Final Qualifying Dundonald Links
    Straka, Sepp -- 4, 12
    Strydom, Ockie -- 16
    Syme, Connor -- 5
    Taylor, Nick -- 13
    Theegala, Sahith -- 4, 12
    Thomas, Justin -- 4, 10, 11, 12
    Todd, Brendon -- OQS Wells Fargo
    Valimaki, Sami -- OQS South Africa
    Wallace, Matt -- Final Qualifying West Lancashire
    Warren, Marc -- OQS Denmark
    Wiebe, Gunner -- OQS England
    Willett, Danny -- 6
    Wilson, Oliver -- OQS England
    Woodland, Gary -- 8
    Yasumori, Kazuki -- OQS Japan
    Young, Cameron -- 3, 4, 12

    The following players are exempt but have not entered the Championship and will not participate at Royal Liverpool:

    Curtis, Ben -- 1
    Duval, David -- 1
    Hamilton, Todd -- 1
    Hendry, Michael -- OQS Hong Kong
    Lawrie, Paul -- 1
    Leonard, Justin -- 1
    Woods, Tiger -- 1, 9
    Zalatoris, Will -- 4, 5, 12

    Exemption Categories:

    1. The Open Champions aged 60 or under on 23 July 2023

    2. The Open Champions for 2012-2022

    3. First 10 and anyone tying for 10th place in The 150th Open at St Andrews

    4. The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2023

    5. First 30 in the Final Race to Dubai Rankings for 2022

    6. The BMW PGA Championship winners for 2019-2022

    7. 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 2023 BMW International Open

    8. The US Open Champions for 2018-2023

    9. The Masters Tournament Champions for 2018-2023

    10. The PGA Champions for 2017-2023

    11. THE PLAYERS Champions for 2021-2023

    12. Top 30 players from the Final 2022 FedExCup Points List

    13. First 5 PGA TOUR members and any PGA TOUR members tying for 5th place, not exempt in the top 20 of the PGA TOUR FedExCup Points List for 2023 on completion of the 2023 Travelers Championship

    14. The 116th VISA Open de Argentina 2022 Champion

    15. First and anyone tying for 1st place on the Final Order of Merit of the PGA Tour of Australasia for 2022-23

    16. First and anyone tying for 1st place on the Final Order of Merit of the Sunshine Tour for 2022-23

    17. The Japan Open Champion for 2022

    18. First 2 and anyone tying for 2nd place, on the Final Official Money List of the Japan Golf Tour for 2022

    19. First and anyone tying for 1st place, not exempt in a cumulative money list taken from all official 2023 Japan Golf Tour events up to and including the 2023 Japan Tour Championship. Blank entries will be made on behalf of competitors qualifying in this category

    20. The Senior Open Champion for 2022

    21. The Amateur Champion for 2023

    22. The US Amateur Champion for 2022

    23. The European Amateur Champion for 2023

    24. The Mark H McCormack Medal (Men’s WORLD AMATEUR GOLF RANKINGTM) winner for 2022

    25. The Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion 2022

    26. The Latin America Amateur Champion 2023

    27. The Open Amateur Series winner 2023 (A new exemption 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)