Inside the Field: The Open Championship
4 Min Read
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)