The final men’s major of 2025 is finally here as the 156-player field for the 153rd British Open Championship got its final three spots filled on the eve of the R&A’s return to Royal Portrush. A year ago, the governing body ran into the unusual issue of having too many players qualify for the championship at Royal Troon—159 golfers meeting the 27 criteria. That wasn’t the case this year; 153 players had earned spots heading into the Genesis Scottish Open, with winner Chris Gotterrup, Nicolai Hojgaard and Matti Schmid claiming the final three exemptions via automatic qualifying.
Also on Sunday, the R&A announced that two-time winner Ernie Els had withdrawn from the championship, with first alternate Si Woo Kim taking his place.
Below is everybody in the field as of July 13. We’ll update this post as news of any other withdrawals or changes to the player list are announced.
John Axelsen, Final Qualifying
Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 12
George Bloor, Final Qualifying
Dean Burmester, Final Qualifying
Sebastian Cave (a), Final Qualifying
Corey Conners, 5, OQS USA, Arnold Palmer Invitational
O.J. Farrell, Final Qualifying
Darren Fichardt, OQS South Africa
Tommy Fleetwood, 5, 6, 12
Chris Gotterup, OQS Scotland
Connor Graham (a), Final Qualifying
Harry Hall, Final Qualifying
Lucas Herbert, Final Qualifying
Angel Hidalgo, Final Qualifying
Nicolai Hojgaard, OQS Scotland
Ryggs Johnston, OQS Australia
Frazer Jones (a), Final Qualifying
Sadom Kaewkanjana, OQS Korea
Si Woo Kim, OWGR/Alternate
Nathan Kimsey, Final Qualifying
Curtis Knipes, Final Qualifying
Marc Leishman, OQS Australia
Oliver Lindell, Final Qualifying
Shane Lowry, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12
Curtis Luck, OQS Australia
Robert MacIntyre, 5, 6, 12
Hideki Matsuyama, 5, 9, 12
Rory McIlroy, 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13
Collin Morikawa, 1, 3, 5, 10, 12
Dylan Naidoo, OQS South Africa
Jacob Skov Olesen, Final Qualifying
Ryan Peake, OQS New Zealand
Marco Penge, OQS South Africa
Patrick Reed, 18, OQS Macau
Davis Riley, OWGR/Alternate
Adrian Saddier, OQS Italy
Jesper Sandborg, Final Qualifying
Xander Schauffele, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 12
Scottie Scheffler, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16
Matti Schmid, OQS Scotland
Richard Teder (a), Final Qualifying
Justin Walters, Final Qualifying
Lee Westwood, Final Qualifying
Cameron Young, OQS Canada
Daniel Young, Final Qualifying
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.
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.
OPEN QUALIFYING SITE VENUES
OQS Australia, ISPS Handa Australian Open
OQS New Zealand, New Zealand Open
OQS South Africa, Investec South African Open
OQS USA, Arnold Palmer Invitational
OQS Macau, International Series Macau
OQS Korea, KOLON Korea Open
OQS Japan, Mizuno Open
OQS USA, the Memorial Tournament
OQS Canada, RBC Canadian Open
OQS Italy, Italian Open
OQS Scotland, Genesis Scottish Open
FINAL QUALIFYING SITE VENUES
Final Qualifying, Burnham & Berrow
Final Qualifying, Dundonald Links
Final Qualifying, Royal Cinque Ports
Final Qualifying, West Lancashire
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.
