There were 16 Qualifying Events to fill 46 Qualifying Spots.
More about the Qualifying Events for the 2019 British Open
- Qualifying started in mid November 2018 at the Australian Open – 8 months prior to the tournament starting.
- There are 13 ‘local’ Qualifying Events. The rest are all international.
- With the tournament proper starting on 18 July, two events give qualifiers very little time to get to Royal Portrush. The John Deere Classic in Illinois and the Scottish Open in East Lothian both finish on Sunday 14 July.
- All the details about Qualifying Events – where they’re played (city and course) when, and who qualified are available in the Open website.
- You can read about the qualifiers from each event along with other Open news here.
- If you’d like to know more about the host course for the 2019 Open here is the Royal Portrush official website.
To avoid Qualifying Events, here are the main ways golfers can qualify for The Open Championship:
Exemption Categories
- Previous Open champions under age 60
- Top 10 finishers from the previous year's Open
- Winners of other major championships in the last 5 years
- Top 30 in the previous year's FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai standings
- Top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings as of a specified date
- Winners of major amateur championships like The Amateur Championship, U.S. Amateur, etc.
- Top ranked amateur in the world
The exact number of spots and criteria can vary slightly each year, but this covers the main qualification pathways for The Open Championship. The R&A aims to have a field of 156 players through these various qualifying methods.