The Open at Royal Birkdale: last-chance qualifier and heroes classic explained

ONE of the great traditions on the PGA Tour is the Monday qualifier. It gives local and up-and-coming young professionals a chance to play their way into that week’s PGA Tour event and is a way of helping players to make their dreams come true.

And now, The R&A is effectively bringing that same spirit to The Open.

The push to secure the final place in The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale will see 12 players given the chance to compete in the Last-Chance Qualifier on Monday, July 13, with the tournament starting on Thursday, July 16.

A Proper Monday With Something on the Line

Normally, the Monday of Open week is a fairly gentle day. Players drift in and out, do their practice rounds, get a feel for the course, chat to the media and the crowds. Nice enough but hardly edge-of-your-seat stuff.

This new event changes that completely.

Instead, we’ll have a proper tournament round played over Royal Birkdale itself, with a single golden ticket at stake. Spectators who have made the trip will get to see golfers treating every shot as if it were Sunday afternoon rather than a relaxed Monday knock. That’s a huge shift and it’s hard to think of a better way of earning the final coveted spot in golf’s oldest major.

Who Gets Into the Last-Chance Qualifier?

The strokeplay event will start on Monday morning and be contested over 18 holes at Royal Birkdale with golfers earning their place in the field based on eligibility criteria which are consistent with the existing qualification process for The Open.

The field will be determined in order using the following criteria:

• World-ranking hopefuls - The highest two non-exempt players in the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday July 6 will be given first refusal. These are players who have been performing consistently but, for whatever reason, haven’t yet secured their Open spot.
• The nearly man from The Amateur - The runner-up at The Amateur Championship will be next in line - provided they remain an amateur by Monday July 13. Winning The Amateur already brings big rewards. This gives the runner-up a genuine second chance at something extraordinary.
• Play-off heartbreak stories - Anyone who lost out in a play-off at Final Qualifying will be considered next. If you’ve been within a whisker of booking your place and came up short in extra holes, this is a wonderfully fair way of saying: “You deserve another go.”
• One short at Final Qualifying - After that, those who finished a single position outside the qualifying spots at Final Qualifying venues come into the frame. Again, it rewards players who have already shown they can compete at that level.

Every golfer who tees it up on that Monday will have earned the right to be there. No sponsors’ invites. No back doors. Just a very small group of players who have been on the brink of qualifying and now get one more roll of the dice.

A Fresh Look for a Very Traditional Championship

Golf is often accused of a lack of innovation but I cannot imagine a more thrilling way to identify the final player in the 156-strong field. Under normal circumstances, Monday would be nothing more than a practice day but this will provide fans with the chance to watch some proper competitive golf played over the same course that will host The Open later the same week. It seems like a brilliant idea to me.

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Chief Championships Officer at The R&A, said: “The Last-Chance Qualifier will provide fans with the opportunity to watch high quality, competitive golf which will generate drama and intrigue as players compete to earn the final place in the Championship. It is an exciting addition to The Open and fans still have time to secure tickets to attend the Last-Chance Qualifier via the official website.

“We have also developed eligibility criteria for the Last-Chance Qualifier which stays true to the traditions of The Open and our qualification process. Every golfer who tees it up at Royal Birkdale will have earned the right to do so and we look forward to seeing which player emerges from the field in the Last-Chance Qualifier to seal their place in the Championship.”

Fans will also be able to enjoy a special celebration of golf when the inaugural Heroes Classic takes place as a short-format team challenge starting on the first hole of Royal Birkdale on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 14.

Teams will be made up of a select number of players in the field for The Open and invited guests, who continue to inspire people of all ages and background worldwide to play golf and reflect the values and traditions that make the sport so popular.

The R&A once again experienced huge demand from fans in the ticket ballot for Royal Birkdale meaning that almost all tickets across the week are sold out.

Increased capacity for next year’s Championship has resulted in a limited number of tickets being available to attend the Last-Chance Qualifier and Heroes Classic, while fans can still enhance their experience of attending Monday to Sunday of Championship week through “Ticket Plus” – an upgrade that includes general admission plus access to a private area featuring exclusive food and drinks, indoor/outdoor seating, big screens, private restrooms, a £25 food voucher and a private bar.

A Brilliant Step Forward

For me, this is exactly the sort of innovation golf needs. It doesn’t tamper with the essence of the sport or the Championship; it simply adds another layer of drama and a couple of fresh reasons to be on site earlier in the week.

Instead of a quiet Monday, Royal Birkdale will host a sudden-death audition for one precious Open spot. Instead of just another practice day, fans can watch careers potentially change over a single 18-hole round.

I can’t think of a more fitting way to find the final man in the field for The 154th Open and if you are lucky enough to be there on that Monday, you might just witness a story that will be talked about for years to come.

Fans can purchase available tickets by visiting TheOpen.com