Tuesday 30th June - Final Open Qualifying - one of the best days in the golfing calendar.
Just last week, 2,073 golfers took part in Regional Open Qualifying across 16 venues in a straight 18-hole shootout in a bid to reach Final Qualifying.
Now, 288 players will face a 36-hole test at Final Qualifying at one of four venues up and down the country.
Burnham & Berrow, West Lancs, Dundonald Links and Royal Cinque Ports are the four designated Final Qualifying venues where a 72-man strong field from each will compete for five qualifying places (20 in total) to play in The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale kicking off on Thursday 16th July.
It’s always an action-packed day, with club professionals, tour professionals who have not already qualified, and amateurs alike all bidding for that illustrious spot in the field of the final men’s major of 2026.
There will be numerous stories, I can personally attest to that when my coach Sam Forgan made it through in 2021 to play at Royal St George's. Last year, popular YouTuber Peter Finch made it to the Final Qualifying, and who can forget Richard Teder from Estonia last year who famously holed out for eagle in the third playoff hole at West Lancs to earn his spot - becoming the first golfer from his country to play in The Open.
There is a good chance of playoffs again, we have seen some rather large groups of golfers competing in them over the years.
Also, for the first time ever - and a sign of the times - the latter stages will also be broadcast live on the R&A YouTube Channel.
So, who is in the field?
Who is Playing in Final Qualifying For The 154th Open?
Let’s go course by course.
At Burnham & Berrow you will see (in no particular order!) former PGA Tour star Ollie Schniederjans, who now plays on LIV, DP World Tour winners such as Yannik Paul, Justin Harding, Richard Mansell and Anirban Lahiri as well as Marc Leishman.
Other notables are the DP World Tour's Brandon Robinson-Thompson and Oliver Farr, with a total of 24 amateurs also in this particular field.
West Lancs maybe has the most recognisable names amongst its field.
George and Wesley Bryan - aka the popular YouTube pairing The Bryan Bros - set off at 7:20am and 7:50am respectively at West Lancs, they will be followed by a host of others in a strong field that includes Adri Arnaus, the previously mentioned Richard Teder, Marcus Armitage, Sergio Garcia, Shubhankar Sharma and Matthew Jordan.
(Image Credit: Mateo Villalba/LIV Golf)
No doubt another popular group will be the 8:35am pairing as Icelandic amateur (one of 16 amateurs in this field) Arni Sveinsson gets underway alongside none other than Matt Wallace and Danny Willett. Stunning group for the young Icelandic to be part of.
Dundonald Links plays host to the best hair in golf, Robert Rock. Jack Senior, Matthew Baldwin, Angel Hidalgo, Grant Forrest and Callum Tarren will be competing in Ayrshire, as will 17 amateurs.
Finally, Royal Cinque Ports has some star power too.
Two-time major champion Dustin Johnson was set to play here, but the American has withdrawn from the field, which shines the light on other players, including Sky pundit Zane Scotland, who made it through Regional Qualifying.
Tom Lewis - who famously shot a 65 in the first round of The Open in 2011, becoming the lowest score in the championship by an amateur, and joint lowest in any major - is in this field along with Matthew Southgate, Peter Uihlein, John Catlin, Thriston Lawrence and Dean Burmester.
Other notables are Luke Poulter - son of former Ryder Cup hero Ian. Luke is one of 16 amateurs here. Thomas Detry, Branden Grace and Alfie Plant - another with Open history as low amateur in 2017 - will also be hoping for a special day.
Nathan Kimsey, Callum Shinkwin and Curtis Knipes are other names some of you may recognise.
If you get a chance to go down to any of the venues to watch, I would highly recommend it, I’m sure it will be a great day out and a chance to watch some of the very best up close and personal!
