Can any of these debutants win The Open in 2026

A total of 156 hopefuls will be teeing it up at Royal Birkdale and many will be playing in The Open Championship for the first time.

Introducing a selection of this year's rookies - borrowing the profiles from The Open's superb website - I have made a few predictions.

Can any of these debutants follow in the footsteps of Ben Curtis and Collin Morikawa, who both picked up the Claret Jug at their very first attempt?

Eugenio Chacarra

Chacarra won back-to-back on the DP World Tour in June, with the second of those victories earning him a place at The Open. The Spaniard claimed his place at Royal Birkdale with a five-stroke victory at Italian Open, coming just three weeks after his success at the KLM Open, where he finished one clear of closest challenger Oliver Lindell in Amsterdam. He made his breakthrough by winning the Hero Indian Open in March 2025, and also has victories on LIV Golf and the Asian Tour to his name.

Prediction: Top 10

Angel Ayora

Ayora will make his Open debut after qualifying courtesy of his position in the Race to Dubai rankings. The Spaniard finished his season strongly with top-10 results at The Genesis Championship, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and DP World Tour Championship - helping him secure 20th position and the Royal Birkdale berth that came with it. His breakthrough career victory came on the HotelPlanner Tour in 2024, winning the Rosa Challenge Tour in Poland.

Prediction: Top 50

Jacob Bridgeman

Bridgeeman will make his debut just months after his maiden victory on the PGA Tour. The American was triumphant at the Genesis Invitational in February, finishing the week a shot better than Rory McIlroy and Kurt Kitiyama to take the title. He followed this up with a tied fifth at The Players Championship the following month, adding to top ten finishes at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Sony Open in Hawaii earlier in 2026. His spot at golf’s original championship comes courtesy of his climb into top-30 in the FedEx Cup standings in 2025, where he finished 27th.

Prediction: Top 25

Ryan Gerard

Gerard will make his debut at The Open, the only major he has yet to play in. He secured his place in the field through his world ranking thanks to a series of strong performances on the PGA Tour, including a second-place finish at the Sony Open in Hawaii and a share of second at The American Express. After winning his maiden event on the PGA Tour last July at the Barracuda Championship, the 26-year-old entered the world’s top 50 for the first time. By December, Gerard was ranked 57th heading into the final tournament week of the year. He then played in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, with a second-place finish good enough to see him return to the top 50, and with it, earn an invitation to the 2026 Masters. He duly finished T38 at Augusta National.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Stuart Grehan

Grehan’s triumph at The Amateur Championship brought with it a coveted place at The Open. The Irishman claimed one of the most prestigious titles in amateur golf when he defeated American Matt Moloney in a thrilling 36-hole final at Royal Liverpool in June. Royal Birkdale will now mark the 33-year-old’s first major appearance. "I’m going to be buzzing for The Open," he said after his win. "I’ll love it, I’ll absolutely love it. It hasn’t really sunk in yet." Grehan represented Great Britain and Ireland at the Walker Cup in September 2025, making his debut at Cypress Point eight years after a broken arm dashed his hopes of selection for the 2017 match. After turning professional later that year, Grehan regained his amateur status in 2025.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Lev Grinberg

Grinberg claimed his place after being crowned winner of The Open Amateur Series in June. The teenager’s victory at the St Andrews Links Trophy, in addition to his performances at The Amateur Championship and The European Amateur Championship, saw him top the standings.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Michael Hollick

Hollick finished seventh on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in 2025 to take the final available DP World Tour card ahead of the 2026 season. Secured three top tens in his first four starts of the 2026 season, including solo fourth at the Australian Open - a result that saw him qualify for The Open Championship. At 38, in his rookie DP World Tour season, he made his Rolex Series debut at the 2026 Hero Dubai Desert Classic and won the recent BMW International Open in Germany.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Mason Howell

A rising star of the game, Mason Howell qualified after winning the 2025 US Amateur Championship. He defeated Jackson Herrington 7&6 in the final at The Olympic Club in San Francisco to take the title just one month after his 18th birthday. This made him the third youngest ever winner of the Championship. Just two months earlier he was the youngest player competing in the US Open at Oakmont Country Club after earning his place with back-to-back rounds of 63 at Piedmont Driving Club in qualifying. Howell was part of the winning US team at the 50th Walker Cup at Cypress Point in 2025, securing two-and-a-half points from three matches.

Prediction: Leading Amateur

Casey Jarvis

Jarvis won back-to-back on the DP World Tour, with the second of those victories bringing with it a place at The Open. He won the South African Open where three places were available. The South African finished three strokes clear at the top of the leaderboard after a hugely impressive week at Stellenbosch Golf Club. This came just one week after he won the Magical Kenya Open, also by three shots - his first triumph on the Tour. Jarvis joined the Sunshine Tour after turning professional as a teenager in August 2022, and he went on to win the Rookie of the Year award. The following year he equalled the Tour's lowest round with a 59 at the 2023 Stella Artois Players Championship.

Prediction: Top 15

Jake Knapp

When Knapp tees off at Birkdale it will see him complete the set of having featured at all four majors. His spot at The 154th Open was earned through his position inside the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking. Five top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season have seen the 31-year-old Californian rise from 105th in the world in January to 36th, following his 11th-place finish at The Masters. Knapp’s biggest win came on the PGA Tour when he was victorious at the Mexico Open in February 2024. The win was notable as Knapp hit just two fairways during his final round; becoming just the second player since 1983 to hit two or fewer fairways during a final round and still win. He shot just the 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history when he recorded a 59 in the first round of the 2025 Cognizant Classic.

Prediction: Top 30

Frederic Lacroix

Lacroix qualified for his Open debut courtesy of a joint runner-up finish at the South African Open. The Frenchman finished three strokes behind winner Casey Jarvis at Stellenbosch Golf Club but did enough to claim one of the three Open places on offer. He finished the week level with Francesco Laporta and Hennie du Plessis, however Lacroix and Laporta qualified for due to their superior world ranking positions. Lacroix won on the DP World Tour at the Danish Golf Championship in August 2024, finishing four shots clear of Romain Langasque and Lucas Bjerregaard.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Joakim Lagergren

Lagergren qualified for The Open for the first time courtesy of his top 25 finish on the final Race to Dubai rankings. In 2025 the Swede managed two runner-up finishes on the DP World Tour, losing a play-off to Rory McIlroy at the Irish Open and ending the week two shots behind Connor Syme at the KLM Open. He also recorded a further three top 10 results throughout the year. His breakthrough victory on the Tour came in 2018 when he triumphed at the Sicilian Open, and the same year he hit the headlines with a remarkable albatross at the Turkish Airlines Open when he holed his second shot on the par-5 12th from 238 yards.

Prediction: Top 30

Fifa Laopakdee

Laopakdee came from six shots behind to win the 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in dramatic fashion at Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis Course in Dubai, earning him an exemption for The Open. Having been six strokes off the leader - 16-year-old Taisei Nagasaki - at the start of Sunday, Laopakdee managed a final round 68 to force a play-off, before winning with birdie on the third extra hole. In addition to securing his Open debut, the Arizona State University junior also gained an invitation to the 2026 Masters Tournament - becoming the first Thai amateur to do so.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Francesco Laporta

Laporta was one of three players to qualify for Royal Birkdale at the South African Open. He spent much of his early life with family in South Africa, and it was there he first picked up a golf club. He currently plays on the DP World Tour having won three times on the Challenge Tour, the first of which being the 2019 Hainan Open.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen

Neergaard-Petersen will make his Open debut, qualifying through his 15th-place finish on the Race to Dubai Rankings. The Dane enjoyed a terrific European campaign in 2025, registering seven top-10s, including a runner-up finish in the Qatar Masters in February and a tie third finish in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in November. Neergaard-Petersen was runner-up at the PGA Tour’s Peurto Rico Open before finishing T12 at the US Open. He won three times on the HotelPlanner Tour in 2024, which earned him immediate promotion to the DP World Tour.

Prediction: Top 20

James Nicholas

Nicholas came through unpredictable conditions at final qualifyin to earn himself a spot at Royal Birkdale. Rounds of 65 and 67 saw the American top the leaderboard at Burnham and Berrow. He made his major bow at the 2025 US Open, having come through qualifying there, and went on to make the cut before finishing T61 at Oakmont Country Club. He qualified again for this year’s US Open, where he finished T65. He turned professional in 2019 and recorded his maiden title on the Korn Ferry Tour at the Astara Golf Championship in February 2026.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Mateo Pulcini

Pulcini qualified after winning the Latin America Amateur Championship. The Argentinian, who at 25 became the oldest player to win the event, came out on top after a tense playoff with Virgilio Paz Valdes at Lima Golf Club in Peru. January's victory brought with it a place at Royal Birkdale. His performance in Lima came off the back of an impressive 2025 season which saw the Oklahoma University graduate achieve three wins and a further nine top ten finishes in the amateur ranks, including sixth at last year’s Latin America Amateur Championship.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Jackson Suber

Super will make his Open debut having claimed one of the qualifying spots on offer at the Canadian Open. The American finished in a tie for fourth in Ontario and this was enough for him to gain a Royal Birkdale berth as one of the three highest placed finishers not already exempt. This came less than a month after Suber also claimed fourth spot at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson. He managed three top 10 results in his first year on the PGA Tour in 2025.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Caleb Surratt

Suratt came through Final Qualifying at Burnham and Berrow. The American turned professional in 2024 after a strong amateur career in which Data Golf ranked him top in the world in July 2022. He represented the United States in both the Arnold Palmer Cup and Walker Cup in 2023, winning three of his four matches at the Old Course at St Andrews in the latter event on the way to a US victory. Upon joining LIV Golf, Surratt was part of Jon Rahm's title winning Legion XIII team. He made his major championship debut at the US Open earlier this year after qualifying in Dallas, going on to make the cut before finishing T63.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Tim Wiedemeyer

Wiedemeyer spoke of a "dream come true" after winning the 2026 European Amateur Championship and securing a place at The Open. The German, who came close to claiming the same amateur title two years ago, got his hands on the trophy after recording a 13-under-par total of 271 at Vanajanlinna Golf & Country Club in Finland. This was enough for him to finish two strokes clear of closest challenger Nevill Ruiter. Wiedemeyer represented the Continent of Europe in the 2025 St Andrews Trophy and prior to his success at the European Amateur Championship had this year recorded four top ten finishes in the amateur ranks.

Prediction: Missed Cut

Perhaps we'll see a surprise contender or two at Royal Birkdale this week!