9 Past Champions Not Playing In The 2026 Open

The 154th Open draws a conclusion to the men's Major season, and an extremely strong field has assembled on the links of Royal Birkdale to fight it out for the Claret Jug.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is one of many past champions in the 2026 Open field, with the last 11 Champion Golfers of the Year set to tee it up.

An Open win gets you in until the age of 55, while before 2024 the age limit was 60. That is why the likes of Padraig Harrington, Stewart Cink and David Duval are able to play this week.

But what about the past champions who are not playing?

Three-time winner Tiger Woods and 2013 champion Phil Mickelson are among the big names missing the 2026 Open, while a number of other former Claret Jug winners who are exempt into the field are not playing.

The 2015 champion at St Andrews, Zach Johnson, is not playing this week due to a busy schedule. The two-time Major champion will instead play the Senior Open next week at Gleneagles as he misses The Open for just the second time since 2003.

Ernie Els is another big-name past champion not playing this week, with the South African legend, who won at Muirfield in 2002 and Lytham in 2012, missing his second consecutive Open.

Justin Leonard is not teeing it up this week, either, despite playing in the last two Opens. The 54-year-old won the Claret Jug in 1997 at Troon.

The other past champions, who remain exempt, and are not in the field this week are Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis, Paul Lawrie and John Daly.

Hamilton, who defeated Els in a playoff at Troon 22 years ago, and Daly, who won at St Andrews in 1995, are both now 60 and therefore will no longer be eligible for The Open.