Adam Scott Books Spot At The Open To Extend Remarkable Run Of Consecutive Appearances

The Crown Australian Open marked a good week for former World No.1 Adam Scott.

Not only was he playing in his homeland, but he also secured a place in next year’s Open at Royal Birkdale to continue a remarkable streak of consecutive appearances that began over a quarter of a century ago.

The tournament was part of the Open Qualifying Series, which awards places in the Major to players with various high finishes in a range of events around the world.

Three places were on offer to the top three players who made the cut not otherwise exempt at the Royal Melbourne event.

Si Woo Kim finished third to book his place, while Michael Hollick took the second spot thanks to his finish of fourth, leaving Scott to claim the third and final place on offer thanks to his placing of fifth.

Scott’s maiden Open appearance was also his first start in any Major, coming in 2000 at the Old Course, St Andrews.

The tournament took place less than a week after Scott celebrated his 20th birthday, and though he couldn’t cap it by making the cut, it represented the start of a remarkable run at the tournament that continues to this day.

The only year Scott has not appeared in The Open since 2000 was the one time during that period it wasn’t held, in 2020, when the tournament was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scott will take his place in the field for the 26th consecutive edition of The Open next July, with the Australian turning 46 on the day of the first round, the 16th.

Along the way, Scott has achieved top-10 finishes at The Open six times. There has been heartache, too, not least his late capitulation in 2012, when he let a four-shot lead slip to allow Ernie Els to lift the Claret Jug at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Despite Scott's maiden win at the Major eluding him, given his ongoing competitiveness, you wouldn’t put it past him to lift the Claret Jug just yet.

While Scott’s achievement of consecutive Open appearances is remarkable, he still has some way to go to catch the player with the most consecutive appearances.

That honor goes to three-time winner of the tournament Gary Player, who not only holds the record for the most appearances at The Open at 46, but also made them consecutively in an astonishing run between 1956 and 2001.

Even though Scott won’t be thinking about that record just yet, confirmation of his 26th consecutive appearance has taken him another quarter of the way to continuing a long run of consecutive Major starts next year.

Thanks to his win at the 2013 Masters, Scott is guaranteed his place at the Augusta National Major for life, but there are still question marks over his places at next year’s PGA Championship and US Open.

Typically, the world’s top 100 players the week before the PGA Championship are invited to play at the tournament.

Scott began the week 62nd in the world rankings, so barring a dramatic dip in form between now and next May, he should line up at the Aronimink Golf Club event.

That just leaves the US Open, where Scott has several opportunities to earn his place, including ensuring he's in the top 60 of the world rankings by certain deadlines in 2026, winning a PGA Tour event, or making it through final qualifying.

Those challenges are all to come, but if Scott does book his place at both the PGA Championship and US Open next year, he will take his current run of consecutive Major appearances from 97 to 101 in 2026.

While that would be incredible, it would still leave him 45 short of Jack Nicklaus’ record of 146 consecutive Major appearances, achieved between the 1962 Masters and 1998 US Open.

If Scott is to beat that record, he would need to play in every Major between now and the 2038 PGA Championship.