The Open Last-Chance Qualifier: All You Need To Know

The Claret Jug sitting outside of the clubhouse at Royal Birkdale ahead of the 2026 Open Championship — (Image credit: Getty Images)

There's a few tweaks for the Open Championship this year, and one of the most exciting is the addition of a Last-Chance Qualifier to be played on Monday at Royal Birkdale.

Essentially a Monday qualifier is being played for a place in the 156-man field at the 154th Open Championship - talk about pressure!

For the first time ever there'll be a chance to earn one final spot in the battle for the Claret Jug, with a small field selected from those who came closest to qualifying by right given a huge second chance.

It'll be a straight 18-hole fight between 12 competitors early Monday morning, July 13, at Royal Birkdale, with just one winner being able to tee it up in the big one just a few days later.

The field for The Open is almost complete, with final spots decided over the next couple of weeks - including at the Genesis Scottish Open where last year Chris Gotterup won to qualify for Portrush before then finishing third.

There will be one place left open though, and that will not be filled until the drama of the Last-Chance Qualifier has been played out.

Here's all the details...

When & where is the Open Last-Chance Qualifier?

The Last-Chance Qualifier will kick-off Open Championship week and will be a nice bonus for fans who like to get there early on to soak up all the atmosphere.

Taking place on Monday July 13, it will be an early start with a 7:30am BST tee time for the first competitors all hoping to book a spot in the Open field.

It will be a nice advantage to have for the winner as well as the contest will take place at Royal Birkdale, so they will be the first players to tackle the course competitively ahead of The Open proper starting on Thursday.

What is the format for the Open Last-Chance Qualifier?

It's all rather simple with just a straight 18-hole shootout with the lowest score taking the spot in the Open Championship field.

If there's a tie then it will be a standard sudden death playoff until we find just the one winner - and what a prize is it as well.

Players will go off in groups of three, so four in all to battle it out for a place in the Open.

What is the criteria for the Last-Chance Qualifier field?

There are five qualifying criteria for the event, the first being the highest two from the Official World Golf Ranking not already qualified - these are usually the first two reserves but this year they'll be offered the chance to play their way into the field.

A caveat here is that if players don't want to play in the Last-Chance Qualifier they'll lose their reserve spot and be replaced.

The Amateur Championship runner-up is confirmed as long as they don't go pro and then it's down to those hard luck stories from Final Qualifying who will fill the field.

The leading two players not already exempt in the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday 6 July.
The Amateur Championship runner-up, as long as they remain an amateur on Monday 13 July.
Players who lost in a playoff at Open Final Qualifying.
Players who finished one position behind those who secured a place at Final Qualifying.
Players who were tied for a qualifying place in various events included as part of The Open Qualifying Series (excluding Scotland) but did not qualify due to a lower position in the Official World Golf Ranking.

How is the final field of 12 decided?

The Claret Jug is displayed during previews for The 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club

With numbers capped from the first two criteria this is all about Final Qualifying results - and the R&A has come up with a way of ordering players if there are too many playoff losers or those finishing one place outside the qualifiers.

If there are too many beaten playoff losers than spaces remaining, then the R&A has decided to select one from each of the four Final Qualifying venues - going in order from what they deem the strongest field to the weakest.

This will be repeated until all spots have been filled. If there's multiple players eligible at each venue then the order they finished in the playoff will be used to determine who goes through, with OWGR ranking then used if it's a tie.

Since there was only one playoff this year, criteria four will be used, and the R&A will use the same process to pick from all the players finishing just one spot outside the qualifying places.

One from each venue, starting with the strongest field, will continue to be selected until all spots are filled. If there's multiple ties at each venue then again the OWGR of players will be used to determine the order they'll be selected.

Who is in the final 12 & When will the final field be published?

John Gough just missed out on a spot at Royal Birkdale in Final Qualifying

The final field for the Open Last-Chance Qualifier will be published by the R&A on Saturday July 11.

We already know for certain that Amateur Championship runner-up Matt Moloney will take part - with the college star at Georgia not turning pro.

The two spots from the OWGR would currently go to Sam Stevens and Nico Echavarria, who sit at 46 and 52 respectively, but World No.59 Pierceson Coody and No.60 Michael Brennan are both playing in the John Deere Classic and could get a big boost with solid tournaments.

We only had a playoff at West Lancashire in Final Qualifying where Matthew Jordan won after extra holes, so both amateur Sam Easterbrook and Joe Dean get another shot as they're eligibile for the Last-Chance Qualifier after just missing out in that playoff.

So with five places allocated, there's seven spots remaining but 13 players who all finished one place behind those that made it through at Final Qualifying, so we'll need the tiebreakers from the R&A here.

We don't know the strength of field rankings yet, but that doesn't really matter in this case as John Gough was on his own at Royal Cinque Ports just outside the qualifying spots so he goes straight through.

And that means the top two in the OWGR from the other three venues will get their shot at the Last-Chance Qualifier.

So Brandon Robinson-Thompson and Marcus Helligkilde from Burnham and Berrow and Angel Hidalgo and Andrew Wilson from Dundonald Links will join John Gough in getting invites.

Adri Arnaus and Charles Huntzinger were the two highest ranked of the bunch at West Lancashire, where Wesley Bryan came up just short as he would be third on the list in terms of OWGR.

Who is in the field as it stands?

(Qualifying criteria in brackets)

Sam Stevens (1)
Nico Echavarria (1)
Matt Moloney (2)
Sam Easterbrook (3)
Joe Dean (3)
John Gough (4)
Brandon Robinson-Thompson (4)
Angel Hidalgo (4)
Adri Arnaus (4)
Marcus Helligkilde (4)
Charles Huntzinger (4)
Andrew Wilson (4)

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.