Fading qualifying leaves Open a little less open
Shift to filling field via OWGR ranks may add stronger depth but weaker romance
U.S. Open contenders Tom Kim (left) and Sahith Theegala got Open spots without having to qualify (Jeff Haynes/USGA)
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — The U.S. Open leans into its open qualifying roots, with more than a third of the field earning their way to the championship via final qualifying. The Open Championship is leaning away from it, opting for a stronger field but robbing the tournament of one of its charms.
More evidence of this was apparent on Tuesday when the R&A announced 15 players who had earned a place in the field next week at Royal Birkdale.
None of them qualified via any of the more than a dozen exemption categories and none of them were part of final qualifying last week at four locations in the United Kingdom, where 20 players won spots in the field after a 36-hole day, much like the U.S. Open’s “longest day.”
The latest group made it into the field via their spot on the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday.
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The spots went to Sam Stevens, Nicolas Echavarria, Pierceson Coody, Ryo Hisatsune, Michael Brennan, David Puig, Tom Kim, Eric Cole, Keith Mitchell, Matt Wallace, Sami Valimaki, Max Homa, Thomas Detry, Max Greyserman and Sahith Theegala.
The Open takes the top 50 via the OWGR as of mid-May and then uses the ranking system to fill its reserve list. Given the number of spots available, the Open could have easily added more spots to its final qualifying, going from five to six positions at each venue to allowing for 24 qualifiers to get into the field.
Instead, it has opted to give its last remaining spots to the highest-ranked OWGR players not otherwise exempt — a move toward field strength as opposed to qualifying.
It seems this year the reserve list was far greater than normal, due in part to fewer spots being filled through its various exemption categories that eventually get the field to 156 players.
The Open has been on this path for the better part of a decade, diminishing spots in final qualifying in favor of a system called the Open Qualifying Series that grants exemptions to a select number of the highest finishers not otherwise qualified in 15 tournament fields around the world on multiple tours throughout the year. This week’s Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club is the last of the 15-event series and will see the top three players not otherwise exempt get a spot next week at Royal Birkdale.
There is nothing wrong with this system, it is simply a far different method than the way the Open used to operate — and a bit disappointing as it relates to that perhaps-too-romantic notion of 36-hole open qualifiers.
