A PGA Tour winner, Ryder Cup hopeful and former world No. 1 are among the names looking to earn a last-minute invite to The Open at the Genesis Scottish Open.
The field is almost set for The Open, live from 18 July on Sky Sports Golfwith the co-sanctioned event this week at The Renaissance Club is the last chance to secure a place in the main men’s final of the year.
Davis Thompson and CT Pan they are the latest to book a place after finishing first and tied for second respectively on Sunday in the John Deere Classic, part of the Open Qualifying Series, taking the projected field for Royal Troon to 156 players.
The final spot will be the three main players who made the cut this week and have not yet been cleared for The Open, but who needs to impress at the Rolex Series event to be part of next week’s main field?
Cam Davis is the highest-ranked player currently absent from The Open, despite winning the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic two weeks ago, ranked 39th outside the world’s top 50 when the exclusion criteria were used earlier in the season.
Davis Riley won the Charles Schwab Challenge earlier this season but still not in The Open field, when Luke’s list, Lee Hodges and Eric Van Rooyen is among last year’s winners on the PGA Tour who are currently not participating in next week’s major.
His English Aaron Rai – the 2021 Scottish Open champion – has four top-20 finishes in his last six PGA Tour starts without earning a major invite, while world No. 52 Thomas Detry – who competed in the PGA Championship and the US Open – also still have to qualify.
2018 Ryder Cup champion Alex Noren and the current captain Luke Donald, former No. 1 in the world, both in the field this week looking to feature in The Open next week, with Ireland’s Seamus Power aiming to qualify for the third consecutive season.
There is a strong Scottish contingent in action, with Calum Hill, Connor Syme, Grant Forrest, Scott Jamieson and Richie Ramsay all looking to follow Ewen Ferguson who won the BMW International Open last week and book the main qualification at home.
In the event of a tie for a qualifying spot, the player with the higher ranking in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) at the start of the week beginning July 1 will be awarded a spot in The Open.
Six of the world’s top seven are part of a star-studded field in Scotland this week, with Rory McIlroy returning as defending champion after last year’s one-shot victory over Robert MacIntyre and PGA champion Xander Schauffele also returning to the event to win in 2022.
Brian Harman is in action ahead of his Claret Jug title defense, with No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay the only eligible players in the world’s top 15 not scheduled to play the week before The Open.
Watch the Genesis Scottish Open all week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday with the Premier Group from 8.30am on Sky Sports Golf, before full coverage from 1pm.
Sky Sports is once again the home of The 152nd Open, with hourly action on Sky Sports Golf and live coverage of all seven days of the tournament week at Royal Troon. Live coverage of the opening day from 6.30pm on Thursday 18 July. Stream PGA Tour, majors and more with NOW.