The British Open field is supposed to be 156-players deep. Here’s why it might be even deeper

The year’s fourth and final men’s major is drawing near, with the 152nd Open Championship taking place at Royal Troon July 18-21. The R&A bring golf’s oldest event back to the historic Scottish course for the first time since 2016, when Henrik Stenson outlasted Phil Mickelson in a thrilling Sunday showdown, and for the 10th time overall.

Like the U.S. Open, the British Open field is comprised of a mix of tour pros and amateurs fully exempt into the championship from past performances and players who earn invitations via various qualifying events during the course of the year. Additionally, 16 spots were reserved for players who compete in 36-hole qualifying events at four local courses on July 2.

Thus far, 149 players have qualified for the event, with two past champions (Ben Curtis and Paul Lawrie) electing not to play. Interestingly, there are also up to 10 spots still up for grabs in the next two weeks:

That would mean the field could exceed the usual 156 players, something that happened according to the Golf Channel, most recently in 1995 at St. Andrews.

Below is a complete list of the players in the field as of July 3.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 14

Denwit Boriboonsub, OQS Malaysia

Dan Bradbury, OQS South Africa

Dean Burmester, OQS South Africa

John Catlin, OQS Malaysia

Dominic Clemons (a), Qualifier

Santiago de la Fuente (a), 24

Joe Dean, OQS Netherlands

Matthew Dodd-Berry (a), Qualifier

Jaime Montojo Fernandez (a), Qualifier

Darren Fichardt, OQS South Africa

Matt Fitzpatrick, 5, 6, 9, 13

Tommy Fleetwood, 4, 5, 6, 13

Adam Hadwin, OQS Memorial

Brian Harman, 1, 3, 4, 5, 13

Rikuya Hoshino, OQS Australia

Mackenzie Hughes, OQS Canada

Yuto Katsuragawa, OQS Japan

Misahiro Kawamura, Qualifier

Ryosuke Kinoshita, OQS Japan

Luis Masaveu (a), Qualifier

Rory McIlroy, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13

Maverick McNealy, OQS Canada

Guido Migliozzi, OQS Netherlands

Collin Morikawa, 1, 3, 5, 11, 13

Joaquin Niemann, OQS Australia

Jacob Skov Olesen (a), 19

Jon Rahm, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13

Xander Schauffele, 5, 11, 13

Scottie Scheffler, 5, 10, 12, 13

Adam Scott, OQS Australia

Matthew Southgate, Qualifier

Jordan Spieth, 1, 3, 5, 13

Brendon Todd, OQS Arnold Palmer Invitational

Altin van der Merwe (a), 26

Jeung-Hun Wang, OQS Malaysia

Will Zalatoris, OQS Arnold Palmer Invitational

1: The Open champions aged 60 or under on July 21, 2024 (for all champions up to 2024)

2: The Open champions aged 55 or under on July 21, 2024 (for all champions from 2024)

3: The Open champions for 2013-23

4: First 10 and ties in The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool in 2023

5: The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2024

6: First 30 in the Final Race to Dubai Rankings for 2023

7: The BMW PGA Championship winners for 2021-23

8: First 5 DP World Tour members and any Race to Dubai members tying for fifth place, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai Rankings on completion of the 2024 BMW International

9: The U.S. Open champions for 2019-24

10: The Masters Tournament champions for 2019-24

11: The PGA champions for 2018-24

12: The Players champions for 2022-24

13: Top 30 players for the final 2023 FedEx Cup

14: First 5 PGA Tour members and any PGA Tour members tying for fifth place, not exempt in the top 20 of the PGA Tour FedEx Cup for 2024 on completion of the 2024 Travelers Championship

15: The 117th Visa Open de Argentina 2024 champion

16: The first 5 players on the 2024 Federations Ranking List as of closing date

17: The Japan Open champion for 2023

18: The Senior Open champion for 2023

19: The Amateur champion for 2024

20: The U.S. Amateur champion for 2023

21: The European Amateur champion for 2024

22: The Mark H McCormack Medal (men’s world amateur ranking) winner for 2023

23: The Asia-Pacific Amateur champion 2023

24: The Latin America Amateur champion 2024

25: The Open Amateur Series winner 2024

26: The Africa Amateur champion 2024

(Exemptions 19-26 can only be taken up by players retaining their amateur status.)