- Christiaan Bezuidenhout has qualified for the The Open Championship in 2023 at Royal Liverpool. (Stacey Revere/Getty Images)
Because THE PLAYERS Championship is operated by the PGA TOUR, its qualifying criteria for the 2023 edition has been set since the beginning of the 2022-23 PGA TOUR season, but none of the majors have released theirs. The ongoing assumption is that all traditional criteria will be honored, but this page will not reflect qualifiers until they are official.
The R&A announced that it will release the criteria for The Open Championship in February. That could change, of course – which is another reason why the disclaimer atop REMAINING QUALIFYING CRITERIA at the bottom of this page always has included the phrase, “subject to change” – but The Open Qualifying Series got underway in South Africa last week, so three official qualifiers have been added to the alphabetical list below.
The top three finishers at the Joburg Open gained entry. They were led by champion Dan Bradbury of England, who went wire-to-wire in just his third career DP World Tour start. (He gained entry via a sponsor exemption.)
Bradbury concluded 72 holes in 21-under 263 at Houghton Golf Club, three clear of Sami Välimäki of Finland. Each will be making his debut in The Open. Bradbury did it all as a collegian at Lincoln Memorial University before transferring and teeing it up as a super senior at Florida State. The Brit never has competed in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Daniel van Tonder tied for third another stroke back, but the battle among of the fellow South Africans for the final exemption went to Bezuidenhout because he has a better Official World Golf Ranking (74th) than van Tonder (230th). It will be Bezuidenhout’s fourth career appearance in The Open. He finished T68 at St. Andrews this year.
Should any of the three qualifiers gain entry into The Open another way, van Tonder will serve as the replacement via a special list of alternates. This process will be repeated for every stop in the OQS. The next is this week’s ISPS HANDA Australian Open.
NOTE: Golfers are omitted if they recently haven’t competed in majors for which they are eligible (e.g., The Open Championship=Justin Leonard).
TPC = THE PLAYERS Championship
MAS = Masters
PGA = PGA Championship
US = U.S. Open
OPEN = The Open Championship
Recent Additions
TPC -- none
MAS -- none
PGA -- none
US -- none
OPEN -- Christiaan Bezuidenhout; Dan Bradbury; Sami Välimäki
| Golfer | Qualified |
| Daniel Berger | TPC |
| Christiaan Bezuidenhout | TPC, OPEN |
| Dan Bradbury | OPEN |
| Keegan Bradley | TPC |
| Ryan Brehm | TPC |
| Hayden Buckley | TPC |
| Sam Burns | TPC |
| Patrick Cantlay | TPC |
| Stewart Cink | TPC |
| Wyndham Clark | TPC |
| Corey Conners | TPC |
| Joel Dahmen | TPC |
| Cam Davis | TPC |
| Jason Day | TPC |
| Tyler Duncan | TPC |
| Tony Finau | TPC |
| Matthew Fitzpatrick | TPC |
| Tommy Fleetwood | TPC |
| Rickie Fowler | TPC |
| Dylan Frittelli | TPC |
| Doug Ghim | TPC |
| Lucas Glover | TPC |
| Lanto Griffin | TPC |
| Emiliano Grillo | TPC |
| Chesson Hadley | TPC |
| Adam Hadwin | TPC |
| James Hahn | TPC |
| Nick Hardy | TPC |
| Brian Harman | TPC |
| Tyrrell Hatton | TPC |
| Russell Henley | TPC |
| Lucas Herbert | TPC |
| Kramer Hickok | TPC |
| Lee Hodges | TPC |
| Tom Hoge | TPC |
| Max Homa | TPC |
| Billy Horschel | TPC |
| Beau Hossler | TPC |
| Viktor Hovland | TPC |
| Mark Hubbard | TPC |
| Mackenzie Hughes | TPC |
| John Huh | TPC |
| Sungjae Im | TPC |
| Stephen Jaeger | TPC |
| Jerry Kelly | TPC |
| Si Woo Kim | TPC |
| Tom Kim | TPC |
| Chris Kirk | TPC |
| Kevin Kisner | TPC |
| Kurt Kitayama | TPC |
| Patton Kizzire | TPC |
| Russell Knox | TPC |
| Kelly Kraft | TPC |
| Matt Kuchar | TPC |
| Martin Laird | TPC |
| Nate Lashley | TPC |
| Danny Lee | TPC |
| K.H. Lee | TPC |
| David Lipsky | TPC |
| Luke List | TPC |
| Adam Long | TPC |
| Justin Lower | TPC |
| Shane Lowry | TPC |
| Peter Malnati | TPC |
| Hideki Matsuyama | TPC |
| Denny McCarthy | TPC |
| Max McGreevy | TPC |
| Rory McIlroy | TPC |
| Maverick McNealy | TPC |
| Troy Merritt | TPC |
| Keith Mitchell | TPC |
| Francesco Molinari | TPC |
| Taylor Moore | TPC |
| Collin Morikawa | TPC |
| Trey Mullinax | TPC |
| Sebastián Muñoz | TPC |
| Matthew NeSmith | TPC |
| Alex Noren | TPC |
| Ryan Palmer | TPC |
| C.T. Pan | TPC |
| Taylor Pendrith | TPC |
| Mito Pereira | TPC |
| Scott Piercy | TPC |
| J.T. Poston | TPC |
| Seamus Power | TPC |
| Andrew Putnam | TPC |
| Jon Rahm | TPC |
| Aaron Rai | TPC |
| Chad Ramey | TPC |
| Chez Reavie | TPC |
| Doc Redman | TPC |
| Davis Riley | TPC |
| Patrick Rodgers | TPC |
| Justin Rose | TPC |
| Sam Ryder | TPC |
| Xander Schauffele | TPC |
| Scottie Scheffler | TPC |
| Adam Schenk | TPC |
| Matthias Schwab | TPC |
| Adam Scott | TPC |
| Greyson Sigg | TPC |
| Webb Simpson | TPC |
| Alex Smalley | TPC |
| Austin Smotherman | TPC |
| J.J. Spaun | TPC |
| Jordan Spieth | TPC |
| Scott Stallings | TPC |
| Brendan Steele | TPC |
| Sepp Straka | TPC |
| Robert Streb | TPC |
| Kevin Streelman | TPC |
| Justin Suh | TPC |
| Adam Svensson | TPC |
| Callum Tarren | TPC |
| Nick Taylor | TPC |
| Sahith Theegala | TPC |
| Justin Thomas | TPC |
| Michael Thompson | TPC |
| Brendon Todd | TPC |
| Kevin Tway | TPC |
| Sami Välimäki | OPEN |
| Jhonattan Vegas | TPC |
| Matt Wallace | TPC |
| Nick Watney | TPC |
| Vince Whaley | TPC |
| Danny Willett | TPC |
| Aaron Wise | TPC |
| Gary Woodland | TPC |
| Tiger Woods | TPC |
| Brandon Wu | TPC |
| Cameron Young | TPC |
| Will Zalatoris | TPC |
REMAINING QUALIFYING CRITERIA
Criteria are listed in chronological order where possible. Best estimates are given but all are subject to change.
THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP (TPC) @ TPC Sawgrass (Stadium) – March 9-12
• Winners of PGA TOUR events thru the final week before THE PLAYERS.
• Top 10 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of The Honda Classic (Feb. 26).
• Top 50 of Official World Golf Ranking (Feb. 27).
• If necessary to complete the field of 144, golfers outside the Top 10 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of the Honda Classic on Feb. 26 will gain entry in order of position.
MASTERS (MAS) @ Augusta National Golf Club – April 6-9
• TBD
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP (PGA) @ Oak Hill Country Club – May 18-21
• TBD
U.S. OPEN (US) @ The Los Angeles Country Club (North) – June 15-18
• TBD
THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP (OPEN) @ Royal Liverpool – July 20-23