The 149th Open: R&A confirms 106 players exempt for 2020 will qualify for next year
The 106 players who were exempts from the field for The 149th Open at Royal St George's have been assured of their places for the Championship after it was postponed to July 2021
Last Updated: 18/12/20 11:13am
All players who qualified for the postponed 149th Open will be exempt for the Championship next year, the R&A has announced.
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The field for Royal St George's had reached 106 before the coronavirus pandemic forced tournament organisers to enforce a 12-month postponement.
But all 106 have been assured their places in the field for July 2021 will be honoured, while the R&A also confirmed the Open Qualifying Series will not return until after next year's Open.
That leaves 50 places up for grabs via the numerous Open exemption categories that have been updated this week by the R&A, with Regional and Final Qualifying scheduled to take place in June.
An R&A statement read: "All existing exemptions achieved before the date of The 149th Open being cancelled this year are being honoured, meaning that 106 golfers have already earned a place in the Championship.
"The remaining 50 places will now be determined by updated exemption categories. Players will also have opportunities to earn places in The 149th Open through Regional and Final Qualifying which will take place in June 2021.
"As result of the changes made to the exemption categories for The 149th Open, it has been agreed with the professional tours that qualifying places will no longer be offered at the remaining events originally scheduled as part of The 2020 Open Qualifying Series."
R&A Championships executive director, Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, added: "We believe that it is important to honour all of the exemptions that were confirmed before The 149th Open was cancelled and so we are in a unique situation where a large number of players have already qualified and are in the field.
"In light of these exceptional circumstances, we have carefully reviewed our exemption categories and made adjustments so that players can earn places in the Championship from results achieved in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons, as well as retaining opportunities through our qualifying events."
