Augusta National Golf Club and R&A announced today that it plans to align the qualification standards for the Masters Championship with the Open.
This approach is based on the long-term and successful open qualifying of R&A and will ensure a strong international track from several professional tours and recognize the global strength of elite professional golf.
“The Masters Championship has long recognized the importance of having international representation among its invitees,” said Fred Ridley, president of the Augusta National Golf Club and Masters Championship.
“We share a shared commitment to global competitions with R&A and are proud to work together. Today’s announcement enhances our organization’s collective vision to reward top global talents who become national open champions with a long history.
We hope that this formal recognition may have a bright revelation for these players and the events they will represent in the Masters and Open which will begin next year. ”
Open qualifying has been operating since 2013 and has entered the Open with players through world-renowned tour events. Starting later this year, players can qualify for the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale through 15 events in 13 countries.
R&A CEO Mark Darbon said: “We are proud of the open qualifying series for the range of qualifying we offer players around the world.
We share the same goals with the Augusta National to offer open and master’s degrees to players who compete in national competitions and do so to help showcase and strengthen sports in these areas.
This provides an excellent opportunity for players around the world to qualify and we firmly believe this will continue to enrich the quality of the field in both major tournaments. ”
Click here to view the 2026 Masters qualification criteria.
The timetable for the open qualifying match and the exemption list for the 154th Open will be announced in September.
The 2026 Masters will be the 90th match of the Masters Championship and is scheduled to be held from April 6 to 12. The 154th Open is scheduled to be held at Real Burkedale from July 12 to 19.
