10 February 2025 - SHANK Media, by Matt Hooper: Today, the R&A announced its exemption criteria for the 2025 Open Championship, to be played at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland this July. The headline was the exemption for the top ranked non-exempt player in the top 5 of the LIV Golf League, but something which appears to have gone under the radar is the prevalence of National Opens within the Open Qualifying Series, and the exemption pathways.
The VISA Open de Argentina, New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport, ISPS Handa Australian Open, Investec South African Open, Kolon Korea Open, Genesis Scottish Open and RBC Canadian Open will each award a minimum of 1 place to a non-exempt player into The Open. 7 National Opens on 6 continents, including 5 of the 6 oldest national open championships in the world outside the United States of America.
The OQS began in December with the ISPS Handa Australian Open, played in Melbourne, at the magnificent Kingston Heath Golf Club, and Victoria Golf Club. American rookie Ryggs Johnston won the title, and earned a spot in The Open, along with Curtis Luck, and LIV Golf star Marc Leishman. The Australian Open has a great history, first played in 1904, and it has a roll of honour comparable to any of the four Major Championships, being played on some of the truly great courses of Australia. It, alongside the South African Open and Genesis Scottish Open, is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour. The RBC Canadian Open is sanctioned by the PGA TOUR, and the New Zealand Open and Korea Open are sanctioned by the Asian Tour, other events including the Mizuno Open mean that the R&A are working with every major professional tour, essentially creating an unofficial world tour, which concludes at The Open.
Arguably the surprise inclusion in the exemptions is for the winner of the 118th VISA Open de Argentina. The Argentina Open is sanctioned by the Korn Ferry Tour. The 1 spot available to the winner adds prestige to a championship with immense history and tradition, but which has by and large been given a pass by the world's best golfers.
National Opens have long been the backbone of the DP World Tour, and it seems that it cannot be a coincidence that in 2025 these 7 National Opens will be part of the qualification process for The Open, and surely in the future, whatever that looks like, they must also be central to a new world of men's professional golf. With so many of them already co-sanctioned by multiple tours, it seems that it should be easy to integrate them into a premier world series at the top of world golf.
'A Vision for the Future of Men's Professional Golf' is a feature article coming this week on SHANK.
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