Masters, Open Championship Offer New Paths for Qualifying in 2026

There is a new way for golfers to qualify for The Masters and Open Championship.

Beginning with the 2026 editions of the tournaments, winners of six selected national opens will now earn invitations to the two major championships: 

• Australian Open
• Hong Kong Open
• Japan Open
• Scottish Open
• South African Open
• Spanish Open

The new qualification criteria incorporate five international tours: the Asian Tour, DP World Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, and Sunshine Tour. This builds upon the long-standing tradition of The Masters inviting winners of full-field PGA Tour events. Winners of LIV Golf events will continue not to earn invitations for their victories.

However, the Hong Kong Open (Asian Tour) is part of the International Series, which has a partnership with LIV Golf. Last year, LIV’s Patrick Reed won the Hong Kong Open, although he has a lifetime invite to The Masters as the 2018 champion.

LIV players are eligible to compete in all six of the aforementioned national opens, meaning there is a potential new pathway for members of the league to earn spots in two of golf’s four major championships. LIV has filed a new application to receive Official World Golf Ranking points, which is under review by the OWGR board.

The Open and U.S. Open already have some limited qualification methods specifically for LIV players. At the same time, The Masters and PGA Championship do not, although they have each invited several LIV members in recent years. 

PGA Tour member Chris Gotterup won this year’s Scottish Open and was already qualified for next year’s Masters before Tuesday’s announcement. The other five tournaments will be played this fall.

Additionally, winners of the PGA Tour’s fall schedule will no longer receive invites to The Masters, as those events don’t offer a full point allocation.