For the first time, LIV golfers will have a direct path to playing in the Open Championship, the R&A announced Monday, joining the USGA’s similar stance for the U.S. Open in the governing bodies’ clearest acceptance of LIV Golf in its three years of existence.
The R&A has created a new category in its Open exemptions exclusively for LIV, wherein the top-ranked player not already exempt, but within the top five of LIV’s individual standings at the end of June, will be granted a spot in the Open. This follow’s the USGA’s decision last week, where the top-ranked player on LIV not already exempt and in the top three spots (as of May 19) will be granted entry to the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
The decision is one of the first substantial move of incoming R&A CEO Mark Darbon’s tenure as the head of the international governing body. Darbon took over the position from Martin Slumbers at the beginning of 2025 and offered a similar explanation to what Slumbers has said in previous years, saying the R&A reviews its exemption categories annually and makes changes to them as necessary.
“We acknowledge that players competing in LIV Golf should also have the opportunity to secure places in The Open through its individual season standings as well as existing pathways,” he said.
By existing pathways, he means qualifying, which has been the dominant (if only) way non-exempt LIV players have had to gain entry in previous years. The R&A allows exemptions into Final Qualifying for past major champions and any player who is ranked in the top 1,000 of the Official World Golf Ranking, which means most every LIV golfer should at least advance to Final Qualifying, from which a successful 36-hole day will get them to Royal Portrush in July.
Naturally, this move and the similar USGA decision has new LIV CEO Scott O’Neill pleased.
“The acknowledgement that competitors from the LIV Golf League and The International Series will have the opportunity to play in golf’s original major is a true testament to the strength of fields and the R&A’s commitment to golf fans around the world,” O’Neill said in a statement.
Though the move is an important step for relations among the leading organizations in the game, how it plays out in reality may not lead to a new playing opportunity for a non-exempt player. To use last season as an example, the top five finishers on LIV — Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton and Brooks Koepka — features four players already qualified. Only Garcia would have earned this LIV exemption, and it’s possible he wouldn’t have pushed himself into the top 5 until later in the season after his victory at LIV’s event in Spain.
In other words, if LIV’s best players play their best — and are already exempt into the Open and U.S. Open — these exemptions won’t leave room for anyone else to gain entry. Let that be an early thought for Adrian Meronk to work through. The Polish pro is not exempt into either of the season’s final two major championships, and is currently the leader of LIV’s Individual Standings following his victory at the season-opening event in Saudi Arabia. Now he just has to keep himself near that position for the next three months.
Despite the formality of these major championship exemptions, LIV has been given consideration from the two other major championships in recent years. Joaquin Niemann has received invitations to both the Masters and the PGA Championship while Garcia received an invite to the latter (having already qualified for the former as a result of his 2017 victory). Talor Gooch, Paul Casey and Patrick Reed all accepted invitations to the PGA Championship in recent years. Louis Oosthuizen also received an invite to the 2024 PGA Championship but declined it due to personal commitments.
