The Open Championship is the fourth and final major of the season. This is the 151st playing of The Open and the 13th at Royal Liverpool Golf Club (first since 2014).
Defending champion Australian Cameron Smith headlines the group and he is a realistic chance and in good form as one of only 18 players to make the cut in the three majors this season. Marc Leishman is a notable absentee from the field and four names might not jump off the page to those other than hard core golfing fans. Travis Smyth (world rank 310), David Micheluzzi (363), Harrison Crowe (653) and Haydn Barron (937) are four Aussies that get their chance to make a mark on the big stage.

Below is a list of the Australians in the field with their current FedExCup standing and Official World Golf Ranking leading into the Championship and to see the full list of Exemptions Categories scroll down to the end of this article;

THE EVENT

• July 17-23, 41st of 44 FedExCup Regular Season events
• Hoylake Wirral, England
• Royal Liverpool, Par 71, 7,383 yards
• Purse $16.5 million
• Winner USD$3million + 600 FedExCup points
• 156 players, 72-hole stroke play
• Defending champion - Cameron Smith

42 players in the field competed at the 2014 Open Championship, including winner Rory McIlroy and four others that finished in the top 10: Rickie Fowler (T2), Adam Scott (T5), Charl Schwartzel (T7) and Shane Lowry (T9). Previous Open Championships at Royal Liverpool (and winners);

2014 Rory McIlroy
2006 Tiger Woods
1967 Roberto de Vicenzo
1956 Peter Thomson
1947 Fred Daly
1936 Alf Pagdham
1930 Bobby Jones
1924 Walter Hagen
1913 J.H. Taylor
1907 Arnaud Massy
1902 Sandy Herd
1897 Harold Hilton

World No. 3 and 24-time PGA TOUR winner Rory McIlroy, who won last week's Genesis Scottish Open, won The Open Championship the last time it was held at Royal Liverpool (2014). McIlroy has won four majors (2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship, 2014 PGA Championship) but none since the start of the 2014-15 season. McIlroy has 19 top-10s in majors since his most recent title, the most of any player in that span. He is making his 59th start in a major and 34th since winning the 2014 PGA Championship.

With his victory at the Genesis Scottish Open, McIlroy moved to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking and No. 3 in the FedExCup standings. McIlroy now has 24 victories on the PGA TOUR, tying Dustin Johnson and Gary Player for 26th on the all-time wins list. He has finished in the top-10 in each of his last six starts, his longest such streak since he had seven straight in his last seven starts before the 2019-20 season was suspended due to COVID-19. During that span, McIlroy won the FedExCup and reached the No. 1 position in the Official World Golf Ranking.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has two wins this season (WM Phoenix Open, THE PLAYERS Championship) and leads the PGA TOUR with 15 top-10s this season and has finished T12 or better in each of his last 18 starts. Scheffler has made two starts at The Open Championship (T8/2021, T21/2022).

Jon Rahm enters The Open Championship as the FedExCup leader with four wins this season, including the Masters Tournament. With a win this week, Rahm would become the first player to win five times in a season since Justin Thomas in 2016-17 and the first to win multiple majors in the same year since Jordan Spieth in 2015 (Masters, U.S. Open). Rahm has held the lead in the FedExCup standings since winning The American Express (26 consecutive weeks) and currently has a seven-point lead over Scheffler, the smallest margin he has held at any point in that span.

Rickie Fowler, who snapped a winless drought of more than four years with his victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic on July 2, finished T2 at the 2014 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. Since turning professional in 2009, Fowler has nine top-fives and 13 top-10s in majors, tied with Lee Westwood in both categories for the most of any player without a win in that span.

Wyndham Clark is making his first start in a major since winning the U.S. Open, his first career major title and second PGA TOUR victory. Clark, whose first win came earlier in the season at the Wells Fargo Championship, is making his second start in The Open, finishing T76 in his tournament debut in 2022. The last player to win consecutive majors was Jordan Spieth in 2015 (Masters Tournament, U.S. Open). Clark enters the week No. 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, his first time in the top 10 in his career.

There are four players in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking that have not won a major: No. 4 Patrick Cantlay, No. 5 Viktor Hovland, No. 6 Xander Schauffele and No. 8 Max Homa. Those four players have combined for 25 PGA TOUR titles and have all won at least twice since the start of the 2021-22 season.

Justin Thomas enters the week No. 75 in the FedExCup standings, and new for the 2022-23 season, only the top 70 in the FedExCup standings through the Wyndham Championship will qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs. Thomas has finished in the top 10 in the FedExCup standings in each of the last six seasons.

12 places in The Open Championship were awarded through The Open Qualifying Series at PGA TOUR events this season. Players that qualified for The 151st Open through OQS at PGA TOUR events;

Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard: Ben Griffin, Trey Mullinax, Davis Riley
Wells Fargo Championship: Michael Kim, Denny McCarthy, Brendon Todd
The Memorial Tournament presented by Workday: Andrew Putnam, Adam Schenk, Lee Hodges
Genesis Scottish Open: Byeong Hun An, David Lingmerth, Nicolai Hojgaard

18 players have made the cut in all three majors this season: Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood, Ryan Fox, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Hideki Matsuyama, Keith Mitchell, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Smith and Sahith Theegala. Scheffler is the only one to finish in the top 10 in all three.

Longest active streak of top-10s in majors: 3, Scottie Scheffler (streak began at 2023 Masters Tournament)
Longest active streak of made cuts in majors: 16, Jon Rahm (streak began at 2019 U.S. Open)
Longest active streak of starts in majors: 88, Adam Scott (streak began at 2001 Open Championship)

Exemption Categories:

1. The Open Champions aged 60 or under on 23 July 2023
2. The Open Champions for 2012-2022
3. First 10 and anyone tying for 10th place in The 150th Open at St Andrews
4. The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2023
5. First 30 in the Final Race to Dubai Rankings for 2022
6. The BMW PGA Championship winners for 2019-2022
7. First 5 DP World Tour members and any DP World Tour members tying for 5th place, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai Rankings on completion of the 2023 BMW International Open
8. The US Open Champions for 2018-2023
9. The Masters Tournament Champions for 2018-2023
10. The PGA Champions for 2017-2023
11. THE PLAYERS Champions for 2021-2023
12. Top 30 players from the Final 2022 FedExCup Points List
13. First 5 PGA TOUR members and any PGA TOUR members tying for 5th place, not exempt in the top 20 of the PGA TOUR FedExCup Points List for 2023 on completion of the 2023 Travelers Championship
14. The 116th VISA Open de Argentina 2022 Champion
15. First and anyone tying for 1st place on the Final Order of Merit of the PGA Tour of Australasia for 2022-23
16. First and anyone tying for 1st place on the Final Order of Merit of the Sunshine Tour for 2022-23
17. The Japan Open Champion for 2022
18. First 2 and anyone tying for 2nd place, on the Final Official Money List of the Japan Golf Tour for 2022
19. First and anyone tying for 1st place, not exempt in a cumulative money list taken from all official 2023 Japan Golf Tour events up to and including the 2023 Japan Tour Championship. Blank entries will be made on behalf of competitors qualifying in this category
20. The Senior Open Champion for 2022
21. The Amateur Champion for 2023
22. The US Amateur Champion for 2022
23. The European Amateur Champion for 2023
24. The Mark H McCormack Medal (Men’s WORLD AMATEUR GOLF RANKINGTM) winner for 2022
25. The Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion 2022
26. The Latin America Amateur Champion 2023
27. The Open Amateur Series winner 2023 (A new exemption added for elite amateur golfers, in which the player who accumulates the most points awarded by the World Amateur Golf Ranking in the St Andrews Links Trophy, The Amateur Championship and European Amateur Championship will earn a place in The Open)