The road to The 149th Open begins in Australia

The 149th Open will begin at the Emirates Australian Open, The Open qualifying series for 2020 from 5-8 December at The Australian in Sydney.

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The 149th Open to start at The Australian Golf Club

Nov 25, 2019: The road to The 149th Open at Royal St George’s will begin at the Emirates Australian Open, the first of 16 events in 11 countries across five continents that will make up The Open Qualifying Series for 2020.

The Emirates Australian Open, which is being played from 5-8 December at The Australian in Sydney, will be the first opportunity for players to secure their place at Royal St George’s next year.

The Open Qualifying Series will visit Morocco for the first time with the European Tour’s Trophee Hassan II event offering one qualifying place for golf’s original championship, while the Travelers Championship on the PGA TOUR returns to the schedule for the first time since 2015 with two qualifying spots available.

A minimum of 46 places in The Open are available through the Series, which provides golfers with opportunities to qualify at events around the world on the PGA TOUR, the European Tour, the PGA Tour of Australasia, the Asian Tour, the Korean Tour, the Japan Golf Tour and the Sunshine Tour.

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director – Championships at The R&A, said, “We have agreed an exciting schedule of events with our colleagues at the leading professional tours around the world and we will look forward to finding out which golfers qualify for Royal St George’s.

“We know there is real excitement among fans at the prospect of The Open returning to Royal St George’s which will undoubtedly spur on players to qualify to compete over the famous Kent links come July next year.”

The South African Open hosted by The City of Joburg will be played at Randpark, Johannesburg from 9-12 January and three qualifying places will be on offer.

Four places in The Open will be available at both the SMBC Singapore Open, which is being played at Sentosa Golf Club, and The Mizuno Open taking place at The Royal Golf Club in Japan.

On the PGA TOUR, the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and RBC Canadian Open will each have three qualifying places, while the last qualifying place will be confirmed at the John Deere Classic on the eve of The 149th Open.

On the European Tour, four places at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open will be available.

Two places will also be available at the KOLON Korea Open in June.

Regional Qualifying events will take place throughout Great Britain and Ireland with Caldy, Rochester & Cobham Park and Moor Park confirmed as three new venues for 2020. A minimum of 12 places will then be available at Final Qualifying events taking place at Fairmont St Andrews, Notts (Hollinwell), Prince’s and St Annes Old Links.

R&A Tour Release