Overview

• Winners of the Scottish, Spanish, Japan, Hong Kong, Australian and South African Opens will receive one-year exemptions into the 2026 Masters and The Open.
• Masters exemptions for PGA Tour winners will now apply only to events that award a full-point allocation toward the season-ending Tour Championship, removing automatic berths from the fall schedule.
• The R&A will include the six national championships in its Open Qualifying Series for Royal Birkdale and will release the full schedule in September.
• The changes create a tournament-based pathway that LIV Golf players can pursue through these national opens, without establishing a LIV-specific exemption.
• Augusta National and The R&A said the alignment is intended to strengthen international representation and uphold the Masters’ small, elite field after recent fall-event winners often ranked outside the top 100.