2,780 Entries Accepted, 11 Champions Exempt for 46th U.S. Senior Open

Tickets | Players

Eleven champions, including two-time titleholder and defending champion Padraig Harrington, are among the 2,780 entries accepted by the USGA for the 46th U.S. Senior Open Championship. The U.S. Senior Open will be played for the third time at Scioto Country Club, in Columbus, Ohio, from July 2-5. 

Harrington, the 2022 and 2025 winner, and 10 other U.S. Senior Open champions are fully exempt from having to qualify for the championship. They are: Richard Bland (2024), Fred Funk (2009), Jim Furyk (2021), Bernhard Langer (2010, 2023), Jeff Maggert (2015), Colin Montgomerie (2014), Kenny Perry (2013, 2017), Gene Sauers (2016), Steve Stricker (2019) and David Toms (2018).

“The USGA is excited to return to Scioto, a partnership that began in the 1920s and a site that has fully embraced both professional and amateur and international competition,” said USGA Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer. “Our two-stage qualifying allows thousands of golfers worldwide an opportunity to compete for a place in senior golf’s most prestigious championship and we look forward to welcoming a full field this summer.”

The USGA accepted entries for the 2026 championship from golfers in 49 U.S. states, including 118 from host state Ohio, as well as the District of Columbia and 38 foreign countries.

For the second consecutive year, the U.S. Senior Open will feature a qualifying framework that is comparable to the U.S. Open with two stages that includes local and final sites. Local qualifying, conducted over 18 holes at 32 sites in 25 U.S. states, will take place from April 2-May 7. Those players who advance will join a group of locally exempt players in final qualifying, which will also be conducted over 18 holes. This final stage will be held at 12 sites across the U.S., from May 18-June 15. Additional places in the 156-player field are reserved for eligible winners of official PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions events in the weeks remaining before the 2026 U.S. Senior Open.

Scioto Country Club is hosting its third Senior Open and fifth USGA championship. Bob Jones (1926 U.S. Open), Bruce Fleisher (1968 U.S. Amateur), Dale Douglass (1986 U.S. Senior Open) and Gene Sauers (2016 U.S. Senior Open) have won at the historic venue.

The U.S. Senior Open is open to professional golfers, and amateurs with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 2.4, who are at least 50 years of age by the start of championship play.