Russell Henley may have taken top honors at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational, but it is safe to say that Corey Conners left Bay Hill very happy as well. The Canadian can now sleep easy knowing that his ticket to Northern Ireland for the 151st Open Championship is already secured.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational is one of 11 tournaments that make up the Open Qualifying Series (OQS) and the first of four such events on the PGA Tour. The top-ranked player in these tournaments, who is not otherwise exempt, wins a spot in the field for the fourth major of the season.
That honor went to Conners this weekend, thanks to his solo 3rd place finish at Bay Hill. The two players who bested him, champion Russell Henley and runner-up Collin Morikawa, had already secured their places at Royal Portrush in July.
“It’s fantastic,” Conners told the media about his Open qualification. “I think it was the only major that I wasn’t qualified for yet and it feels awesome to get my spot there. There was a little question mark on my summer travel plans because of that, but I’m excited to get back to Royal Portrush, really liked playing there in 2019.”
Getty Images/Harry How
This will be Conners’ sixth consecutive appearance in The Open Championship, making his debut at the event in 2019 when it was played at the same venue that will host the event in 2025. The Canadian has missed only one cut, and his best finish has been a tie for 15th in the 2021 edition.
Conners’ performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational included rounds of 69, 70, 69 and 71 for a 9-under 279. His third-place finish this weekend ties his best result at Bay Hill, as he also tied for third in 2021 when he shot 8-under 280.
The OQS will have three more tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule. These are the Memorial Tournament in May, the RBC Canadian Open in June and the Genesis Invitational in July, just one week before the tee-off at Royal Portrush.
Returning to Royal Portrush.
Six years after making his Championship debut in County Antrim, Canada’s Corey Conners has qualified for The 153rd Open thanks to a third-place finish at the @APinv. pic.twitter.com/4a4aQKmC0s
— The Open (@TheOpen) March 9, 2025
The following is the list of qualified players for The Open Championship 2025, updated as of March 10, 2025.
- Aberg, Ludvig
- An, Byeong Hun
- Ballester, Jose Luis (a)
- Bezuidenhout, Christiaan
- Bhatia, Akshay
- Bradley, Keegan
- Brown, Daniel
- Burns, Sam
- Canter, Laurie
- Cantlay, Patrick
- Choi, K J
- Cink, Stewart
- Clanton, Luke (a)
- Clark, Wyndham
- Clarke, Darren
- Conners, Corey
- Curtis, Ben
- Daly, John
- DeChambeau, Bryson
- Duval, David
- Els, Ernie
- Fichardt, Darren
- Finau, Tony
- Fitzpatrick, Matt
- Fleetwood, Tommy
- Fox, Ryan
- Guerrier, Julien
- Hamilton, Todd
- Harman, Brian
- Harrington, Padraig
- Hastings, Justin
- Hatton, Tyrrell
- Henley, Russell
- Hoge, Tom
- Hojgaard, Rasmus
- Horschel, Billy
- Hoshino, Rikuya
- Hovland, Viktor
- Im, Sungjae
- Imahira, Shugo
- Johnson, Dustin
- Johnson, Zach
- Johnston, Ryggs
- Jordan, Matthew
- Kirk, Chris
- Koepka, Brooks
- Langasque, Romain
- Lawrence, Thriston
- Lawrie, Paul
- Leishman, Marc
- Leonard, Justin
- Lowry, Shane
- Luck, Curtis
- MacIntyre, Robert
- Manassero, Matteo
- Matsuyama, Hideki
- McIlroy, Rory
- McKibbin, Tom
- Mickelson, Phil
- Migliozzi, Guido
- Molinari, Francesco
- Morikawa, Collin
- Naidoo, Dylan
- Newman, Bryan
- Niemann, Joaquin
- Norgaard, Niklas
- Olesen, Thorbjorn
- Oosthuizen, Louis
- Pavon, Matthieu
- Peake, Ryan
- Pendrith, Taylor
- Penge, Marco
- Rahm, Jon
- Rai, Aaron
- Rose, Justin
- Rozner, Antoine
- Schauffele, Xander
- Scheffler, Scottie
- Scott, Adam
- Smith, Cameron
- Smith, Jordan
- Soderberg, Sebastian
- Spieth, Jordan
- Stenson, Henrik
- Straka, Sepp
- Suh, Justin
- Svensson, Jesper
- Theegala, Sahith
- Thomas, Justin
- Wallace, Matt
- Waring, Paul
- Woods, Tiger
More Golf: Xander Schauffele Gets Real on His Play With The PLAYERS on Horizon