​British Open cut line 2026: Projected cut, rules, updates for Open Championship leaderboard originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The world’s best take on Royal Birkdale in the final major of the year, with the Claret Jug on the line.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Open Championship is each player’s last opportunity to win a major in 2026, after Rory McIlroy, Aaron Rai and Wyndham Clark took the first three. Not on that list is Scottie Scheffler, who is at risk of being shut out of a major win for the first time since 2023.Scheffler isn’t likely to be at risk of missing the weekend entirely, though. He put himself in a solid position with a strong opening round, as did a number of other major names.For some, though, a tense Friday awaits.Here’s a live look at the projected cut line at the British Open and which players are at risk of missing it.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLIVE:Follow updates from 2026 British OpenProjected cut line: +1Players inside cut line: 93There isn’t much separation on the leaderboard right now, so the projected cut line is still 1-over par, with 93 players above the cut line due to a significant number of ties. That’s destined to change before the end of the second round as the field separates a bit more.Wyndham Clark (+2)Patrick Reed (+2)Hideki Matsuyama (+2)Jordan Spieth (+3)Jason Day (+3)Cameron Smith (+3)The top 70 players, plus ties, make the cut at the Open Championship. That’s less than half of the 156-player field, though ties can result in more than half of the field surviving into the weekend.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe British Open is tied with the PGA Championship for the most generous cut rules, as the U.S Open allows 60 plus ties while the Masters allows 50 plus ties.MORE:What to know about Royal Birkdale, including course detailsA minimum of 70 players will make the cut at Royal Birkdale. If there are ties, at the cut line, even more than 70 players will advance to the weekend.With 156 players in the field, the total number of players who make the cut could come close to the 50 percent mark of 78.