​SOUTHPORT, England — Cut day at the British Open brings with it plenty of stress and anxiety as players well down the leaderboard keep a close eye on the scores to figure out where they stand, and whether the numbers they’re posting will be low enough to play on the weekend. Exactly where that will fall at Royal Birkdale is unclear considering that the course is very much firm and fast, but scores in the first round were relatively low (59 players shooting par or better).The rules for who makes the cut at the Open are similar to those at the PGA Championship: low 70 players and ties advance to play all four rounds. This differs from the U.S. Open, which makes the cut at low 60 and ties, and the Masters, which keeps the low 50 and ties around on the weekend. And there is no 10-stroke rule in effect to help determine the British Open cut; so if Day 1 leader Jackson Suber decides to go run and hide with the lead, it won’t necessarily impact who’s play on the weekend.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAll this is, of course, particularly relevant for handful of the game’s more familiar names, including Rory McIlroy (two-over 72), Jordan Spieth (73), Wyndham Clark (73), Sam Burns (73) and Justin Rose (75) who have work to do Friday at Birkdale if they hope to find themselves merely playing on the weekend let alone back in contention.What are their chances of making Open Championship 36-hole cut and playing the weekend? Well, if the cut was made after just 18 holes, you needed to shoot one-over-par 71 or better to be inside the top 70 and ties (which includes 80 players). After the opening round, datagolf.com projected that there was a 41.8 percent chance of the cut coming at two-over 142 and a 29.6 percent chance of one-over 141 and a 18.7 percent chance of three-over 143.More from Golf Digest News British Open 2026: Meet Jackson Suber, the (unlikely) leader after Day 1 at Royal Birkdale Voices British Open 2026: The 19 things you learn from listening to players for four straight hours British Open British Open 2026: Bryson DeChambeau’s major stumbles subside, at least for a day AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs a point of reference, here’s what the Open Championship 36-hole cut line has been for the last 10 Opens:2025: 143 (+1), Royal Portrush 2024: 148 (+6), Royal Troon 2023: 145 (+3), Royal Liverpool 2022: 144 (E), St. Andrews 2021: 141 (+1), Royal St. George’s 2019: 143 (+1), Royal Portrush 2018: 145 (+3), Carnoustie 2017: 145 (+5), Royal Birkdale 2016: 146 (+4), Royal Troon 2015: 144 (E), St. AndrewsAnd here is the cut for the last four Opens at Royal Birkdale:2017: 145 (+5) 2008: 149 (+9) 1998: 146 (+6) 1991: 148 (+8)• • •Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United