Runners-up

Tom Kim has always dreamed of playing on the world’s biggest stage but those visions probably did not involve hobbling around the Royal Liverpool course for three days on his way to tied second at The 151st Open.

The South Korean suffered a freak accident on Thursday night after his opening round, slipping in his accommodation and coming away with a grade one tear in his ankle.

That left the 21-year-old limping to the point that he considered withdrawing, but after being urged to give it a go by his team, Kim carried on.

It was a good job he did. From the point he got injured, no one scored better than Kim, who finished tied for second behind Champion Golfer Brian Harman, level with Sepp Straka, Jason Day and Jon Rahm, on seven-under-par.

And as his golf improved – including a brilliant eagle on 5 on Sunday, despite the wet conditions, the ankle pain subsided and adrenaline took over.

He said: “It was kind of nice to almost forget about it a little bit, because when you're in the moment you don't really think about it. I think today was probably the best it's been out of the three days, so I’m kind of relieved.

“You have the adrenaline that hits you really hard to be able to kind of just not really think about it.

“I was thinking about pulling out of my second round and the third round. But I'm kind of glad I didn't. I stuck to it.”

Kim’s 67 was the joint best round of any player on Championship Sunday, matched only by world number one Scottie Scheffler and Poland’s Adrian Meronk.

It was enough for him to finish six back of Harman for his best-ever major finish, a feat also achieved by Straka.

The Austrian thrives when flying under the radar, and playing alongside local favourite Tommy Fleetwood certainly helped in that regard.

However, with two top-10 finishes in majors this year, the 30-year-old might just need to get used to the limelight – particularly after getting to grips with a links course for the first time. “I've not had a whole lot of success with links golf in the past and I haven't had a lot of experience,” he said.

“So being able to take kind of my best game into links golf, I was able to gain a lot of experience, and I’m really happy to have a good week here.”

Where Kim and Straka were in uncharted territory, there was more of a case of what might have been for Day and Rahm, in particular.

Former world number one, Day, has struggled with back injuries in recent years, but has worked his way back to a point where he can challenge the world’s best once again – much to his relief.

He said: “Considering my play over the last month and a bit, it hasn't been that great, and then obviously I didn't have the greatest confidence coming into this week, but to be able to finish tied second was nice.

“You're seeing some guys out there that are battling injuries, and they lose confidence, and for me personally to be able to work through that and kind of get my game back to where I feel like it should be, I feel like I've done the right thing.” 

Completing the quartet was Rahm, fresh from a record-breaking 63 on Saturday that catapulted him back into contention.

He trailed Harman by just three strokes at one point on Sunday, the closest anyone came to the eventual Champion Golfer.

In the end though, the margin of victory provided some consolation for the world number three, who did not live to regret four missed putts from within four feet over the first two days.

Rahm said: “He won by six. It's not like he won by two or three. He won by six, so there's nothing really any of us could have done.”