Andrew Putnam

Finishing joint fifth in the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village on June 4 earned Putnam his first start in the Championship since 2019.

Three places were on offer as part of The Open Qualifying Series and he claimed the first of them with top four Viktor Hovland, Denny McCarthy, Scottie Scheffler and Si-woo Kim already certain of starting at Hoylake.

Putnam was a three-time all-American selection while at Pepperdine University in California and qualified as an amateur for the 2010 US Open won by Graeme McDowell at Pebble Beach. He turned professional a year later and joined his brother Michael on the PGA Tour in 2014, but did not play another major until the 2018 PGA Championship.

His Open debut four years ago came after he climbed into the world top 50 on the day they earned exemptions for Royal Portrush. The previous August he won his first PGA Tour title at the Barracuda Championship and nearly added to that last October with a share of second place in the Zozo Championship a stroke behind Keegan Bradley. Putnam was also runner-up in the 2018 FedEx St Jude Classic, 2019 Sony Open and 2021 Barracuda Championship.