Jamie Donaldson

Always to be remembered as the man who clinched the point that won Europe the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles. 

Now back in The Open at the age of 46 and for the first time since 2016 thanks to a joint sixth place finish in the Genesis Scottish Open, his best performance on the DP World Tour since he was tied for second behind Billy Horschel at last September’s BMW PGA Championship.

Only three St Andrews spots were up for grabs at the Renaissance Club as part of The Open Qualifying Series, but four of the players ahead of him were already exempt.

He would still have missed out if both Rasmus Hojgaard and Alex Smalley had parred the last hole – they had higher world rankings than his own 208th – but they bogeyed.

Winner of three Tour titles – the 2012 Irish Open, 2013 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and 2014 Czech Masters, Donaldson also made his mark in America, coming joint second behind Patrick Reed at the 2014 WGC-Cadillac Championship and tied eighth in the 2015 Players Championship. Was close to losing his Tour card in 2017, but came fourth in the last counting event to save himself.