Kyung Nam Kang

A closing birdie at the KOLON Korea Open on June 25 secured solo second place for the 40-year-old, albeit six strokes behind winner Seungsu Han, and the added bonus was that it also gave him the second and last Royal Liverpool spot on offer from the tournament, part of The Open Qualifying Series.

Ranked 486th in the world at the time, it came two months after he also made his mark when the DP World Tour visited his home country for the Korea Championship presented by Genesis.

Kang finished joint-10th there, his best placing on the circuit since he was fifth in the 2010 Barclays Singapore Open won by Adam Scott. He turned professional 20 years ago.