Matteo Manassero

Only the second appearance at The Open in seven years for the now 31-year-old who finished a brilliant joint 13th on his debut in 2009 as a 16-year-old amateur.

He had just before become the youngest-ever winner of The Amateur Championship and in October the following season he was the youngest-ever winner on the DP World Tour, beating Ignacio Garrido by four at the Castello Masters.

Further victories came the next three seasons, the second of them at the Singapore Open achieved with a play-off eagle against former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and the third at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth taking him into the world’s top 30 just after his 20th birthday.

The sky seemed the limit then, but a loss of form saw him tumble all the way down to 1,805th in 2020. The recovery started that season with a win on the Alps Tour, then two on the Challenge Tour last year.

This March a fifth DP World Tour title came Manassero's way, nearly 11 years after the last, and his place at Royal Troon was confirmed on July 7 off the 2024 Race to Dubai standings, soon after he played his first major for five years at the US Open.