Matthew Griffin

Ranked the world’s third-best amateur in 2008 and part of Australia’s side in the Eisenhower Trophy World Team Championships in Adelaide that year.

Griffin made his Open Championship debut at Royal Birkdale in 2017 thanks to finishing top of the previous year’s Australasian Tour Order of Merit.

Now he returns after a third-place finish in February’s Vic Open, where three places were on offer as part of The Open Qualifying Series following the cancellation of the New Zealand Open because of travel restrictions.

“When I saw the leaderboard on the 17th I saw that Dimi (Papadatos) and Ben (Campbell) had kicked away, so I was then just trying to qualify for The Open,” said the player who went into the tournament ranked 1,312th in the world.

“I missed the cut by two at Royal Birkdale – I played all right and it was an amazing experience. St Andrews for the 150th, it’s going to be extra special.”

He is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour of Australasia, including the 2014 Vic Open and has also lifted three titles on both the One Asia and Korean circuits, topping the money list on the first of those in 2013.