Shugo Imahira

A 50-foot birdie putt on the final green of October’s Japan Open earned Shugo Imahira a place at his fourth Open.

It gave the 10-time Japan Tour winner his first major on the circuit by a stroke from Ryosuke Kinoshita.

The 32-year-old was the tour's leading money-winner in 2018 and 2019, becoming only the fifth player to make a successful defence after Isao Aoki, Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, Tommy Nakajima and Shingo Katayama.

The following season Imahira reached a high of 30th on the world rankings.

He made his major debut at Royal Troon in 2016 thanks to a joint runner-up finish in the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open – part of The Open Qualifying Series. He opened with a three under par 68, but followed it with an 80 to miss the cut by two strokes.

Having topped the Japan Challenge Tour in 2014, he had to wait until the 2017 Kansai Open for his first success on the main circuit, but it came by an impressive six-stroke margin.

Received a special invitation to the 2019 Masters and played all four majors that year.