Sihwan Kim

“It feels so good to be playing my first major – my first major,” Kim said after taking the fourth and final Open Qualifying Series place at January’s SMBC Singapore Open.

“I’ve played St Andrews a couple of times before, but it’s pretty special to be going back there for The 150th.”

Born in South Korea, but his parents moved to California in October 2000 to give him and his two older sisters the best education they could.

In 2004, he joined Tiger Woods as a 15-year-old winner of the U.S Junior Championship – they are the two youngest ever – and then followed Woods to Stanford University, being a student there at the same time as Michelle Wie and being awarded their Steel Award in 2008 as the golfer with the lowest average score.

Made his professional debut four years later and soon made the decision to follow fellow American Peter Uihlein onto the European Challenge Tour.

He quickly had a runner-up finish at the Rolex Trophy in Switzerland, then two more in 2013 as he managed ninth place on their order of merit, then another in 2017.

There was also a joint third in the Czech Republic the following season.