Trey Mullinax

Played the first major of his career at the 2017 US Open and finished joint ninth, while his Open debut last year saw him come joint 21st.

He was at St Andrews after winning the previous weekend’s Barbasol Championship and thus taking the solitary spot on offer in the last leg of The Open Qualifying Series. It was a maiden PGA Tour success for the 30-year-old, who helped the University of Alabama to the NCAA college title in both 2013 and 2014.

Mullinax turned professional after that second success and tasted victories on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2016 and 2020. He was second in that circuit’s Tour Championship two years ago and on gaining promotion he tied for fourth at the Sanderson Farms Championship only a month later.

Prior to the Barbasol his previous best performance was tied second in the 2018 Valero Texas Open, which included a course record 62.

Mullinax was called into the Hoylake field thanks to his tie for eighth at March’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. The three Open Qualifying Series places available there initially went to winner Kurt Kitayama, Harris English and Davis Riley, but the first two of those then became exempt as members of the world top 50 at the end of May, promoting Mullinax into a qualifying spot.