Yannik Paul

First Open Championship came at Royal Liverpool after he made his major debut at the US Open and captured his maiden DP World Tour title at the Mallorca Open, where he shot a third-round 62 and birdied the final hole to beat fellow German Nicolai von Dellingshausen and England’s Paul Waring by one.

He went into the event standing 190th on the world rankings but finishing 20th on the DP World Tour Rankings secured him a place at Hoylake and last season slipped only two places, thus guaranteeing him a start at Royal Troon.

Twin brother Jeremy is also a professional - they were twice team-mates at the European Amateur Team Championships and at the 2016 BMW International Open became the first twins to appear in a Tour event, beating Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard by a year.

After attending the University of Colorado, he turned professional in 2018 and had his first win two years later at the Arizona Open state championship.

He was then joint runner-up behind Dane Marcus Helligkilde at the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final in 2021, finishing ninth on their order of merit to earn promotion to the main circuit, where he first impressed with a tie for second at the 2022 Soudal Open.