Younghan Song

A last-green birdie at the Kolon Korea Open on June 23 grabbed a second Open start for Song seven years after his debut at Royal Birkdale.

Two Royal Troon spots were up for grabs as part of The Open Qualifying Series and with Minkyu Kim winning by three the fight was on for the second place.

It would have gone to Yubin Jang if he had also made four at the closing par five, but instead he took six and fell into a tie for third.

Song’s debut in 2017 came 18 months after he defeated Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth – still world No 1 at the time and then winner at Birkdale, of course - by a stroke at the SMBC Singapore Open, an event co-sanctioned by the Asian and Japan Tours.

By finishing joint runner-up in his defence of the title the following season he was up to 69th in the rankings and it had the added bonus of offering four Open places.

He had his second victory on the Japan Tour last August, capturing the Sansan KBC Augusta by one from Ryutaro Nagano.