Daniel Hillier

Won the 36-hole Final Qualifying event at Hollinwell, equalling the course record with an opening 64 that contained 10 birdies and adding a 69 to beat Jonathan Thomson by one on 11 under par.

This will be his first Open Championship, but second major – aged 20 he came through qualifying at Walton Heath to play in the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach as an amateur.

By then he had already won two New Zealand Amateur Championships and a string of junior titles. He was then a co-medallist in the stroke play stage of the 2018 U.S. Amateur, also at Pebble Beach and eventually won by Norway’s Viktor Hovland.

At the Eisenhower Trophy World Team Championships in Ireland later the same season New Zealand came fourth and he tied for third in the individual standings behind Spaniard Alejandro del Rey and Japanese star Takumi Kanaya.

Hillier turned professional after that and has been competing this summer on the European Challenge Tour, posting top-10 finishes in both Ireland and Spain. His best finish to date, though, was a tie for fifth on the Australasian Tour.