David Lipsky

Beating Graeme Storm in a play-off for the Omega European Masters in Switzerland in 2014 not only gave Lipsky his first European Tour victory, but also helped him top the Asian Order of Merit and qualify for the following year’s Open Championship at St Andrews.

He just missed out on more success at the 2017 Maybank Championship in Malaysia, finishing second one behind Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti, who made birdie-eagle on his last two holes. That had echoes of the 2014 Laguna National Championship in Singapore – another event co-sanctioned by the European and Asian circuits – where Chilean Felipe Aguilar closed with a 62 to pip him by one on a day when he fired a 65 himself.

Last December, however, he was not to be denied at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa, where he beat David Drysdale by two – a victory which helped him qualify for Royal Portrush via the European Tour “Race to Dubai” rankings on June 23. Like Luke Donald, he played college golf at Northwestern University in Chicago, turning professional in 2011 and topping the Asian Tour qualifying school a year later. He then won only his third tournament as a member of that circuit.