Dimitrios Papadatos

World-ranked 235th entering November’s Emirates Australian Open in his home city Sydney, Papadatos produced a final round 67 to burst into second place and claim one of the three Royal Portrush spots on offer in the opening leg of The Open Qualifying Series.

It will be a first start at The Open for a player whose first European Tour appearance saw him finish joint third in the 2013 ISPS Handa Perth International.

It was over two years before he appeared on the circuit again, but he did so with a tie for sixth at the Australian PGA Championship and then in March 2018 won the Open de Portugal on the European Tour.

Came second and fourth as well during their season, while he is a three-time champion on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

First of those was the 2014 New Zealand Open and in 2017 he captured both the Victoria Open and Western Australia PGA title.

“I’m ecstatic to have qualified for The Open,” he said. “To get to play with the world’s best players is going to be a great experience. I dreamt about playing in The Open growing up.”