Haotong Li

Had an Open debut to remember at Royal Birkdale in 2017 when he took third place – easily the best major performance by a Chinese player – after a closing 63 which would have equalled the major record but for the fact that Branden Grace scored the sport’s first 62 the previous day.

It contained seven birdies in the last 11 holes. His first appearance in any of the four majors had come only a month before at the US Open and he went into both events ranked outside the world top 100, but by early 2018 had burst into the top 50 by beating Rory McIlroy head-to-head for his second European Tour victory at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. 

Nearly added to that in November, but lost a play-off to Justin Rose at the Turkish Airlines Open, the event where he was also a runner-up in 2016. 

Maiden success came aged 20 at the 2016 Volvo China Open with a last-day 64. Won three times on the PGA Tour China in 2014 to top their Order of Merit, lost a play-off to Kiradech Aphibarnrat for the 2015 Shenzhen International and qualified for China’s two-man team at the 2016 Olympic Games.