Kevin Yu

As an amateur Kevin Yu qualified for the US Open three years in a row, but this will be an Open debut for the 26-year-old.

His Royal Portrush spot was secured on June 8 with a third place finish at the RBC Canadian Open. As part of the Open Qualifying Series three players could book their trips to Northern Ireland and Yu finished a single stroke behind Sam Burns and Ryan Fox – both already exempt.

A gold medallist at the 2013 Asian Youth Games, he turned professional four years ago after studying at Arizona State University and after progressing through the Korn Ferry circuit he captured his maiden PGA Tour title last October at the Sanderson Farms Championship, defeating Beau Hossler with a birdie on the first hole of their play-off.

Yu stood 135th in the world at the time, but has since climbed into the top 65.