Kyle Barker

Described as “the man with the biggest smile” on the Sunshine Tour and was certainly beaming in April after he closed with a 61 to take the Stella Artois Players Championship by six strokes with a 30-under-par total.

It was his maiden victory on the circuit, but a month later he nearly added another, finishing runner-up at the Kit Kat Cash and Carry Pro-am.

Barker had even more reason to be happy on July 4 when he came joint second in the race for five Hoylake places on offer in the 36-hole Final Qualifying event at West Lancashire.

The 25-year-old, 725th in the world at the time but fourth on this season’s Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, fired rounds of 66 and 68 for a 10-under-par aggregate which matched that of Matthew Jordan, one behind Matt Wallace.