Lucas Herbert

Qualified in style for Royal St George's, winning the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open two weeks earlier.

Three places at Sandwich were on offer and Herbert, whose previous success was the 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic after a play-off with Christiaan Bezuidenhout, led from the moment he opened with a 64 and triumphed by three.

Will be at St Andrews thanks to finishing 22nd on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai, which came soon after his maiden PGA Tour success at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in October. 

His previous Open appearance at Carnoustie in 2018 came thanks to the SMBC Singapore Open. Four spots were up for grabs there and a tie for eighth proved good enough. Winner Sergio Garcia was already exempt and so were four other players either ahead of or alongside Herbert, meaning that his world ranking of 274th at the time earned him the final spot. 

He has made it into the top 50 since and has also played two U.S. Opens and three PGA Championships.

As an amateur, Herbert represented Australia in the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy World Amateur Team Championship, finishing joint second in the individual standings behind Jon Rahm.

Two years earlier he almost won a PGA Tour of Australasia event, losing a play-off for the Heritage Classic.