Michael Kim

Michael Kim secured his spot at Royal Portrush thanks to his world ranking and will compete in his third Open this summer.

He previously missed out on qualification at the Arnold Palmer Invitational by the narrowest of margins in March.

There one place was available as part of The Open Qualifying Series. He finished fourth, but third-placed Corey Conners pipped him for the qualifying spot.

His previous appearances were in 2018 – he qualified then by winning the previous week’s John Deere Classic by a massive eight-stroke margin and a tournament record 27 under par total - and two years ago thanks to his performance at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Although born in South Korea he was raised in San Diego and took American citizenship. He was named college player of the year in 2013 and in the same month, having qualified for the US Open at Merion, finished as low amateur in joint 17th place, nine shots behind winner Justin Rose.

Later the same year was part of the victorious United States Walker Cup side alongside Justin Thomas and Max Homa, and against Matt Fitzpatrick, winning all his three games.