Riki Kawamoto

One year after making his major debut at the US Open, Riki Kawamoto secured a first appearance in The Open with a tie for second place at the Mizuno Open, part of the Open Qualifying Series.

It was a close run thing, though – a double bogey on the penultimate hole dropped the 25-year-old into joint third with Ron Yonezawa and a par on the closing par five would not have been good enough because of Yonezawa’s higher world ranking, 273rd compared to his own 539th.

But Kawamoto birdied it to join winner Mikiya Akutsu and Young-han Song in the field for Royal Portrush.

He is a two-time winner on his home circuit, his victories coming in his rookie year 2022 at the Sansan KGB Augusta and then the Vantelin Tokai Classic, both by a single stroke.

He finished ninth on the money list as a result and moved back into the top 10 with his Mizuno Open performance.