Robert MacIntyre

Only last September was not even in the game’s top 600, but has made massive strides since then and back-to-back runner-up finishes on the European Tour in May have given him his Open Championship debut off the “Race of Dubai” rankings list.

The left-hander was preparing himself for a possible play-off in the Betfred British Masters at Hillside until Marcus Kinhult birdied the last two holes to win by one, then challenged again at the Made in Denmark tournament only to be pipped by one once more by Bernd Wiesberger.

Was so close to a place in The Open in 2016, losing in the final of the Amateur Championship to Scott Gregory a year after becoming Scottish champion. Played college golf in Louisiana and represented his country in the 2016 Eisenhower Trophy world team championship, then Britain and Ireland at the following year’s Walker Cup in Los Angeles, where he twice faced highly-rated Cameron Champ in singles, beating him 6&4 the first day and halving their match 24 hours later.

Won Scottish boys and youths titles and graduated from the European Challenge last season. Played shinty as a teenager for his home town Oban, a team known as “The Camancheroes.”