Sadom Kaewkanjana

On his one previous appearance in The Open, Sadom Kaewkanjana produced a superb closing 65 at St Andrews three years ago to climb into a tie for 11th.

This meant he ended up only one stroke outside the top 10 finish which would have given him an instant return, and the best performance ever by a Thai golfer in the Championship.

He qualified for Royal Portrush thanks to his two-stroke victory at May’s Kolon Korea Open, part of The Open Qualifying Series, on the La Vie Est Belle (“Life Is Beautiful”) course. One behind Poom Saksansin with seven holes to play he birdied the 12th and 16th while Saksansin played the closing stretch in one over.

Taking over the No 1 spot on the Asian Tour Order of Merit as a result, he had gone into the event 329th on the world rankings, having reached a high of 75th in 2023 - the year after he earned his spot at the Home of Golf by winning the SMBC Singapore Open by three from Tom Kim and Yuto Katsuragawa.

He was the circuit’s Rookie of the Year in 2019 and that season lifted the Bangladesh Open in his first start after coming through the qualifying school.