Rikuya Hoshino

Hoshino will make his fourth consecutive Open appearance at Royal Troon in 2024, after gaining one of the three qualifying spots on offer at the ISPS Handa Australian Open.

The Japanese earned his Open debut in style in May 2021 with a four-stroke victory at the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup.

The victory - his fifth on the Japan Tour and second in under a month – took him top of the circuit’s money list. It also came in the week of his 25th birthday and was instantly followed by his first appearance in the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. He then impressed when tying for 26th at the US Open. 

Hoshino’s only previous major was the 2018 US Open, where he was called into the field late on as an alternate from the qualifying stage.

He benefited from similar fortune in The 150th Open at St Andrews, gaining a spot on the opening morning of the Championship when Justin Rose was forced to withdraw through injury.

Hoshino added a sixth title on the Japan Tour in October 2022 at the Heiwa PGM Championship, a victory that helped him to a second-place finish on the circuit's Order of Merit and an exemption for The 151st Open.