Nine Asian Tour members will have the honour of competing on arguably golf’s greatest stage this week, when they play in The Open – the fourth and final major of the season.

The 154^th edition of the game’s oldest major commences on Thursday at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, located in Southport on the north-west coast of England, and as is regularly the case the Asian Tour is represented by a strong contingent.

Japan’s Kazuki Higa, the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, will lead the way – in what will be his third appearance in the event.

Scott Vincent, winner of The International Series Rankings last year, has made the trip. The Zimbabwean, who has excelled on the LIV Golf League this year with six top-15 finishes, is in through the International Federations category on the World Rankings and will be playing for the second time.

Australian Travis Smyth, the current leader of the Order of Merit and the Rankings, will line-up thanks to topping the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit earlier this year.

Three Asian Tour players have qualified thanks to the Open Qualifying Series, which included a number of Asian Tour events: Korean Jeongwoo Ham and Cameron John from Australia, first and second respectively at the Singapore Open, and Kolon Korea Open winner Jiho Yang from Korea.

A general view of the 18th green pin flag prior to The 154th Open Championship. Picture by Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images.

And another three will tee-off on Thursday having successfully negotiated the 36-hole Final Qualifying events recently held in the UK: Americans Peter Uihlein, Austen Truslow and Marcus Plunkett.

After shooting rounds of 66 and 68, Truslow made it through at Burnham and Barrow after tying for third.

After that performance, he said: “It’s been one hell of a ride, honestly the last year I’ve questioned whether I want to continue doing it. Not even because my game isn’t getting better but I want to get married and have kids and a stable life and this career is a tough one to do, even if you’re on the PGA Tour or LIV making a lot of money, it’s still not the easiest.

“But I love it, and my fiancée loves that I play, so I’ve kept going and I have a great team around me, and good sponsors. I have a lot of people to thank for my ability to keep going. My fiancée knows my score before I do, she follows everything.”

Few Asian Tour members have made a run at The Open, where experience of playing links golf is paramount.

Korea’s Tom Kim, winner of the Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday, proved it can be done in 2022 after tying for second, the same year that Sadom Kaewkanjana excelled when he tied for 11^th – far and away the best finish by a Thai.

The challenge this week is to improve on those results which came on the Old Course at St. Andrews.