Daniel Van Tonder

Daniel Van Tonder is back at The Open for the first time since 2021 after gaining an exemption through the International Federation ranking list, which offers five places based on results on the Sunshine, Asia, Japan and Australasia tours.

It is on the first of those where he has really made his mark, securing 12 victories including the South African Open four years ago and last season’s two wins leading to the Order of Merit title.

His first major appearance came in 2021 at the PGA Championship and two months later his 77th place in the world rankings gave him a call-up to The Open when Tom Kim withdrew.

Four of his successes at home came in the space of 10 weeks in 2020 and early the next year he added the DP World Tour’s Kenya Savannah Classic. It came two weeks after he was a runner-up at the Players Championship in Johannesburg, even though he started a sudden death shoot-out with an eagle. Jaco Prinsloo matched it and won two holes later.

In his first three starts of 2025 he came second, first and first again, both wins being co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour.