Gary Woodland

Did not have a top-five finish at majors in 10 years of trying until he became the 2019 US Open champion in brilliant style at Pebble Beach, finishing three clear of Brooks Koepka, the man trying to win the title three times in a row. 

That triumph took him to 12th in the world and Woodland, who has three other PGA Tour wins to his name, was denied another in January 2019 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, when Xander Schauffele produced a closing 11-under 62 to win by one.

He tied for 12th at Royal Troon in 2016, his best Open Championship performance so far.

Woodland switched his focus from basketball to golf at college and turned professional in 2007. One of the game’s biggest hitters, he lifted the World Cup alongside Matt Kuchar in China in 2011, the same year in which his maiden PGA Tour success came at the Transitions Championship.

He then added the 2013 Reno-Tahoe Open and 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open, as well as reaching the final of the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship before losing to Rory McIlroy.