Missed cuts in the U.S. Open and The Open in 2016 were easily forgotten when, only two weeks after Royal Troon, Walker beat then world No. 1 Jason Day by a stroke to become PGA champion.
Ranked 48th at the time – he had reached 10th early in the 2015 season - it secured a second successive Ryder Cup appearance for a player who did not taste success on the PGA Tour until his 188th event.
Walker had broken his duck with closing rounds of 62 and 66 at the 2013 Frys.com Open and the following year he quickly added the Sony Open and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am before finishing in the top 10 at three of the four majors.
He was twice a winner in 2015 as well, first making a successful defence of the Sony Open by nine shots and then beating Jordan Spieth by four at the Valero Texas Open.
Walker contracted Lyme disease in 2017 and took time out from the game, but he was a joint runner-up in the Players Championship in 2018. Away from golf, he is a keen astrophotographer while wife Erin has been a nationally-ranked showjumper.