Will Zalatoris

Burst onto the world stage with a runner-up finish only one stroke behind Hideki Matsuyama at April’s Masters, where his move into the game’s top 30 meant a climb of more than 500 places in little over a year.

Followed in the footsteps of Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Johnny Miller, David Duval and Gay Brewer by becoming U.S. Junior Champion in 2014 and three years later was a team-mate of Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler in America’s 19-7 Walker Cup victory in Los Angeles, winning three points out of four.

Like Morikawa and Scheffler, Zalatoris will be making his Open Championship debut at Royal St George’s, having qualified by virtue of his position in the world’s top 50 at the cut-off point in May.

He has yet to win on the PGA Tour, but tied for sixth at last September’s U.S. Open. It was only his second major appearance and was made all the more memorable by a hole-in-one during his second round.

Zalatoris was not even a member of the PGA Tour at the time, but earned a place as leader of the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour.

He attended Wake Forest College, following in the footsteps of Arnold Palmer, Curtis Strange, Lanny Wadkins and Webb Simpson.