6. WHO WILL FLY HIGHEST FROM THE CROW’S NEST?

Five men will battle it out for the Silver Cup, presented to the low amateur, a prize previously won by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods...

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT

Victory at the Amateur Championship secured the 6ft 6in South African his ticket to this year’s Masters and US Open, as well as last year’s Open where he hit the headlines after an opening round 66 at Royal Liverpool. He even held a share of the lead overnight and while he couldn’t maintain that form, he won the Silver Medal as the only amateur to make the cut. He’s now ranked second in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and continues to impress with club and ball speeds of 141mph and 210mph respectively.

STEWART HAGESTAD

The Californian is a lot older than the other amateurs in the field – he’ll turn 33 during the tournament – and has played in the Masters twice before. He won the 2016 US Mid-amateur, which secured him a spot in the 2017 Masters, where he finished T36 and took low amateur honours. He qualified via the same route for the 2022 Masters but missed the cut. A third US Midamateur win last year means he heads to Augusta ranked 10th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and with experience on his side.

NEAL SHIPLEY

The 22-year-old American qualified after finishing runner-up to Nick Dunlap in last year’s US Amateur. He won for the first time in 18 months in January, has hair to rival Tommy Fleetwood and used to caddie at Oakmont for several years. His home course, St Clair Country Club in Pittsburgh, is well known for having greens that run faster than 14 on the Stimpmeter, which should be good preparation for Augusta. He’s also got a master’s degree in data analytics, so Bryson will probably want to chew his ear off.

SANTIAGO DE LA FUENTE

The 22-year-old won the Latin America Amateur Championship in January, securing exemptions into the Masters, US Open and The Open. It was sweet redemption for the Mexican, having missed a short putt on the final hole to tie the lead at the same tournament in 2022. He’s picked off a bunch of collegiate titles since then, including The American Championship and Border Olympics last year. He’s now in his final year at the University of Houston and learned English by watching reruns of Friends. We like him already.

JASPER STUBBS

Two months after being snubbed for the World Amateur Teams Championships, the Australian booked his place at the Masters and Open by winning the Asia-pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne. Whilst his amateur ranking of 322nd is a long way short of the others, he has shown he can mix it with the pros, making the cut and finishing T21 at the Australian Open on the DP World Tour in November. The big challenge for him now is proving he can step up and excel outside of his homeland.