Will Zalatoris

At the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, part of The Open Qualifying Series, Zalatoris seized the chance to return to the Championship he missed last summer following back surgery.

One Royal Troon place was up for grabs at Bay Hill and the 27-year-old Californian’s joint fourth spot was good enough with the three players ahead - winner Scottie Scheffler, runner-up Wyndham Clark and Shane Lowry - already exempt.

It continued a rise back up the world rankings after Zalatoris had been forced to sit out most of last season.

He had reached a high of seventh late in 2022, having finished runner-up to Hideki Matsuyama at the 2021 Masters - only the third major of his career - then second again in 2022 at both the PGA Championship, where he lost a play-off to Justin Thomas, and the US Open, where Matt Fitzpatrick just got the better of him.

He had still to taste victory on the PGA Tour at that point, but did not have to wait much longer, capturing the FedEx St Jude Championship after a play-off against Sep Straka.

As for being back in The Open, Zalatoris said: “I love the challenge. It’s just so special and I embrace hard courses, so I’m looking forward to some rich Scottish weather.”