With Major season now in full swing, for some of the world's best the feeling of walking into one of golf's biggest events may feel similar to playing the monthly medal.
But for others it will be a week they will never forget and one that could possibly change the trajectory of their careers and their lives.
Here, we take a look at the seven players making their U.S. Open debuts at Oakmont Country Club, with four of them playing in a Major Championship for the first time.
Niklas Nørgaard
Age: 33
Official World Golf Ranking: 106
Best Major finish: MC at 2025 US PGA Championship
DP World Tour wins: 1
A decade on from turning professional, the Dane is making his second start in a Major Championship after missing the cut at last month's US PGA Championship. His rise in the professional ranks has been steady, progressing from the Nordic Golf League and the HotelPlanner Tour onto the DP World Tour in 2021. But he emerged to wider prominence with his maiden DP World Tour title at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo last year. Victory at the start of the Back 9 lifted his confidence levels and he went on to record top ten finishes on the Rolex Series – at the BMW PGA Championship and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship – to seal a PGA TOUR card as a dual member for 2025. Since the start of the year, he has made 11 starts across the Atlantic. Known for his big hitting off the tee, the 33-year-old arrives at Quail Hollow just outside the top 100 in the world with two top fives to his name in 2025 at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic respectively.
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
Age: 25
Official World Golf Ranking: 91
Best Major finish: MC at 2025 US PGA Championship
DP World Tour wins: 0
While the Dane has yet to register a DP World Tour victory, he is the best placed of our super six on the Official World Golf Ranking. In his first full year in the paid ranks, he won three times on the HotelPlanner Tour to earn instant status on the DP World Tour as he finished the year as the Road to Mallorca winner. He finished in the top ten at the season-opener in Australia and was later announced as part of the Continental Europe side for the Team Cup – a sign of how highly regarded he is. A week later, he finished in a tie for tenth on his Rolex Series debut in Dubai, carding a closing 66 at Emirates Golf Club. He went one better in the final round in Qatar a month later as he missed out on his first DP World Tour title by one stroke to Haotong Li. A graduate of Oklahoma State University, he repeated the feat on his PGA TOUR debut at the Puerto Rico Open while playing on an invite. That got him a second start at the Valspar Championship where he finished in a tie for 22nd. Back-to-back top tens in China took his tally for the season to five and this week he makes his second Major appearance after missing the cut at last month's US PGA Championship.
Matthew Jordan
Age: 29
Official World Golf Ranking: 135
Best Major finish: T10 at 2023 and 2024 Open Championship
DP World Tour wins: 0
The Englishman sits in a similar bracket to Neergaard-Petersen as a man whose maiden DP World Tour win cannot be far away. He announced himself on the DP World Tour scene in his first year as a professional with a course-record 63 close to home at Hillisde Golf Club in the Betfred British Masters and has been a consistent performer ever since. A winner on the HotelPlanner Tour in 2019 as he earned garduation, he has finished in the top 80 on the Race to Dubai Rankings every season since and enjoyed his best result to date in December with a tie for second a the Nedbank Golf Challenge. The Royal Liverpool member had the honour of hitting the first shot of The Open at his home club in 2023 en route to a top ten, a result he repeated 12 months later at Royal Troon. He now makes his Major debut in the United States after the withdrawal of Sahith Theegala saw him make the field as first alternate from 36-hole Final Qualifying at Walton Heath.
Joakim Lagergren
Age: 33
Official World Golf Ranking: 185
Best Major finish: N/A
DP World Tour wins: 1
The Swede has been on the DP World Tour scene for so long it is almost hard to believe that none of his previous 277 starts have been in a Major but he will tick that box this week. A Qualifying School graduate in 2011, 2012 and 2014, he established himself on Tour in 2015 and finished in the top 100 on the Race to Dubai Rankings for eight cionsecutive seasons, winning the 2018 Rocco Forte Sicilian Open along the way. He lost his card after an injury-hit 2023 but bounced back in magnificant style, winning twice in three starts in August 2024 on the HotelPlanner Tour to finish eighth on the Road to Mallorca. His 2025 has seen him record a single top ten to sit 120th on the Race to Dubai Rankings but a second-placed finish at Walton Heath earned him a place at Oakmont where plenty of points and a shot at golfing immortality are on the line.
Frederic Lacroix
Age: 30
Official World Golf Ranking: 201
Best Major finish: N/A
DP World Tour wins: 1
Lacroix finished alongside Lagergren in a share for second at Walton Heath and like the Swede will be making his Major debut in Pannsylvania. There are many collegiate golfers but not many of them are like Lacroix, who studied in Germany and France while at the same time pursuing a traditional European amateur career. That brought him great success as he represented France at the European Amateur Team Championship and Amateur Trophy and Europe at the St Andrews Trophy and Bonallack Trophy. A move into the paid ranks quickly bore fruit as he won three times on the Alps Tour to get onto the HotelPlanner and he has twice earned promotion from that curcuit in 2021 and 2023. His DP World Tour breakthrough came last season as he romped to a four-shot victory at the Danish Golf Championship en route to a top 30 finish on the Race to Dubai Rankings. He is yet to shine in 2025 despite making eight of ten cuts and could be due a good week at Oakmont.
Jacques Kruyswijk
Age: 32
Official World Golf Ranking: 188
Best Major finish: N/A
DP World Tour wins: 1
A consistent winner in his homeland for a number of years, the South African is enjoying a belated breakout season on the DP World Tour. He already had ten professional victories to his name in 2023 when he lifted the trophy at the Dormy Open on the HotelPlanner Tour for a first European Tour group triumph. That was not enough to earn him promotion via the Road to Mallorca but he was soon back on the DP World Tour via the Qualifying School having previously graduated in 2017. His 2025 campaign got off to sluggish start but he ignited it with victory at the Magical Kenya Open presented by absa and just two weeks later missed out on a second win as he lost in a play-off at the Joburg Open. He has not made a cut since but a top-six finish at Walton Heath sees him make a Major debut and as you can see below, he's fairly excited about it.
James Nicholas
Age: 28
Official World Golf Ranking: 502
Best Major finish: N/A
DP World Tour wins: 0
One of the feel good stories of Final Qualifying, the American cut an emotional figure after securing a Major debut at his home open in New Jersey. A graduate of Yale, he was a six-time collegiate winner, two-time Ivy League player of the year and two-time Academic All-American. Soon after graduating, he made his way to the Korn Ferry Tour and he plied his trade there until coming through the Qualifying School in 2023 to try his luck on the DP World Tour. He could not keep his card but described playing on golf's Global Tour as "one of the best experiences I've ever had as a human and a golfer". Now back on the Korn Ferry Tour while also maintaining his DP World Tour membership, the social media favourite is set for another new experience.
