Jon RAHM

Rahm turned professional after being the best-placed amateur at the US Open. He immediately finished third at the Quicken Loans National before sharing second place at the Canadian Open to help secure his PGA Tour card for 2017.

His first professional win came in January at the Farmers Insurance Open with two titles, at the Irish Open and the season-ending European Tour Championship in Dubai, placing him third on the European Tour money list despite making just 13 starts. He was fifth on the PGA Tour money list as he broke into the top four of the world rankings.

More titles followed with Rahm winning a second European Tour Championship to this time top the money list. That was his third tournament win in 13 starts out of a total of 46 events.

Jon Rahm: two majors, world number one ranking and LIV Golf

In July 2020, weeks after competition resumed following the start of the pandemic, Rahm won the Memorial Tournament to go top of the world rankings. He would lose it the following week as Justin Thomas took the WGC-Fed Ex St. Jude Invitational, but regain it - again for one week only - after finishing tied for 13th at the PGA Championship.

The big-hitting Basque would spend longer at the summit after clinching his first major title at the 2021 US Open, beating Louis Oosthuizen by one stroke at Torrey Pines. He was one of the favourites for gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but had to withdraw after a positive test for COVID-19.

By his high standards, 2022 was a lacklustre year on the PGA Tour as he achieved just the one win at the Mexico Open. But his form picked up at the end of the campaign on the renamed DP World Tour as he claimed a third Spanish Open title before again winning the season finale in Dubai.

In 2023, he returned to the top of the world rankings with victory in the Genesis Invitational. And weeks later, the Spaniard clinched his second major title at the Masters on what would have been Ballesteros' 76th birthday. Rahm won by four strokes from fellow former Arizona State alum Phil Mickelson and another former world number one in Brooks Koepka.

After battling with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler for the number one spot, Rahm announced his switch to LIV Golf in December 2023 having previously said he was not interested in the three-round LIV format or the money. While he follows previous emigré Koepka in slipping down the world rankings, he remains on course to fight for Spain's first golf medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.