Of the 156 players in the field for the second men's Major of the season, 11 are DP World Tour members who will be competing at the US PGA Championship for the first time.
Among them are four players experiencing one of golf's four marquee events for the first time at Aronimink Golf Club.
Here, we take a look at them, while there is a poll to vote for who you think will perform the best on their debut.
Angel Ayora
In a reflection of his career trajectory, the Spaniard was the beneficiary of a special invite from the PGA of America and will make his first Major start at Aronimink. Only 21, he has made quite the impression since joining the paid ranks in 2023. A year later, he graduated to the DP World Tour after claiming his first professional title at the Rosa Challenge Tour in Poland. In his rookie campaign on golf's global tour, he had four top tens as he reached the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai last year. Blessed with a swing that many of his peers admire, his fledgling career has its latest milestone as he makes his 55th DP World Tour appearance. With four top tens to his name already this season, there is great excitement within the game about his potential as he arrives in the United States on the cusp of breaking into the top 100 on the Official World Golf Ranking.
"It's amazing to be here," he said. "To see all this crowd on a Monday and the greats and the stands and everything, it's amazing. I'm going to try to enjoy it, grab all the positives and play with freedom. Results-wise, a top 15 would be an amazing week for me."
Dan Brown
After turning professional in 2017, the Englishman competed on various smaller circuits, including among others the EuroPro Tour, before finishing third at Qualifying School to secure a DP World Tour card for 2023. That year, he won his first DP World Tour title in Northern Ireland and he has since built from there. After a 2024 campaign that saw him gain international acclaim as the first-round leader at The Open, he broke new ground by finishing among the top ten not otherwise exempt players through the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World in 2025 to earn a PGA TOUR card. So far in his rookie season stateside, his best result is a tie for 13th alongside countryman John Parry last month at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. And while this may be his first US-based Major appearance, there is every reason to suggest he is unlikely to fazed by the elevated stage.
Alex Fitzpatrick
For so long in the shadows of Major Championship-winning brother Matt, the Englishman has truly emerged to global prominence in 2026. After turning professional in 2022 following a successful collegiate career at Wake Forest University, he kickstarted his career in the paid ranks with victory on the HotelPlanner Tour at the British Challenge presented by Modest! Golf Management. But it wasn't until March this year where he made his DP World Tour breakthrough with victory at the Hero Indian Open. Less than a month later, he made history alongside Matt at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans as the pair became the first brothers to win on the PGA TOUR. He has since taken to life stateside like a duck to water with back-to-back top tens in his first starts as a member of both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR. At a career-high 83rd in the world, he is full of confidence for what is just his second Major start after his debut came as a qualifier at The Open in 2023.
"It's super exciting," he said. "This is my second Major so especially after the past three or four weeks, this week is just an added bonus, really. I feel much more comfortable than if I was just to be here for one week. The past couple of weeks I've been playing against the best players in the world so I feel comfortable being around them, seeing how they work and just being friendly with them, I definitely think that makes for a more comfortable experience. I would be super satisfied with a top 20, I think that would be a great result."
Jordan Gumberg
In October last year, the American arrived at the Genesis Championship in South Korea with the very real possibility of losing his DP World Tour card but, in a moment that he will never forget, he holed out for an eagle on the final hole of the final round to keep his playing privileges. That was at the end of a campaign that saw him play in all but one event for which he was eligible. Already a winner on Tour in South Africa in 2024, when he had limited status, he has since won for a second time in China - a result that helped him finish third on the recent Asian Swing to secure his US PGA Championship spot. With status secure on the DP World Tour through to 2028, he has security in being able to plan his schedule on the biggest stages and will likely relish this challenge, with much of his family coming from Pennsylvania. This will be his second Major appearance, having missed the cut in his first at the U.S. Open in 2023.
READ MORE - Jordan Gumberg's road to belonging
"Any time I get to play on home soil is awesome and it being a Major is even better," he said. "I'm really looking forward to this week, I love the golf course, I love being here. It's nice actually knowing what stores to go to for odds and ends, it's been an awesme week so far. My family actually grew up not too far away from here in Pittsburgh... my dad played a Pennsylvania State Open here back in 1970-something so it's kind of cool to be back where he's played before."
Daniel Hillier
The New Zealander realised a career ambition when he won the New Zealand Open in March, describing it as “the second best day of my life behind my wedding last week”. During the early weeks of the DP World Tour season, prior to his win on home soil, he was one of the form players with four top tens in his first five starts on the 2026 Race to Dubai. Having won his first DP World Tour title at the British Masters in 2024, he has made no secret of his ambition to capitalise on the pathway to progress his career by claiming dual membership with the PGA TOUR - something he came very close to last year. This is his sixth appearance in a Major but only his second in the United States, after he missed the cut in the U.S. Open when still an amateur in 2019.
Casey Jarvis
It's been a breakthrough year for the South African in 2026. A winner of back-to-back tournaments on the DP World Tour, including at his national open, the 22-year-old made his Masters debut last month and is now set for his US PGA bow. Long touted as an international star in waiting, having shot a 59 to equal the lowest tournament round in Sunshine Tour history as a teenager in 2023, he has won four times in the last seven months when you factor in two triumphs in his homeland at the tailend of last year. At the start of the year that he was ranked outside the world's top 200 but he now finds himself in the top 75. But perhaps more importantly, he could have a major say in the Race to Dubai with just countryman Jayden Schaper, Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed ahead of him on the rankings as we near the second half of the season.
"I played the Zurich and then Myrtle Beach with two rest weeks inbetween," he said. "It's been good, an amazing experience and I'm looking forward to the weekend here at the PGA. I haven't been out on the course yet but it looks like bent greens which is something we have back at home in South Africa. I'm looking forward to getting out there and seeing the course. I'm just going to try and play my game and see what happens, I'm playing nicely. It takes some getting used to obviously playing against the best players in thw world so I'm juust going to give it my all."
Jayden Schaper
Along with Reed and Jarvis, he is one of three players to have won twice on the DP World Tour this season. A two-time Sunshine Tour Rookie of the Year, he won over back-to-back weeks during the Opening Swing - on both occasions prevailing in a play-off. Last season, he registered nine top tens on golf's global tour - second most behind Ayora - and he has only built from there. Having moved inside the world's top 50 briefly earlier this year, he is the top-ranked South African. Having returned to action at the Turkish Airlines Open after a near two-month break, he has spoken of feeling refreshed and ready to fight for the Race to Dubai title. A strong performance in what is his Major debut would only help him in that cause.
Kristoffer Reitan
Reitan arrives this week as World Number 25 and with a PGA TOUR victory to his name after last week's win at the Truist Championship but it has been a long road to this point for the Norwegian. He was just 20 years old when he came through all three stages of Qualifying School and turned professional to start his first full season on the DP World Tour. One top ten and 15 missed cuts saw him lose his playing privileges and getting them back would not prove easy. Struggling with a crisis of confidence and identity, he took a step away in 2022 and during that break rediscovered an enjoyment for the game that has helped propel him to his current lofty heights. A maiden professional win at the Grand Final supported by the R&A in 2024 was swiftly followed by DP World Tour wins at the Soudal Open and Nedbank Golf Challenge and this week he completes his Major set.
READ MORE - 'If it's not golf, what is it?' - Kristoffer Reitan forging new identity at the top of the world game
"It’s going to be my first PGA which is going to be cool, completing the set," he said. "I’m grateful to be in a position where I now get to play Majors and that’s a very, very nice feeling. I just want to try to use the last few weeks as a bit of fuel and try to get there and have some fun but also be as prepared as possible to make some noise and get a good result. I just want to keep seeing progress and hopefully I can play well."
Adrien Saddier
The Frenchman celebrated his 200th start on the DP World Tour with victory at the Italian Open last year. It was also his first title as a professional since the 2016 Fred Olsen Challenge de España on the HotelPlanner Tour. While he first earned his card at DP World Tour Qualifying School in his rookie year as a professional in 2013, it is only since returning to the Tour by the same route at the end of 2022 that his career has prospered. After comfortably retaining his status in 2023 and 2024, he finished runner-up at the BMW PGA Championship to go alongside his win in Italy as he finished ninth in the Race to Dubai to earn a dual member card on the PGA TOUR. Across nine starts on the US-based circuit so far this year, he is still waiting for his first top 20 but what better stage than a Major to put that record right?
Mikael Lindberg
At 33, the Swede will this week make his first Major start. If form is anything to go by, he should come into it brimming with confidence after claiming his maiden DP World Tour title earlier this month in Türkiye. That breakthrough came hot on the heels of a third-place finish at the Volvo China Open, with both results helping him top the Asian Swing Rankings to secure his berth in the field. Shorn of his usual caddie, Armstrong Mdludi, due to a visa complication, he will have friend Jacob Glennemo on his bag for what is a career landmark. Riding high in the top ten on the Race to Dubai Rankings, he is one to watch out for and arrives as the leader on Tour for Strokes Gained Off the Tee. Averaging 326 yards off the tee, only fellow Scandinavian Reitan is ahead of him in the driving distance charts.
Kota Kaneko
Won twice on the Japan Golf Tour in 2025 as he topped the order of merit to earn exempt status on the DP World Tour for the 2026 season. Since then he has made nine starts on golf's Global Tour, with his best performance coming earlier this month at the Turkish Airlines Open as the 23-year-old finished tied ninth. Not only is this is US PGA Championship debut, but it is his Major debut as well.
