Stewart Hagestad is a well known name to many golf fans now after the amateur star's six Major appearances and four Walker Cup wins since 2017.
The Los Angeles Country Club member has a career-high ranking of 6th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and has a quite remarkable golfing CV with wins at Seminole and Pine Valley along with six Major appearances before his third Masters this week.
The USC Business grad from Newport Beach, whose day job is as an investment analyst, first made his Masters debut in 2017 where he made the cut and went on to lift the Silver Cup as low amateur. He finished T36th that week at six-over-par and was in the Butler Cabin at the end of the week alongside Sergio Garcia as the pair were crowned Masters champ and top amateur.
The 6'5" Californian qualified after winning the 2016 US Mid-Am (open to golfers aged 25 and over) and became the first Masters low amateur to qualify via that route since it was introduced in the late 80s.
Fans were surprised to hear then that Hagestad wasn't going to cap his amateur career off in style and join the paid ranks after also competing in the US Open and Walker Cup in 2017 - and he has remained firm on that decision.
He would win the Walker Cup in 2017 alongside the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris, Cameron Champ and Maverick McNealy, and he's been on every side since - winning four cups in total.
Other teammates on winning US Walker Cup sides include Akshay Bhatia and Andy Ogletree in 2019, Austin Eckroat and Pierceson Coody in 2021, and Nick Dunlap and Caleb Surratt in 2023.
He also played in the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022 US Opens, followed by his second Masters appearance in 2022 - which he once again qualified for by winning the US Mid-Am.
"They're both obviously very special. I was in tears on a few different occasions kind of thinking about it. I remember when the letter came. It was pretty surreal," he said at Augusta in 2022, admitting he was in tears for two hours after receiving his invitation.
He missed the cut that week but made the cut at The Country Club in the 2022 US Open, but fell short of silver medal winner Travis Vick.
Hagestad's incredible amateur career also includes a team gold medal at the Pan 2019 American Games, where he teamed with Rose Zhang, Brandon Wu and Emilia Migliaccio.
Other achievements include back-to-back wins at the 2021 and 2022 George L Coleman Invitational – Mid-Amateur, an elite event at the ultra exclusive Seminole Golf Club. He also won the 2023 Crump Cup Memorial Tournament at Pine Valley, which is widely regarded as one of the world's very best courses.
Hagestad is also qualified for the 2024 US Open, where he'll make his fifth appearance in America's national open in what will be his eighth Major appearance.
