Marcus Plunkett ’16 punched his ticket to his first major championship by qualifying for the 154th Open Championship during Final Qualifying on June 30. He will make his debut at Royal Birkdale when golf’s oldest major is played July 16–19. 

The 32-year-old secured his spot by finishing tied for fourth at Dundonald Links, the final qualifying venue in Scotland. He carded rounds of 69 and 72 to finish at 3-under. Had he shot just one stroke worse, he would have been staring down a five-way playoff for the last remaining spot.

Plunkett’s road to this moment has been long and hard. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2016, where he also played Army golf. He committed five years of active duty as a transportation officer in South Korea, Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, and Afghanistan.

During those five years, Plunkett reportedly barely touched a club. But near the end of his service, he started practicing again at the Fort Carson course, Cheyenne Shadows, where he broke the course record.

Plunkett turned pro in 2021 and worked his way up through the mini-tours. He won the Dakotas Tour money list in 2024 before earning his Korn Ferry Tour card through Q-School later that year. His rookie KFT season proved brutal. He made just 8 of 20 cuts and finished No. 134 in points, costing him his status for 2026. After that, Plunkett has spent this year grinding on the Asian Tour and is currently sitting around 892nd in the Official World Golf Ranking. All seven of his world-ranked starts in 2026 have come in Asia, where he’s posted a pair of top-six finishes. Read more.