Who is Thriston Lawrence? Meet the golfer vying for first major title at 2024 British Open | Sporting News United Kingdom

Heading into the final round of the British Open, a familiar name sits at the top. Billy Horschel leads the pack after charging up the leaderboard Saturday with an impressive 2-under-par 69.

He’s joined by a host of talents, some of whom are well known, others whose names have drifted away from the spotlight. Of the latter, none have proven as daunting a threat to Horschel’s chances of claiming his first major than Thriston Lawrence.

Lawrence was among the strongest performers during Round 3, carding a 6-under-par 65 to put himself in arm’s reach of the Open Championship title.

The 27-year old may be a relative unknown to the sport’s casual supporters. But don’t mistake his lack of notoriety for weakness; he’s got eight professional wins on his resume, many of which come from top international competition.

Here’s what you need to know about the 27-year old as he attempts to make a run at the Claret Jug in Round 4.

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Who is Thriston Lawrence?

Lawrence is a golfer on Europe’s DP World Tour and Africa’s Sunshine Tour who was born and resides in South Africa. He currently sits 98th in the world rankings, 36 spots behind Billy Horschel, who enters into Sunday’s final round with a one stroke lead over Lawrence and a host of other golfers.

The 27-year old made his professional debut in 2014. He’s since turned out in the MENA Tour, Challenge Tour (South Africa), Big Easy Tour and, most recently, the European and Sunshine Tours.

He has eight professional wins thus far in his career and took home the MENA Tour Order of Merit in 2015.

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Thriston Lawrence golf timeline

Here’s what you need to know about Lawrence’s odyssey in professional golf, from 2014 onwards.

2014-2015

Lawrence competed in the MENA Tour, a sort of spiritual precursor to LIV Golf, picking up his first professional win at the Ras Al Khaimah Classic in the United Arab Emirates. He took home the Order of Merit in 2015 after collecting more prize money than any of his adversaries.

2019-20

After making waves on lesser tours in South Africa, Lawrence finally got his time in the spotlight, joining the country’s top-flight golf competition, the Sunshine Tour. He started his Sunshine Tour career with a flourish, picking up his first win at the Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament later that year. 

2021

Lawrence secured the biggest win of his career in 2021, outlasting his foes to take the gold at the Joburg Open, an event co-sanctioned by both the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour. There was some extenuating circumstances that made Lawrence’s victory unique, namely that the event lasted just 36 holes due to inclement weather.

Still, it was a seismic victory for the then 24-year old. Other golfers to capture top prize at the Joburg Open include Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.

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2022

Lawrence picked up yet another gem on his belt, vanquishing Matt Wallace in a playoff to take home the Omega European Masters. After impressive showings over the course of the season, Lawrence was named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in 2022.

Lawrence finished his breakthrough season in style, claiming top spot at the Invested South African Open Championship.

For his efforts, Lawrence received his highest placement in the world rankings (64th).

2023

Another year, another victory for Lawrence. This time, he took the title at the European Open’s BMW International Open, rallying back from four strokes back to vanquish Joost Luiten for his fourth career European Open win.

British Open leaderboard

Here’s a look at the British Open leaderboard ahead of the start of the final round of the tournament. Billy Horschel leads the way at 4 under par.

He’s got plenty of company at the top of the totem pole, with Lawrence, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Xander Schauffele, Justin Rose and Daniel Brown one stroke behind the leader. Scottie Scheffler (-2) and Shane Lowry (-1) also remain in contention.