The next Todd Hamilton? See five Cinderella stories for The Open Championship at Royal Troon

Todd Hamilton arrived at Royal Troon Golf Club for the 2004 Open Championship as a relatively anonymous 38-year-old PGA TOUR rookie. He left as the Champion Golfer of the Year and with memories to last a lifetime.

Hamilton deployed an unconventional strategy around the Scottish seaside venue, playing greenside bump-and-runs with a hybrid that led to easy pars in tricky conditions; he defeated Ernie Els in a four-hole aggregate playoff after both finished 72 holes at 10 under. Hamilton entered that week with 500-to-1 odds but left with the claret jug.

The year prior to his Open triumph, Hamilton ranked as low as No. 361 on the Official World Golf Ranking. He was an accomplished player on international circuits but had failed seven times at PGA TOUR Q-School. Then he made it through Q-School in fall 2003, won the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches in spring 2004 and headed to Royal Troon with a heightened sense of confidence. But even he couldn’t have guessed what was to come.

Gusty winds are expected at times during this week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, meaning the Thursday/Friday draw could determine which players have the best chance to thrive. Combine that with links golf’s inherent unpredictability and the sheer depth of golf worldwide, and the possibility of another Hamilton-like story gains credence.

Here are five players who could be this year’s Todd Hamilton, a Cinderella story to prevail among a deep field at Royal Troon littered with the game’s best.

1. Michael Hendry

A year ago this week, Michael Hendry watched The Open from his couch. He had qualified to compete at Royal Liverpool but was fighting for his life, having been diagnosed with leukemia 10 weeks prior.

This year, Hendry is healthy and will compete this week at Royal Troon, as The R&A extended his exemption to this year. It marks his third Open appearance and first since 2018, and he intends to make the most of it.

Hendry earned his spot at Royal Liverpool via The Open Qualifying Series at an Asian Tour event in March 2023 – but the 44-year-old New Zealander stepped away from competition that April as tests showed he had leukemia (the diagnosis was confirmed in May). He watched The Open in weak physical condition, he told Golf Digest, having lost 30 pounds and struggling to walk upstairs. Chemotherapy had taken a toll.

But The R&A had told him that a spot was his for Royal Troon. It motivated him, pushed him.

“Before The Open last year, The R&A had told me if I could get myself healthy, they’d grant me a spot (medical exemption) for this year,” Hendry told Golf Digest. “It was sad and annoying watching the coverage, but also motivating to get back knowing I had a spot. It was huge, and it really helped me get through the treatments.”

Although traces of leukemia remain in Hendry’s blood, he is now in deep molecular remission, reported Golf Digest on Tuesday. After returning to competition last November, Hendry returned to the winner’s circle on the Japan Golf Tour in May (his second career title on the circuit, in addition to four on the PGA Tour of Australasia and nine on the Charles Tour).

He’ll tee it up at Royal Troon with immense gratitude, for The R&A and for life itself.

2. Joe Dean

Earlier this year, Joe Dean was working as a delivery driver for Morrisons, a British supermarket chain. This week he’ll compete against the world’s best at The Open.

Dean, 30, qualified to compete at Royal Troon via The Open Qualifying Series with a tie for second at the KLM Open in June, where he fell in a playoff to Guido Migliozzi. That was a continuation of form after a T2 at the Magical Kenya Open in February, which he entered at No. 2,930 on the Official World Golf Ranking. (Just days prior to that magical week in Kenya, he was delivering groceries). Dean earned 2024 DP World Tour status via Q-School last fall but had to limit his early-season travel due to financial constraints, the product of a “tough few years” that included a string of seven straight missed cuts on the PGA EuroPro Tour in 2022.

Dean now ranks No. 254 in the world, and an uncertain career path has suddenly become palatable. He stands a comfortable 37th on the Race to Dubai, and the best could be yet to come.

Dean has ascended toward his potential with the help of hypnotherapy. Early in his career, he was nervous to get on planes – not an ideal fear for a professional golfer. Then he won the 2020 standings on a developmental tour; the prizes included complimentary hypnotherapy sessions.

“We’ve done some work together and it seems to have helped a lot,” Dean told the DP World Tour website this week. “Don’t me wrong, I don’t think I will ever enjoy the travel, but it has helped me cope with it.”

No need for a flight this week, either – just a five-hour drive from his hometown of Sheffield, England, to Royal Troon.

3. Matthew Southgate

Two years ago, Matthew Southgate worked as a radio commentator for The 150th Open at St. Andrews. The Englishman had fallen outside the world’s top 400 and was trying out a potential new career path.

This week, he’ll play The 152nd Open at Royal Troon.

It has been a long road for Southgate – who emotionally finished T12 at the 2016 Open Championship at Royal Troon, a year after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He was in tears as he approached the 18th green that Sunday at Royal Troon, wrote the Associated Press. “Words cannot describe how that felt walking down that last hole,” Southgate said at the time. “For any youngsters out there who want to do it, just go for it and stick with your dreams.”

Most importantly, Southgate beat cancer. His golf journey in recent years has been lighter on highlights, but the tides could be turning, as he qualified to compete at Royal Troon via 36-hole Final Qualifying at Royal Cinque Ports. This week, he’ll strive to build on a T23 at last year’s Open at Royal Liverpool (which was his first Open start since 2018). Southgate arrived at Final Qualifying on a skid of six consecutive starts without a made cut, but he punched his ticket to Royal Troon with rounds of 71-67 on a marathon day at one of golf’s most esteemed venues.

Overall, Southgate has finished top-25 in three of five career Open starts, and as an amateur he won the 2010 St. Andrews Links trophy by five shots. It’s the profile of a links specialist, perhaps a potential surprise contender at the season’s final major. Considering his backstory, he would certainly be a popular one.

“I’ve had such a tough time the last couple months. It’s been disaster after disaster,” Southgate told The Open Final Qualifying Radio. “To finally get something to go right, it means everything. Troon is a magical place.”

Perhaps it could be a magical week, too.

4. Dominic Clemons

The University of Alabama is one of pro golf’s preeminent breeding grounds – think TOUR winners Nick Dunlap, Davis Riley and Lee Hodges and two-time major champion Justin Thomas. The name Dominic Clemons could soon appear on that list.

Clemons, who qualified for The Open at Troon via Final Qualifying, will compete for the Crimson Tide this upcoming season, having transferred after one season at Stetson University (he began his college career at Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College, where he was the top-ranked junior college player in 2022). Last month, Clemons finished runner-up at The Amateur at Ballyliffin, where he fell to Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen in the 36-hole final match, just two weeks after winning the Scottish Men’s Open at Gullane by an astounding 17 shots. It’s the profile of a player brimming with potential.

It’s no shock to see an amateur pop up on The Open leaderboard – as recently as last year at Royal Liverpool, Christo Lamprecht shared the first-round lead. Paul Dunne shared the 54-hole lead in 2015 at St. Andrews, less than two months after completing his college career at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

Could Clemons, one of 12 amateurs in this week’s field, author a similar tale? It wouldn’t be without precedent.

5. Elvis Smylie

In addition to a fun name, Smylie’s athletic pedigree befits a major stage. His mom Liz won four Grand Slam tennis titles – three in mixed doubles and one in women’s doubles – and now the younger Smylie takes aim at a major title of his own. Smylie punched his ticket to Royal Troon via 36-hole Final Qualifying at Royal Cinque Ports, and he’ll make his major championship debut this week.

Smylie, 22, currently competes on the PGA Tour of Australasia, on which he has compiled four top-20 finishes this season. He played tennis as a kid, following in his parents’ footsteps (his dad Peter competed in three Grand Slam championships), but he took to golf’s individual nature and the ability to practice anytime.

Smylie remembers getting goosebumps as fellow Australian Adam Scott won the 2013 Masters. This week, he looks to provide similar memories for young Aussies.