​Marcus Plunkett lost his Korn Ferry Tour status last season and is now playing on the Asian Tour ― and playing well.He also found a way to get into his first major championship.The Nease High School and Army West Point graduate will be one of 14 area players in the British Open this week, beginning on July 16 at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England. Plunkett, who has recorded five top-15 finishes in seven starts on the Asian and Asian Development Tour, tied for fourth in an Open qualifier at Dundonald Links in Scotland, posting rounds of 69-72—141 to finish one shot clear of a five-way playoff for the final spot.Nease graduate Marcus Plunkett plays his shot from the third tee during the third round of PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry at Sawgrass Country Club on December 14, 2024 in Ponte Vedra Beach.Plunkett graduated from West Point in 2016 and served five years in the Army as a transportation officer in South Korea, Afghanistan and Colorado. He’s been chasing a PGA Tour card since 2021 and, along the way, has won the Dakotas Tour money list, then made eight of 20 starts last year on the Korn Ferry Tour, with a tie for ninth at the Ascendant.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe then got a brutal break during the PGA Tour qualifying process. Plunkett was tied for 18th through three rounds in a second-stage qualifier in Dothan, Ala., one shot behind the cut line for the top 17 that would advance to the Q School final stage in Ponte Vedra. But bad weather forced officials to call the tournament after 54 holes.Plunkett then went to play in Asia and is 20th on the Order of Merit, with eight tournaments left in the fall and summer.Plunkett will tee off in the first round at Birkdale with Naoyuki Katoaka of Japan and Baard Bjoernevik Skogen of Norway at 11:10 a.m. (EDT).Not every winner of the Senior Players Championship has taken advantage of the exemption offered to play in the following year’s Players Championship.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCount Zach Johnson in.Zach Johnson, a St. Simons Island, Ga., resident, acknowledges the crowd during the trophy ceremony after winning the Kaulig Companies Championship 2026 at Firestone Country Club on July 12, 2026 in Akron, Ohio.”I think I’ll humbly accept,” Johnson said on July 12 after running away with the Senior Players title by six shots over Boo Weekley at the Firestone Golf and Country Club in Akron, Ohio. “I have very much love for [Stadium Course architect] Pete Dye and I have very much love for TPC Sawgrass and that tournament.”Johnson, who has taken the PGA Tour Champions by storm in his rookie season, last teed it up in The Players in 2022. He had 17 starts in the tournament, with two top-10 finishes.His best tournament was in 2012 when he tied for second, two shots behind the winner, Matt Kuchar.Johnson’s victory was his third on the Champions Tour. He has yet to finish outside the top-10 in nine starts and it was his fifth top-five finish in a row.AdvertisementAdver