Let’s be honest here. Most casual golf fans that tuned in to watch Dustin Johnson or Tiger Woods at the 2020 edition of The Masters looked at the leaderboard during the second round and were asking themselves the same question: Who is Abraham Ancer?

No, Ancer isn’t a household name. Nor has he even won a PGA Tour event yet. But the 29-year-old has a ton of talent and has worked his way into the top 25 in the world rankings. Now on the big stage at Augusta National, Abraham Ancer is showing the world what he can do.

Abraham Ancer holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Mexico and was a collegiate All-American

Born in February 1991 in McAllen, Texas, Abraham Ancer moved with his family to Reynosa, Mexico at a very young age and remained there until he was 15, which is why he plays under the Mexican flag on the PGA Tour. Ancer holds dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States.

He began his collegiate golf career at Odessa College, a junior college in Texas, and was an All-American in his lone season there, also winning the Jack Nicklaus Award as the junior college player of the year. Ancer, who stands 5’7″ and weighs just 155 pounds, then transferred to the University of Oklahoma and played three years in Norman.

He was an honorable mention PING All-American as a sophomore and led the Sooners with a 72.03 stroke average. As a junior, Ancer tied a school record with 22 rounds of par or better and placed 21st at the NCAA Championships. During his senior season in 2012-2013, he recorded eight top-20 finishes, including three in the top five, and ended his career with the second-lowest stroke average (72.42) in school history behind only former PGA Tour star Anthony Kim.

He turned pro in 2013

Abraham Ancer graduated from Oklahoma in 2013 and turned pro that same year. In 2014, he split his time between the Web.com Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour) and the Mackenzie Tour in Canada with his best finish coming at the Staal Foundation Open, where he tied for 19th.

Ancer earned his first professional win in 2015 on the Web.com Tour at the Nova Scotia Open. He finished 11th on the money list that season, which earned him a spot on the PGA Tour. Ancer struggled as a rookie, finished 190th in FedEx Cup points and was forced to head back to the Web.com Tour in 2017. But he another great season there, finished third on the money list, headed back to the PGA Tour, and hasn’t looked back.

Abraham Ancer has become one of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour

Abraham Ancer carded five top-five finishes during the 2017-2018 PGA Tour season and qualified for his first major championship. To close the 2018 calendar year, he played the Emirates Australian Open on the PGA Tour of Australasia and picked up his second professional victory, which vaulted him to 60th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

In 2019, Ancer qualified for his first Presidents Cup team and went 3-1-1 representing Mexico, his only loss coming to U.S. captain Tiger Woods in singles action. He also finished tied for 21st in the FedEx Cup standings in 2019.

While he hasn’t yet won on the PGA Tour, Abraham Ancer has become one of the most consistent players on tour. In 19 starts in 2020 leading into The Masters, he missed just one cut, had four top-10 finishes, and finished 18th in the FedEx Cup standings. Ancer came to Augusta National as the 21st-ranked player in the world.

College stats courtesy of SoonerSports.com