Florida State rising junior Luke Clanton has played 75 holes of golf in the last 72 hours. A majority of those were halfway across the country in a professional event.
Clanton recorded his third top-10 finish on the PGA Tour this summer Sunday at the Wyndham Championship. He did so after playing 39 holes on Sunday in a tournament that was played over three (or four if you’re Matt Kuchar) days because of Tropical Storm Debby. Then, he hopped on a private jet and zoomed to Minneapolis for his U.S. Amateur tee time alongside Vanderbilt senior Gordon Sargent and Auburn sophomore Jackson Koivun, a group of the top three players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
No need to fret for Clanton. Even with no practice rounds or prep on either course, he fired a 69 at Chaska Town Course on Monday and followed up with a 2-under 70 at the more difficult Hazeltine National, and he’s safely into match play.
“A lot of golf, but it’s good,” Clanton said. “Again, I think it’s just awesome to be here. We didn’t know if we were going to make it here or not. To play the first two rounds and to play pretty good golf is really awesome.”
Clanton will rise to No. 1 in WAGR on Wednesday thanks to his finish at the Wyndham, and for good reason. Although Koivun won all of the major college golf awards last season, Clanton was ranked higher in the season-ending NCAA golf ranking. This week, Clanton also made match play while Koivun, a quarterfinalist in the 2023 U.S. Amateur, missed the cut. Sargent will join Clanton in match play.
“Jackson and Gordon are amazing golfers,” Clanton said. “They always have been. You know, Gordon’s that guy. When you see him playing, everyone is out there watching him. He’s a phenomenal golfer. He’s already got his (PGA Tour) card locked up. He’s going to definitely be a threat on Tour, and same thing with Jackson. Jackson has played really well all freshman year and has done things that I don’t think anyone else has done like that. It was just cool for me to be part of that group and be out there playing with them.”
Now, Clanton has a chance to win the biggest title of his career and get closer to a PGA Tour card himself.
Come Wednesday, he will have 14 points in PGA Tour University Accelerated after he officially moves to No. 1 in WAGR. A win at the U.S. Amateur would give him three more points. If he gets to 20, like Sargent did last fall, he’ll earn his PGA Tour card.
But his focus isn’t on his ranking or…
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