The last time we saw amateur Luke Clanton, he narrowly missed a birdie putt on the final hole of his second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a birdie putt that would have earned him his PGA Tour card. All Clanton had to do was make the cut in Phoenix to check off that major career milestone. The pain was evident in his reaction.
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Fast forward to this past Monday and there was zero pain on the face of Clanton when his final putt dropped at the Watersound Invitational in Panama City Beach, Fla. The No. 1-ranked amateur in the world posted a final-round 67 to pick up his fifth collegiate victory, winning by three shots. He also helped his Florida State Seminoles claim their first team title of the season, which he was most pumped about.
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Unfortunately for Clanton, a victory in the Watersound Invitational does not come with any points in the PGA Tour University Accelerated program, meaning he’s still just one point shy of earning his PGA Tour card. There are numerous ways to earn that final point for Clanton, the easiest of which (if you can call it “easy”) is to make a cut in a PGA Tour event.
The path will be wide open to Clanton next week at the Cognizant Classic, which the 21-year-old was granted a sponsor’s invitation to earlier this week. He is once again just two good rounds away from earning his card.
Of course, that will be much easier said than done at PGA National, home of the infamous Bear Trap. Good news is it’s a bit of a home game for Clanton, who grew up not far from Palm Beach Gardens in Hialeah, Fla. If Monday’s win is any indication, not to mention his T-2 at the RSM Classic this past Fall, he’ll be as comfortable as ever on the tricky Bermudagrass he grew up playing on in the Southeast.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
