He was a two-time All-American. He was named the 1996 Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year. Yes, we are talking exactly about Tiger Woods and his impressive amateur career even before he surprised everyone with a phenomenal 28-year-long professional one. But now, a certain amateur golfer has come forward to humble the athlete. Enter a young Luke Clanton!
The 20-year-old athlete, at the John Deere Classic, dished out 4 birdies in the last 5 holes of his final day’s play. This helped him become the first amateur golfer to finish in the top 10 (at T2 tied with C.T. Pan and Michael Thorbjornsen) in back-to-back PGA Tour starts since 1958, all thanks to his Sunday figures of 8-under 63. The golfer carded a total of 26 birdies, 8 of which came on Sunday alone.
20 year old Luke Clanton, made 4 birdies in his final 5 holes to shoot a back 9 of 30 and become the first amateur to finish in the top 10 in back-to-back PGA Tour starts since 1958. Love seeing these youngsters mixing it on the big stage 🔥
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) July 7, 2024
His previous top-10 finish came at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic where he finished at T10 tied with six other athletes. Back then he had registered a score of 14-under overall owing to his numbers of 69-68-65-72 over the four days of play. Interestingly, this was his third professional event with the first one coming off at the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
Coming back to the recent feat, Clanton managed to do the same after more than six decades on the men’s circuit, the last of which came in 1958. Back then, Billy Joe Patton had clinched two top-10 placements in back-to-back Tour starts at the 1957 U.S. Open and the 1958 Masters Tournament. Although Tiger Woods has six USGA Amateur wins to his name, the golfer doesn’t boast the achievement that the young athlete carded.
“We came into the week with pretty high expectations,” said the 20-year-old before adding, “I think I kind of reached that expectation for sure. Of course, you want to win. But again, to do what I did out there today was awesome. It’s just a blessing to be here, man.” Well, he sure did earn the right to say so with the scintillating performance and record not even Woods managed to achieve!
Luke Clanton’s ‘Tiger Woods humbling feat’ and its result
The recent feat by the golfer has helped him go up nine points on the PGA Tour University Accelerated. It is a program that helps college golfers who reach 20 points earn Tour status based on the achievements they made in various professional and amateur events. An athlete will earn a point for every cut he makes on the circuit along with another point for a top-10 finish.
Clanton’s recent performance, consequently, managed to help him card a total of four points in two weeks allowing him to take a step closer to a PGA Tour status. Moreover, he is now placed third in the WAGC, not to mention being the highest-ranked golfer in the NCAA rankings. It truly seems the athlete is just at the start of a wonderful career in the game!
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