Amateur golfer Luke Clanton, 20, has been soaking up all the opportunities that come with a historic start on the PGA Tour this summer, including the chance to speak with prominent CBS Sports anchor Amanda Balionis .
The American entered the back-9 at Sunday's John Deere Classic tied for 10th place, which would make him the first amateur golfer to notch top-10 finishes in consecutive starts since Billy Joe Patton in 1958, should he maintain his position.
"It's pretty surreal," Clanton told Balionis on Saturday. "I mean, walking up 18 knowing that, if I make a birdie here, I'll be within a couple of shots. And of course, there's a bunch of guys playing well this week, but [if I] put in a good round tomorrow maybe something cool could happen. But again, it's just cool to be in contention. This is what we train for, this is what we do and to be there again, it's awesome."
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Clanton was raised in Hialeah, Florida and elected to remain in-state for college, swapping peninsula for panhandle during a seven-hour drive to Florida State. The sophomore has already etched his name atop the garnet and gold record books, boasting the lowest single-season scoring average in Seminole history at 69.33 while earning a First-Team All-American selection.
Florida State came up short in the NCAA national championship game on May 30 as Clanton fell in a decisive fifth match against Auburn's J.M. Butler, a disheartening defeat but one that freed the young golfer to try his hand on the PGA Tour. Clanton turned in a more amateur scorecard in his first start at the U.S. Open , finishing eight-over-par and tied for 41st.
The third-ranked amateur golfer returned to his prodigious best two weeks later, however, posting a -14 score at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in the greater Detroit area. Clanton's tremendous success over the past two weeks would have most players eyeing a permanent spot in the pros — he currently has seven of the 20 points demanded by PGA Tour University Accelerated, which elevates amateurs to tour status based on certain achievements — but the proud Seminole detailed his plans to stay in college for all four years last week.
Clanton also articulated his contentedness with the relatively meager NIL opportunities in college golf, a message that resonated with many fans amid unprecedented financial injections into the game. Numerous golfers have left the prestigious PGA Tour in recent years for the upstart, Saudi-backed LIV Golf league, a practice condemned most harshly by Rory McIlroy , who has been linked romantically with Balionis in recent months.
“I think it’s enough for a college student, for sure," Clanton said this weekend. "I think it’s — I don’t really need a lot of money right now. I’m 20 years old, still at Florida State University. It’s enough to handle what we have here and to be able to travel. I think it’s good.”
“I play golf to play golf," Clanton added at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. "I think being able to play golf with your buddies every single day, it’s something you don’t get very much. I’ve got 12 dudes on that team that I absolutely love, so it’s awesome.”
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