Can this top amateur 'stay in the zone' at Cognizant Classic to earn his PGA Tour card?

USA Today

01-03-2025

AI-assisted summary
Florida State junior and top-ranked amateur golfer Luke Clanton is aiming to secure his PGA Tour card at the Cognizant Classic.
Clanton needs to make the cut at the tournament to earn enough points for his PGA Tour card through the PGA Tour University Accelerated program.
He narrowly missed the cut at the Phoenix Open after getting ahead of himself but learned to stay present and focused on his game plan.
Clanton is familiar with the course at PGA National, having played it numerous times in his junior golf career and even sneaking onto the course in his younger years.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Luke Clanton learned his lesson at the Phoenix Open.
Do not get ahead of yourself. Stay in the moment. Do not obsess over one point.
Clanton, a Florida State junior and No. 1 amateur in the world, needed one point at TPC Scottsdale to earn his PGA Tour card through the PGA Tour University Accelerated program. That would have happened if he made the cut.
But after playing into the weekend in eight of his first 10 PGA Tour events, Clanton missed the cut at the Phoenix Open by one shot after opening with a 74 and following with a 67.
"I kind of got a little ahead of myself the first day and had to do something pretty amazing the last eight holes," Clanton said Wednesday. "I'm going to stay in the zone and stay with my game plan."
And he almost pulled it off. Clanton, 21, birdied four of the final eight holes. But on the final hole, he could not get an 18-footer to drop that would have put him on the cut line.
This week, he gets another chance at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, and he is in the same position.
Sort of.
Clanton's second attempt to make the cut to secure that elusive 20th point and earn his PGA Tour card comes on a course he estimates he's played 40 times.
And perhaps it was meant to be this way. If it happens, it will come in the closest PGA Tour event to his home in Hialeah and in front of several family members and friends.
So many that he told his mom she was in charge.
"I told my mom … 'I don't want to know who's coming. I'll see them on the first tee,' " he said.
Luke Clanton tees off at 7:07 a.m. on PGA National's 10th tee
Which actually will be the 10th tee, where Clanton tees off at Thursday at 7:07 a.m. in a group that includes Jupiter's Daniel Berger and Palm Beach Gardens' Max Greyserman.
Berger, a follow Seminole, recently met Clanton through Jeff Leishman, Clanton's coach who worked with Berger for several years. He's looking forward to getting an up close look at his game.
"He's winning college golf tournaments and he's competing and contending in PGA Tour events," said Berger, who is 10 years older than Clanton. "He's got game. So it's going to be fun to watch."
Clanton returned to Florida State this year to pursue a national championship. That will not change even if he earns his card this spring. But whenever he makes his first start as a professional he'll have plenty of experience.
Cognizant will be Clanton's 12th start in a PGA Tour event. He has four top 10s, including a pair of runners-up at last year's RSM Classic and John Deere Classic.
But none has been on a course with which he is so familiar. Clanton played junior and high school golf on the Champion Course at PGA National. He has played 36 holes in one day a couple of times on the course and even played in the pro-am for this event 10 years ago with Kevin Kisner.
Oh, and he said he used to sneak onto the course around No. 3 to play a few holes, after saying "I don't know if I should say this."
But his scouting report sounds familiar but more like the way a college kid would sum it up.
"If you just don't hit it in the fairway, you're kind of screwed," he said.
Clanton appears ready to clear his mind and take on the challenge. What he's concentrating on now after his test run at the Phoenix Open is just playing well. If that happens, he will be around on Saturday and the tour card will be secured.
"My time will come," he said. "We don't know if it's this week or next week or whenever it will be. I would love for it to be this week with all the friends and family coming up, but I'm just going to focus on one shot at a time."
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [e-mail].