Florida State sophomore Luke Clanton stole the show on Saturday at the Rocket Mortgage Classic with his record-breaking score.
He signed with a 7-under 65 to finish just a few strokes behind the leader at 14 under.
Clanton had six birdies, one eagle and one bogey on the day. 5 under after 11 holes before dropping a shot on the 12th hole.
“We’ve been very calm and very good at what we’ve been doing,” Clanton said after Saturday’s round.
“One of the things I’ve struggled with over the last few months has been not being able to get ahead and look ahead with my game, but today I thought it was great that we were able to play our own way and not try and force birdies.”
After three rounds, Clanton leads the field in strokes gained off the tee at +4.378. He is also seventh in strokes gained putting, +4.346 ahead of the rest of the field.
But based on Saturday’s round alone, he leads strokes gained off the tee (+1.491), strokes gained putting (3.801) and total strokes gained (+4.712).
His flat stick was phenomenal, with the Seminole golfer sinking a 117-foot putt in the third round. But his Eagle on 14 It was a shot that showed the determination of a veteran.
“I hit it pretty far with my driver. It was probably the hardest I hit today,” he said. “The wind was blowing left to right and I hit my 5-iron perfectly. I looked at Jason and said if I could hit it that good it could feel really good, so I hit it back. I said, ‘Hit it with the right club,’ and he said yes. I hit it close and tapped it in for eagle, so that was great.”
A seven-under 65 put him among the favorites to win on the PGA Tour. Can the 20-year-old make history this week? He missed the cut at the U.S. Open and finished tied for 41st. Clanton had the second-lowest score among amateurs, behind Neil Shipley, who made his professional PGA Tour debut this week.
“To be able to come out here and say I’m the favorite to win a PGA Tour event is pretty awesome. It’s pretty cool,” he said.
“Seven under today was awesome, but I could have gotten a couple more birdies. My game plan has been the same all week: Hit the driver as hard as I can, hit the ball in the ground and make some putts. It’s going well.”
The last amateur to win on the PGA Tour was Nick Dunlap, who won the American Express in January, becoming the first amateur to win on Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991.
Photo: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images
Now, Clanton is looking to add his name to the history books.
“I’ve known Nick for a long time, so it’s awesome to see him do something like this,” Clanton said. “It’s awesome. I think we’re really good now as amateurs. I think a lot of guys have a chance to win here, and to be in the running with one day left is awesome.”
A sophomore at Florida State University, Three consecutive wins He competed at the Seminole Intercollegiate, Valspar College Invitational and the Louis Chitenwa Memorial.
Clanton had 10 top 10 finishes in 14 tournaments last season and finished under par in 30 of 40 rounds. He is currently ranked sixth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
If the Ben Hogan semifinalist wins Sunday, it will be the first time in 79 years that two amateurs have won on the PGA Tour. The last time they did so in the same season was Cary Middlecoff and Fred Haas in 1945.
Clanton shot 65 to move up to 22nd in the rankings and is likely to be in the final group on Sunday.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow us for more golf articles. Follow You can follow us on all major social platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter Follow Instagram: @savannah_leigh_sports
