The PGA Tour announced Wednesday that Luke Clanton is the 2024 Mark H. McCormack Medalist.
Following the U.S. Amateur Golf Rankings, the two governing bodies, the R&A and the USGA, present awards to the top golfers in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
He has earned the right to play in the U.S. Open and British Open in 2025, meaning Clanton will play at Oakmont and Royal Portrush.
“Winning the McCormack Medal is an honor I will never forget,” Clanton said in a USGA press release. “This award is the result of not only my hard work, but also the incredible support I have from my family. This award inspires me to push beyond my limits and continue to pursue my dreams with even greater determination. I am proud to join the ranks of others who have earned this honor.”
Clanton began his comeback at Pinehurst No. 2 in this year’s U.S. Open. Neil Shipley beat him that week as the lowest-ranked amateur. Clanton finished tied for 41st at Pinehurst and then recorded two top 10s on the PGA Tour, tying for 10th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and tying for second at the John Deere Classic.
The Florida Seminoles also played four days at the ISCO Championship, finishing the week T-37. Clanton earned his third top-10 finish at the Wyndham Championship earlier this month, finishing alone in fifth place.
He immediately flew from Greensboro, North Carolina, to Minnesota to compete in the U.S. Amateur Championship, where he advanced from stroke play to match play, but lost in the round of 32 to Jackson Buchanan of Illinois.
The rising junior from Florida State University is set to follow in the footsteps of last year’s McCormack Award winner, Gordon Sargent, into the ranks of the PGA Tour in the future.
Sargent earned 20 PGA TOUR Collegiate Accelerated Points last fall and had the option to become a PGA TOUR member at the end of his junior year, but he opted to stay for his senior year.
Clanton has 14 of the 20 needed to qualify for automatic membership in accelerated points, and he must reach that number by the end of his junior year in May 2025.
The 20-year-old earned five points as the world’s number one amateur, with the remaining nine coming from his performances on tour this summer.
His two major championship appearances next year will not count toward acceleration points because they will come after his junior year.
Clanton joins the notable club of players who have won the Mark H. McCormack Award, joining Patrick Cantlay (2011), Matt Fitzpatrick (2013), Jon Rahm (2015), Maverick McNeely (2016) and Sargent.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation 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 Her Instagram account is @golf_girl_sl.
