Luke Clanton is a Rising Star

🗣️ Hello Friends,

If you are a fan of professional golf, I am sure you have heard of Luke Clanton. If you haven’t, you will know it now because he is on a trajectory of becoming a household name and staple on the PGA Tour. 

For a little background, Luke Clanton is currently a junior at Florida State University. He currently ranks as the No. 1 amateur in the world and just earned his PGA Tour card two weeks ago at the Cognizant Classic.

Over the last 10 months, Clanton has blossomed into a young star that the PGA Tour needs to invest in, largely due to his on-course play and his social media influence off the golf course. 

In this newsletter, we are going to cover:

• Clanton’s elite play

• How did Luke Clanton get his PGA Tour card?

• Luke Clanton off-the-course

• What’s next for Clanton?

Luke Clanton’s Elite Play

Rightfully so, the golf community has been declaring Luke Clanton the next stud American golfer to take over the sport. There’s a lot to love about Clanton’s game on the course. 

He appeared in his first ever professional event as an amateur during the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. He qualified for one of golf's hardest tests by finishing in the top 5 at his local US Open qualifier. 

This prompted him to receive several sponsor invites last summer at some of the non-elevated events. Here were his 2024 finishes:

• U.S. Open: T41

• Rocket Mortgage Classic: T10

• John Deere Classic: T2

• ISCO Championship: T37 

• 3M Open: CUT

• Wyndham Championship: 5th 

• Procore Championship: T50

• The RSM Classic: T2

Clanton made history last year by posting consecutive top 10 or better finishes on the PGA Tour for the first time as an amateur since 1958. As you can see from some of his finishes, Clanton had a legitimate chance to win a tournament multiple times last year. 

So far during the 2025 season, he hasn’t skipped a beat. In four tournaments, Clanton has posted a T15, a T18, and two missed cuts. 

As I mentioned before, Clanton earned his PGA Tour card two weeks ago by making the cut at the Cognizant Classic. We will next dive into how he did it just as an amateur.   

PGA Tour University

Back in 2020, the PGA Tour announced the creation of a program called, “PGA Tour University”.. The premise of the program is to have a system for college golfers to either earn their PGA Tour card or earn spots on other tours like the Korn Ferry Tour, which is the feeder tour to the PGA Tour.

The PGA Tour University program is for college seniors only and you can earn points throughout the college year based on how you play in tournaments. 

In 2022, the PGA Tour created a similar program called “PGA Tour University Accelerated”. This program is specific to freshman, sophomores, and juniors in college to be eligible to earn their PGA Tour card. You need to earn 20 points to receive your card. 

Some of the ways to earn points are winning collegiate end of the year awards, winning collegiate tournaments, winning amateur events, your ranking in the world amateur golf ranking (WAGR), making a cut at a PGA Tour Event/Major Championship, and at least a top 10 in a PGA Tour Event.

Going into the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Clanton just needed 1 more point to clinch his PGA Tour card. His easiest path was to simply just make the cut. He got to the 18th hole needing to birdie and this happened:

A couple weeks later, Clanton got his revenge and made the cut at the Cognizant Classic. Here was his reaction with his family:

Luke Clanton’s Social Media and New Endorsement Deal

Luke Clanton has made an impact off the course and on social media with recent endorsement deals.

Social Media:

I remember years ago watching a video on Garrett Clark’s Youtube Channel named “GM Golf” that featured a young golfer by the name of Luke Clanton. Never would I have thought that the kid that would become a recurring guest on Garrett’s channel and on Good Good over the last three years would become a rising star on the PGA Tour. 

Luke Clanton does not have his own YouTube Channel, but he has started to post on Instagram recently. Shoutout to Jack Adler and his NIL company named “Out2Win” that has created an AI driven database to display college athletes based on social media engagement to empower companies to make NIL decisions. Here are his statistics:

For not posting much, his follower count and engagement rate is very high. Being only 21 years old, Clanton grew up in this social media era. I wouldn’t be surprised if Clanton continues to invest some time off the course to build his brand even bigger on social media. 

Endorsements:

Just a couple of weeks ago, Clanton announced he signed an endorsement deal with Nike, ending his previous apparel partnership with Good Good. Watching Clanton’s recent Instagram video, it is a dream for him to be able to wear the iconic Nike swoosh while competing on the PGA Tour. 

If you have a second, make sure to watch his announcement video below:

lukeclanton

87K followers

View more on Instagram

What’s Next?

It has been impressive what Luke Clanton has done on the golf course and on social media. You can make a case that Luke Clanton is one of the best ball strikers in the world. Over the last 12 months, he ranks 12th on tour in total strokes gained. For the non-golf nerds out there, it basically means he’s been roughly the 12th best player over that time span. 

Luke Clanton is very easy to cheer for and I am glad he finally got his PGA Tour card. He still has to finish the college season, but he has a decision later if he wants to go to the Tour this summer or go back to college next year. 

He can opt-out of turning pro this summer and go back to Florida State for his senior year. If he chooses to do so, he can still turn pro and use his exemption on the PGA Tour. 

My gut says Luke Clanton forgoes his senior year and plays full-time on the PGA Tour. He might even make the Ryder Cup team? We shall see!