PREVIEW

Luke Clanton will take another crack at earning his PGA Tour card this week in the Cognizant Classic at PGA National. If he makes the cut this week, he will earn his 20th point in the PGA Tour accelerated program.

The junior from Florida State is looking to become just the second player to earn a PGA Tour card through the program. Gordon Sargent earned 20 points in October 2023 and has remained at Vanderbilt with plans to turn pro after he completes his senior season this May.

Earlier this month, Clanton came agonizingly close to earning that final point at the WM Phoenix Open. After stumbling on Thursday with a 74, Clanton was in a tough position to make the cut. However, he battled back on Friday and had a 15-foot putt on the final hole to make the cut. It just slid past the hole, sending him back to Tallahassee with 19 points. 

“I don't think I've ever dealt with pressure like that before, so I'm learning every single week,” he said following the round. “I kept trying to tell myself my identity is not going to change my mind. I can make a cut or miss the cut. You know. Again, it's golf. It's not going to go your way all the time.”

Since that close call, Clanton won the Watersound Invitational with rounds of 73-66-67. His performance also helped the Seminoles win the team title.

There is a bitter-sweet angle to this story, as Clanton will not be with his Florida State teammates at the Cabo Collegiate Classic this week. While his team will be in another country, Clanton is teeing it up close to home, and to lock up his professional status just 65 miles from his hometown of Haileah, Florida, where he learned the game would be a cherry on top of this incredible run he’s been on the last eight months, starting with the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

Clanton will tee it up at 7:07 am off the tenth tee with Max Greyserman and Daniel Berger.