Clanton is but one of the new generation

Writing from Silvis, Illinois

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Luke Clanton accelerated his standing among amateurs last year by tying for second place in the John Deere Classic. A pair of 63s bookending his four rounds made for an eye-opening weekend.

Instantly, Clanton went from just another in a group of fine amateurs to a standout. Now the Florida State grad returns to TPC Deere Run as a newly-minted professional. This will be his fourth tournament playing for money. He’s cashed in the last two, with a tie for 34th at Hartford netting him $108,750 and a tie for 60th last week earning another $21,000.

But he finds no difference in teeing it up on the PGA Tour as an amateur or as a professional.

“It’s still a game,” Clanton said Tuesday. “It’s not really a job. It’s pretty amazing.”

That’s true. First prize on offer this week in the Deere’s 54th edition is $1.512 million. The only other way you can make that kind of money in the Quad Cities in a week is by robbing every bank.

So Clanton knows this is the good life, and he’s got company among his similarly-aged peers. There’s Aldrich Potgeiter, who won last week’s festival in Detroit on the fifth hole of sudden death and with it, $1.728 million. He’s 20, a South African with the hint of a gut, and had lost a playoff in Mexico City in February. He also tied for sixth in his outing before Detroit. Now he’s a winner and thus known for more than hitting the ball three miles off the tee.

There are others in this cadre of youngsters, including Carson Herron, the final of the four qualifiers in Monday’s clash at Pinnacle Country Club, thus earning his first start on the big tour. All this means pressure on the old guard to keep playing well, especially into next year, when the number of guaranteed PGA Tour cards drops from 125 to 100. Rickie Fowler, once one of the new breed and now in the wily veteran category, welcomes the pressure.

“I think going to 100 is the step in the right direction,” Fowler said. “We all want the PGA Tour to be the most elite tour there is.

“With guys getting fewer and fewer starts toward the back end, guys earning cards, whether it’s through Q School, through Korn Ferry, I feel their first year is almost like a tryout. You get a handful of starts and you better play good when you do.”

Clanton guaranteed his Tour card for the rest of the season with a number of good finishes, the best being last year’s Deere, while a collegian. Now he has to keep it.

“I think dollar sign would not change my point of view on anything,” Clanton said. “I think what PGA Tour U is doing is amazing. We’re kind of thrown int the fire immediately right out of college, and we get a little bit of a break fr a couple months to get some tournaments under our belt and play well. I think it’s exciting.

“Expectations are always going to be high. Obviously, finishing second as an amateur gives you very high expectation and goals in your life.

“I’m still 21 years old and still learning. I didn’t finish college yet. It’s been a lot. It’s about learning to plan though the weeks and how we prep and how we do everything.”

Let it be noted that neither Clanton, Potgeiter or Herron, nor the other recent graduates, is old enough to rent a car. Luckily, the tournament provides courtesy cars to every contestant, even the Monday four-spotters. But once they walk to the first tee, they’re on their own.

– Tim Cronin