These amateur stars made an unusual piece of golf history in their PGA Tour debut season

It’s been a history-making year for amateur golf.  

A season that began with Nick Dunlap becoming the first player outside the paid ranks to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson way back in 1991 ended with Luke Clanton almost emulating his fellow American at the RSM Classic. 

Not only that, it saw the pair become the first ever amateurs to enter the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking since its inception in 1986. 

Dunlap’s win at the American Express catapulted him more than 4,000 places from 4,129th in the world to 68th. The Alabamian turned pro the week after and added a second PGA Tour title at the Barracuda Championship – the opposite field event in Open week – to claim a unique double and ended the season in 33rd. 

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One, though, might argue that Clanton’s OWGR achievement is even more impressive, having done it without a victory on his CV.  

Clanton booked a spot in the US Open at Pinehurst through qualifying in his native Florida, and tied for 41st in what was his PGA Tour and major championship debut. Perhaps not a surprise, given he had won the prestigious North & South Amateur at the famed North Carolina resort a couple of years earlier.  

That showing saw Clanton enter the OWGR at 1,009, but Clanton didn’t need familiar surroundings to prove how good he is. Invites to the Rocket Mortgage Classic and John Deere Classic saw him finish tied-10th and tied-2nd respectively, bumping him to 212 in the world in the process. 

A tie for 37th followed at the Isco Championship, which moved him up a place, before his first taste of a missed cut in the big leagues at the 3M Open saw him fall back a handful of spots.  

Nothing to worry about here, though, as Clanton responded with a top-five at the Wyndham Championship which moved him up to 140th, while a tie for 50th at the Procore Championship bumped him a couple more.  

Then, at the RSM Classic, a birdie at the 72nd hole saw by Maverick McNealy meant Clanton had to settle for tied-2nd – but he was into the top 100 for the first time.   

It’s been an awful lot to take in for someone from such humble backgrounds. His father was a landscaper and his mother a flight attendant, so to afford entry to junior events they would stay in “grungy hotels”.  

“I didn’t care,” he told Golf Digest. “I was on an adventure with my dad.” 

He added: “When I arrive at a tour event and am handed the keys to a luxury car, I think about those dicey hotels my dad and I stayed in. I never expected my life to be like this. I want to play the best I can, but I’m grateful to be hitting a ball around, living out my childhood dreams.” 

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Incidentally – and hypothetically, of course – if he was in the paid ranks, those seven finishes would have banked him north of $2 million. 

And while it wasn’t quite enough to earn a PGA Tour card, Clanton’s fine with that for now.  

“If I turned pro, I would be needing sponsor’s exemptions and trying to Monday qualify,” he explained. “Instead, I decided to go back for my junior year because I love my coach and teammates like family. I can keep getting better as a golfer and a person at Florida State.” 

Still, he’s got a taste for the top now – “I’m warming up and see Scottie Scheffler roll up, and I’m like, ‘What am I doing here?’” – so remember the name, as they say.

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor