Two of the highest amateurs left Torrey Pines one step nearer to their PGA Tour card.
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Luke Clanton and Jackson Koivun didn’t issue into the end at this week’s Farmers Insurance coverage Open — which Harris English received — however the no. 1 and no. 2 ranked males’s beginner golfers nonetheless had a profitable week at Torrey Pines.
The 21-year-old Clanton and 19-year-old Koivun gritted their enamel and battled powerful situations at Torrey Pines to make the lower on the Farmers Insurance coverage Open, earn one other PGA Tour College Accelerated level and inch nearer to their PGA Tour playing cards within the course of.
Koivun birdied two of his closing three holes on Thursday to complete one shot above the lower line, whereas Clanton completed the primary two rounds three pictures clear. The made lower gave each Clanton and Koivun 18 of the 20 PGA Tour College Accelerated factors wanted to earn their playing cards.
Clanton, the Florida State Seminole, and Koivun, the Auburn Tiger, might have secured their playing cards with a top-five end, however neither had a weekend to recollect. The 21-year-old Clanton shot 1-over on the weekend to complete in a tie for fifteenth place at 1-under, whereas Koivun shot a 6-over-par 78 within the closing spherical to complete T56.
Clanton and Koivun took totally different paths up the PGA Tour College Accelerated ladder.
Clanton grew to become a fixture on PGA Tour leaderboards final summer time. The Florida State junior carded 4 top-10 finishes in 9 PGA Tour begins. That included runner-up finishes on the John Deere Basic and RSM Basic. He has earned 13 of his 18 factors in PGA Tour play. Clanton elected to return to highschool for his junior season to try to win an NCAA championship after shedding in final yr’s title match to Koivun and the Tigers.
Koivun, in the meantime, grew to become the primary freshman to win all three Participant of the Yr awards — Haskins, Nicklaus, and Hogan — and the Phil Mickelson Award because the nation’s high freshman. These awards earned him 11 factors.
Regardless of leaving Torrey Pines two pictures shy of their tour playing cards, each Clanton and Koivun ought to be capable of notch two extra factors within the coming months. Once they do, they are going to have the choice to both be a part of the PGA Tour after their collegiate season or defer their card and return to school.
Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent, who earned his PGA Tour card through the accelerated college factors program, deferred his membership for a yr to return for his senior season.
Sargent will be a part of the PGA Tour as soon as the Commodores’ season concludes, and he’ll seemingly be joined by Koivun and Clanton both this yr or subsequent.
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