Luke Clanton has had one heck of a summer. He has posted three top-10s on the PGA Tour, which includes a runner-up finish at the John Deere Classic and a solo fifth at last week’s Wyndham Championship. He also made the cut at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, narrowly missing out on winning low-amateur honors to Neal Shipley.
But Clanton has had one tournament circled on his calendar for months: the U.S. Amateur, which is taking place at Hazeltine Golf Club in Minnesota this week. He started off on the right foot, posting a 3-under par score for the stroke play portion—a 36-hole competition that determines the final match play bracket of 64 players.
He tied for 19th, easily securing a spot in the bracket.
Clanton, the 21-seed this week and the top-ranked amateur in the world, defeated Dylan McDermott 4 & 3 in the first round of match play on Wednesday.
He then succumbed to Jackson Buchanan 1-up, a back-and-forth match that saw Clanton hold a 1-up lead with four holes to go. But Buchanan, who plays collegiately at the University of Illinois, won the 15th and 16th holes to snatch the lead back. He held on for the victory with two closing pars on 17 and 18.
“I know him pretty well. It’s hard to go against one of your good buddies out here, but I told him God’s on his side. He’s doing great with everything. He’s super faithful towards Christ,” Clanton said of Buchanan after.
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“We are both believers, so seeing him out there and for him to do that—I mean, no matter which way it went—was a great match. It was a lot of fun.”
Going into the 2024-25 collegiate year, Clanton and Buchanan will be two of the best players in the country. So, it was a difficult draw for both players to square off this early in the championship, considering that they have the talent to make it to the final match.
“It’s the USA. Like what do you expect? You’re not going to get easy matches all the time,” Clanton added.
“He’s a good buddy of mine. He played really well, and I don’t see him losing much. So it’s going to be fun to watch.”
Buchanan went on to face off against 16-year-old Tyler Mawhinney, who defeated Paul Chang of China 2 & 1 on Thursday morning. The Round of 16 matches kicked off Thursday afternoon, just minutes after the conclusion of the Round of 32.
Clanton, meanwhile, is ready to head back to Florida State and help his Seminoles vie for a National Championship. His team lost to Auburn in the finals last spring.
“I’m pretty pumped to go back and play for FSU,” Clanton said.
“So I’m excited to do that. I’m excited to go see all the guys. It’s going to be fun.”
It has already been a fun few months for Clanton, despite his early exit from the U.S. Amateur. Rest assured that the best is yet to come for this talented rising junior, though, especially since he has already proved he can compete among the world’s best.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.