Luke Clanton might not have to worry about the U.S. Amateur after all.
When the start of the Wyndham Championship was pushed back to Friday because of Hurricane Debby, it put Clanton’s U.S. Amateur in some doubt, as the Florida State junior was scheduled to begin his first round of stroke play at Hazeltine at 3:09 p.m. ET Monday. While it appears that Clanton, who made the cut at Sedgefield Country Club on Sunday morning, will be able to complete his 39-hole marathon finish at the Wyndham by Sunday night, he also could be leaving Greensboro, North Carolina, with a PGA Tour card.
Clanton fired an 8-under 62 in his third round and was tied for the lead at 13 under when he headed back out for his final 18 holes.
While Clanton can’t qualify for next week’s FedExCup Playoffs with a win, a victory would earn him a two-year exemption on Tour, which he could activate at any time. Last year’s U.S. Amateur champ Nick Dunlap turned pro days after winning the American Express in January.
Clanton has already had quite the summer on Tour. He tied for 41st at the U.S. Open, then posted a T-10 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, T-2 at the John Deere Classic and T-37 at the ISCO Championship before missing the 3M Open cut a couple weeks ago. His made cut at Wyndham pushes him to 12 PGA Tour University Accelerated points; he needs 20 before the end of his junior year to earn a Tour card, and a top-10 at Sedgefield would earn him an additional point. Winning the U.S. Amateur comes with three points.
Of course, even if Clanton should win Sunday, he could still head straight to Minnesota for the U.S. Amateur, then turn pro and compete in the Tour’s fall series.