It was the final hole of the day for Luke Clanton. There was a distance of 25 feet from the ball to the par-4, 18th. The golfer took the shot. The result? His 8th birdie of the day and his fourth one in the last five holes, allowing him to finish T2 at the event. While he did miss out on the win at the John Deere Classic this time around, one can’t help but wonder if he would have a chance to redeem himself at the upcoming major, the Open Championship.

The tournament at TPC Deere Run witnessed the likes of Davis Thompson emerge victorious. This helped him clinch the first of the two Open Championship exemptions available to the golfers part of the field. Meanwhile, Clanton could only finish T2 tied with C.T. Pan and Michael Thorbjornsen, the former of whom claimed the second exemption spot for the upcoming major. A truly unfortunate situation for the 20-year-old. Even so, he can still opt to play the qualifiers for the Open Championship!

But then the question naturally arises; How did the Taiwanese pro receive the spot while the two other golfers who tied with him failed to do so? Well, there’s a good enough reason for that. The 32-year-old, who had a four-shot deficit to start the round, began with three birdies in the first five holes. Although he was unable to catch the leader, Thompson, Pan did shine through his short game, as opposed to Luke Clanton.

The 2019 RBC Heritage winner managed to outperform the amateur and Thorbjornsen by gaining 8.8 shots around the green and putting for the whole week. This, in turn, helped him card a score of 65-63-68-64 over the four days of play and clinch a spot for the upcoming major championship set to be held at Royal Troon on July 18. 

Clanton, on the other hand, registered figures of 63-67-67-63, all thanks to his 27 birdies, two bogeys, one double bogey, and an eagle each. Even though he missed a chance at victory and a spot for the upcoming major, the golfer did make sure to leave a mark on the annals of golf’s history books.

Luke Clanton makes history at the John Deere Classic

The 20-year-old Clanton was able to finish inside the top 10 at the event, making him the first amateur golfer to do so in back-to-back tourneys on the Jay Monahan-led circuit after 66 years. The athlete had clinched a T10 position at the previous contest he teed off at, the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic with a 14-under overall and scores of 69-68-65-72.

The previous instance came in 1958, when Billy Joe Patton had done the same at the 1957 U.S. Open and the 1958 Masters tournament. This makes it all the more special for Clanton, who expressed the same, “We came into the week with pretty high expectations. I think I kind of reached that expectation for sure. Of course, you want to win. But again, to do what I did out there today was awesome. It’s just a blessing to be here, man.” Luke Clanton’s fans would surely be hoping for him to take part in the Open now!