U.S. Amateur favorite Luke Clanton finishes 5th at PGA event
Luke Clanton plays his shot from the 10th tee during the second round of the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities on July 26, 2024 in Blaine, Minnesota. (Getty Images)
(FOX 9) - A top amateur golfer set to tee it up at the U.S. Amateur Championship in Chaska this week came close to winning a PGA tournament on Sunday.
Luke Clanton finished fifth on Sunday at the Wyndham Championship. At one point, he was tied for the lead on Sunday after shooting a scorching 62 during Round 3. He wasn't able to keep up that blazing pace in the final round on Sunday afternoon, finishing with a one-under 69 in Round 4.
As an amateur, Clanton isn't entitled to the $300,000 prize for finishing fifth place – and he's already missed out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in earnings from two previous top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season.
A hectic two weeks for Clanton
Due to Tropical Storm Debby, the first round of the Wyndham Championship was delayed until Friday after the storm dropped five inches of rain on Sedgefield Country Club in North Carolina. That forced the PGA to pack in four rounds of golf over three days.
Clanton teed off for his final round Sunday at 1:40 p.m. ET in North Carolina. He finished his round shortly before 6:30 p.m. local time.
He is now set to fly from Greensboro to Chaska to make a 2:09 p.m. CT tee time at the U.S. Amateur on Monday. Between the PGA event and the U.S. Amateur, if Clanton makes it to the championship round next Sunday, he will end up playing 13 rounds of golf over just ten days.
How is the U.S. Amateur played?
The winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship must make it through grueling rounds of both stroke play and match play over seven days to take home the title.
The field of 312 players will take part in two days of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday. Each golfer will play one round at Hazeltine National Golf Club and one round at Chaska Town Course, which is a co-host for the tournament.
The top 64 players after the two rounds of stroke play are then slotted into a match play tournament that begins on Wednesday. All the match play rounds will be held at Hazeltine between Wednesday and Sunday, ending with a 36-hole championship.
How can I watch?
Tickets for any day of the U.S. Amateur tournament run $30 plus fees or $125 plus fees for a pack of five.
There will be limited television coverage of the matchplay portions for the event on Peacock and the Golf Channel starting Wednesday evening through the weekend.