CHASKA, Minn. — Luke Clanton’s wild summer is over.
The top-ranked amateur in the world lost Thursday afternoon in a Round of 32 match at the 2024 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Clanton, who came into the week off playing 39 holes Sunday in the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship, lost 1 down to Jackson Buchanan, a rising senior at Illinois who’s ranked 17th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
“It’s kind of hard to go against one of your good buddies out here,” Clanton said after his match. “No matter which way it would’ve went, it was awesome. Great match.”
Clanton led 1 up with four holes to play, but Buchanan birdied the par-5 15th to tie the match, and a wayward Clanton drive on the signature par-4 16th led to a bogey and a 1-up lead for Buchanan.
U.S. Amateur: Photos from Hazeltine
Then on 18, Buchanan’s approach missed right while Clanton gave himself a 20-footer for birdie. Buchanan hit a delicate chip shot to a couple feet, and Clanton’s birdie chance slid beneath the hole. Buchanan cleaned up for par, and he’s into the Round of 16, where he will face Tyler Mawhinney Thursday afternoon.
Mawhinney won the Canadian Amateur last week to earn his way into the field at the U.S. Amateur.
As for Clanton, his crazy summer has come to a close. After leading Florida State to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship in late May, he proceeded to make the cut in five of six PGA Tour events, recording top-five finishes in three of them, the first amateur to do so on Tour since Jack Nicklaus in 1961. He rose to No. 1 in the world, and he also earned 14 points in the PGA Tour University Accelerated ranking, meaning if he can earn six more, he’ll earn an automatic PGA Tour card.
But his biggest lesson this summer was that golf isn’t everything.
“I think I get a little bit too obsessed with it sometimes,” Clanton said. “I’ve got a great family, great girlfriend, great friends. Golf is just a game. You don’t have to be too hard on yourself all the time. But, you know, it was awesome, dude. This is like, what you train for to be in those positions. So it’s fun.”
As for what’s next, Clanton said he’s looking forward to getting back to Tallahassee and beginning his junior season with Florida State. Last year, Clanton finished as the top-ranked player in the NCAA golf rankings.
Now, he returns to college golf as the best amateur in the world with a whole lot of confidence to build on what has been an incredible 2024.
