Luke Clanton received another sponsor’s exemption and will play in next week’s Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. When he does so, he will have a new look and wear Nike Golf apparel at a PGA Tour event for the first time.
Top-amateur Luke Clanton inks Nike Golf deal ahead of next PGA Tour start
Luke Clanton, who is on the precipice of earning his PGA Tour card, signed an endorsement deal with Nike.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
Clanton announced on his Instagram Thursday that he had signed an endorsement with Nike.
“To future me, I would say, keep taking it slow,” Clanton said in the video he posted.
“Every step and every rep led me to this moment. But those moments don’t define me. This is just the beginning. Now, it’s time to go all in. Time to go further. Dream bigger. Push harder. It’s time... to just do it.”
Should Clanton make the cut at next week’s Cognizant Classic, he will receive his PGA Tour card thanks to him meeting the 20-point threshold within the tour’s accelerated program. Whoever earns 20 points by the end of their junior year automatically receives a PGA Tour card. Still a junior, Clanton is currently the top-ranked amateur in the world and has amassed 19 points altogether.
He came close to earning his card at the WM Phoenix Open two weeks ago, but he missed the cut by a stroke. If his birdie try on the 18th hole fell, Clanton would have become a PGA Tour member.
“It’s just not my time, man,” Clanton said then.
“The Lord has a plan for me in every single step I take and every single shot I hit; he has a plan, and it wasn’t due this week, it wasn’t due to last week, it wasn’t due at Sony. The time will come, and I’m just going to stay confident with him.”
Perhaps that time will come next week at PGA National, where Clanton will boast a new look.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
