How top amateurs inched closer to PGA Tour cards at Farmers Insurance Open

Luke Clanton and Jackson Koivun didn’t factor into the finish at this week’s Farmers Insurance Open — which Harris English won — but the no. 1 and no. 2 ranked men’s amateur golfers still had a successful week at Torrey Pines.

The 21-year-old Clanton and 19-year-old Koivun gritted their teeth and battled tough conditions at Torrey Pines to make the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, earn another PGA Tour University Accelerated point and inch closer to their PGA Tour cards in the process.

Koivun birdied two of his final three holes on Thursday to finish one shot above the cut line, while Clanton finished the first two rounds three shots clear. The made cut gave both Clanton and Koivun 18 of the 20 PGA Tour University Accelerated points needed to earn their cards.

Clanton, the Florida State Seminole, and Koivun, the Auburn Tiger, could have secured their cards with a top-five finish, but neither had a weekend to remember. The 21-year-old Clanton shot 1-over on the weekend to finish in a tie for 15th place at 1-under, while Koivun shot a 6-over-par 78 in the final round to finish T56.

Clanton and Koivun took different paths up the PGA Tour University Accelerated ladder.

Clanton became a fixture on PGA Tour leaderboards last summer. The Florida State junior carded four top-10 finishes in nine PGA Tour starts. That included runner-up finishes at the John Deere Classic and RSM Classic. He has earned 13 of his 18 points in PGA Tour play. Clanton elected to return to school for his junior season to try and win an NCAA championship after losing in last year’s title match to Koivun and the Tigers.

Koivun, meanwhile, became the first freshman to win all three Player of the Year awards — Haskins, Nicklaus, and Hogan — and the Phil Mickelson Award as the nation’s top freshman. Those awards earned him 11 points.

Despite leaving Torrey Pines two shots shy of their tour cards, both Clanton and Koivun should be able to notch two more points in the coming months. When they do, they will have the option to either join the PGA Tour after their collegiate season or defer their card and return to college.

Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent, who earned his PGA Tour card via the accelerated university points program, deferred his membership for a year to return for his senior season.

Sargent will join the PGA Tour once the Commodores’ season concludes, and he will likely be joined by Koivun and Clanton either this year or next.