What was being said about Luke Clanton off air at Golf Channel during The RSM Classic

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While he may not have won The RSM Classic after making a bogey on the final hole, Luke Clanton certainly managed to show why he appears to have such a bright future on the PGA Tour, with the amateur finishing in a tie for second in Georgia.

Luke Clanton has definitely confirmed himself as one to watch on the PGA Tour in 2025. The 21-year-old has finished in the top 10 on four occasions. He shot two 63s to finish tied for second at the John Deere Classic in July.

And he was at it again at The RSM Classic last week, with Clanton coming agonisingly close to emulating Nick Dunlap by winning as an amateur. Unfortunately for the youngster, a bogey on his final hole dropped him back to 15 under par – presenting Maverick McNealy with the chance to win when he made a birdie on his 72nd hole of the week.

Luke Clanton manages to really impress at The RSM Classic

Clanton now finds himself 93rd in the world rankings and you would imagine that he will receive plenty of exciting playing opportunities next season.

And it would appear that Clanton is managing to impress many within the game. Speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard suggested that Clanton was producing some shots at Sea Island Golf Club that some working on the broadcast felt that he had no right to execute.

“He has every shot. Normally a player coming out of college, you could say he hits the ball a mile, solid wedge player, but he needs to work on his short game, whatever the case may be. I didn’t see any of that. And if you look at what he has done this season on the PGA Tour statistically, there aren’t really any holes. He’s right there where he needs to be in almost every statistical category,” he said.

“The part that gets me is that there was just no fear. I loved during the telecast, and some of it was on air and some of it was off air, but especially on Sunday when he was coming down the stretch and he started to get that wild look in his eye, and he put himself in some really, really bad spots, and it wasn’t easy to chip around this golf course – this time of year trying to chip off Bermuda, especially grainy Bermuda is really difficult, and that golf course has very sandy soil – so you’re asking a lot of your short game if you put yourself in a bad spot, if you don’t have a straightforward chip, if you have to be a bit creative, you have to be a little handsy, it’s not a recipe for success.

“And I was taken by during the telecast, both Johnson Wagner and Smylie Kaufman were talking about he’d missed a shot left over a bunker and he has to hit this crazy flop shot. In the break, they both said, ‘no way, I’m not hitting that shot’. We all know what Johnson has done with the short game this season on the Golf Channel, but even Smylie was like, ‘you don’t have enough nerves in you’, and he pulled it off without even blinking, like it was the easiest thing in the world – that’s what gets you.”

How Clanton has performed throughout 2024

Of course, Clanton is not playing with quite the same pressure as someone trying to keep their card. But his 2024 season was undoubtedly impressive.

He missed one cut in eight starts, while he had four top 10s. His worst score in the first three rounds of any tournament this year was 72. And on both occasions he finished second, he posted four rounds in the 60s.

There are likely to be bumps in the road as he gains more and more experience on the PGA Tour. And at some stage, he will find himself under a little pressure to actually get across the line and win on tour.

But clearly, many of those in the know believe that Clanton is a player with nothing short of enormous potential.