Top-ranked amateur could clinch TOUR card at next week’s Cognizant Classic

Business is booming for Luke Clanton.

Clanton has inked an endorsement deal with Nike, he announced Thursday on Instagram. Clanton, a Florida State junior, joins Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent as top men’s college golfers to partner with Nike, which has sponsored several star golfers through the years including a 27-year partnership with Tiger Woods that ended in early 2024.

“To future me, I would say, keep taking it slow,” Clanton said in the Instagram video. “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.”

Clanton, the world’s top-ranked amateur, is on the verge of clinching a PGA TOUR card via PGA TOUR University Accelerated. He will play in the 2025 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches on a sponsor exemption; with a made cut, he would clinch the 20th point necessary to earn a PGA TOUR card after the NCAA Championship this spring (he could also defer the card until after his senior season). Sargent can also accept TOUR membership after the NCAA Championship via PGA TOUR University Accelerated; he earned his 20th Accelerated point in fall 2023.

After offering an equipment line for several years, Nike now works with touring pros on an apparel-only basis. Among Nike’s current TOUR staff are Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood and Tom Kim. It’s an esteemed crop, and Clanton eyes a similar level of stardom. There’s ample indication he can thrive as a professional: He notched four top-10 finishes on TOUR in 2024 (including runner-up showings at the John Deere Classic and The RSM Classic), becoming the first amateur since Jack Nicklaus in 1961 to record three or more top-10s in a single TOUR campaign.

Clanton is still hungry for a national title with Florida State as well, having won this week’s Watersound Invitational as an individual and leading the Seminoles to a team title. He’ll pursue a championship as a Nike athlete.