In this season of turmoil in the men’s professional game, when it is fashionable to blame PGA Tour leadership for everything from slow play to global warming, it seems fair and appropriate to give that same leadership credit when they get it right (which is more often than not).
The tour certainly has gotten it right with PGA Tour University. Last weekend served as further proof of the success of this five-year-old program.
Luke Clanton, a 21-year-old junior at Florida State University, made the cut at the tour’s Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, earning the final point of the 20 required in the PGA Tour University Accelerated program to earn a tour card starting as soon as after the 2025 NCAA Championship in May.
Clanton earning his card was a big story at the Cognizant Classic, but he wasn’t the only PGA Tour University success story last week. The tournament champion, Joe Highsmith, has a wonderful PGA Tour U back story. The former Pepperdine University standout finished No. 10 in the 2022 class and earned status on the PGA Tour Americas. The southpaw clawed his way up the pyramid, earning his PGA Tour card for 2024. Now he is a PGA Tour champion.
PGA Tour University bridges the gap between college golf and professional golf. College golf’s top players can earn membership through PGA Tour University and have a guaranteed place to play immediately after their college careers are complete. The PGA Tour University Ranking is the mechanism to determine which graduating seniors earn automatic access to PGA Tour-sanctioned circuits.
While the regular PGA Tour U is targeted at seniors, PGA Tour U Accelerated is aimed at underclassmen. Clanton, who has five top-15 finishes in PGA Tour events as an amateur, is just the second player to earn a tour card via the Accelerated program; Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent is the other.
Clanton is just one of many players who have benefited from PGA Tour U. Ludvig Åberg, a winner at the Genesis Invitational last month, is on his way to becoming a household name and may be the next great player in the professional game. The young Swede played in the Ryder Cup in 2023 just months after graduating from Texas Tech. He finished first in the 2023 PGA Tour University rankings. Class of 2021 graduates Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat are already PGA Tour winners.
Last year’s PGA Tour U alumni are already making names for themselves. Michael Thorbjornsen, a Stanford graduate, has three top-10 finishes and is finding his way as a professional. His teammate, Aussie Karl Vilips, earned conditional Korn Ferry Tour status by virtue of finishing 10th in the rankings. He won in his third Korn Ferry start and now has his PGA Tour card.
PGA Tour University has changed the calculus of really elite college players. Most are not considering leaving school early to chase their dream.
Then there is the heartwarming story about Johnny Keefer. The Baylor University player finished 11th at the 2024 NCAA Championship, enabling him to claim the final PGA Tour U access spot. He played on the PGA Tour Americas last year; in 10 starts, he won once, recorded four runner-up finishes and nine top-10s. As a result, he earned Korn Ferry Tour status in 2025. In five Korn Ferry starts this year, he has posted two top-five performances and has risen to No. 158 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Not everyone is thrilled by the existence of PGA Tour U. Organizers of key summer elite amateur events in America will tell you that the quality of their fields has been diluted as the top college players search for professional starts. They also believe, quite rightly, that their events, many of which have stronger fields than many college events, should earn PGA Tour U points. Their pleas have thus far fallen upon deaf ears at PGA Tour headquarters.
PGA Tour University has changed the calculus of really elite college players. Most are not considering leaving school early to chase their dream; if they are really talented, it makes much more sense to finish school, to continue to develop their game and maturity level, and gain some status on a PGA Tour circuit.
To its credit, the tour encourages this. And the program is structured as such; Clanton will stay in school and finish the spring season with his team, as his tour status does not kick in until after the NCAAs. Sargent has twice postponed taking up his Accelerated tour card, remaining at Vanderbilt and taking advantage of name, image and likeness money while he hones his game before joining the PGA Tour this summer.
PGA Tour University is changing the arc of many college players’ careers. It is a welcome path to the professional game.
E-MAIL JIM
Top: Ludvig Åberg topped PGA Tour University rankings in 2023 and just months later won 2023 RSM Classic.
Michael Owens, Getty Images