Luke Clanton and Michael Thorbjornsen took a share of second place at the John Deere Classic. Could they win soon?
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ABOUT THE SHOW: The First Cut brings you everything you need to know in the world of professional golf. Nearly every day Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter, Mark Immelman, Greg DuCharme, Sia Nejad and Patrick McDonald bring you the best analysis in the game. From DFS to betting previews, interviews and recaps… everything golf is on the table when you listen to The First Cut.
because there are a couple of young guys out here mark that I know you were able to catch uh some Vibes on in Luke Clinton and Michael thorbjornson both of them posted Sunday 63s both of them got in at 24 underpar both of them finish T2 but only one of them gets the money for it I tell you what um when we were planning for the day look first off Saturday I had Davis Thompson watching him shoot 62 and it was just like no sweat uh the guy looked like he he barely even blink batted an eyelid and managed to cruise around there in nine under and I’d always the rub on me for Davis was like you know he’s talented kid remains to be seen But after watching him Saturday I was like there’s no weakness and then were those two boys today we’re preparing for the show and my producer Jim calls me in and he goes well look what do you want to do and I was like I want to go really go and watch those two boys and they alongside Carson Young Who at the time was in decent shape so I’m like I want to go and follow the third group so he said have had it and we got out there and we join them on 10 and Thor bonson goes in a tear and then Luke Clanton hangs around but both of them are long they’re impressive awesome ball Strikers and not feed by the moment I think was the most impressive thing to me I I thought Thor bonson a little little bits when he got up to very close within two of the lead I thought on 14 big misstep there with a bogey on the short PA for but from there he just settled down played pretty solid and Clon finished fast um but man these two kids they’ve got it all Fearless hit it a long way make putts and you can see they born of this sort of uh class of college players where they know they got to shoot low and these kids are coming man they are coming and it was fun to watch them this afternoon yeah Thor bson hit one way right off the te at 14 that was uh the bogey that ended a stretch of six consecutive birdies and then as Mark Mark mentioned Patrick Clanton Bird’s four of his last five holes these two they’re they’re confident Mark is Mark is right they’re coming they they just want the ball they want the ball yeah and Clinton said after his round he’s like I I don’t want to sound cocky but I know I can win on on this tour already three three starts into his PJ tour career as an Amer he’s like yeah I can win out here um and so we’re gonna see him at the Isco Championship across from the open not the Kentucky Championship I guess they got a sponsor there and then we’re also gonna see him at the 3M open I believe he got an invitation there as well and he confirmed he’s going to stay in amer um but yeah like you said Rick the these type of setups Mark kind of touched on in a little bit where you could argue Clinton’s kind of like little weak point is is around the green game he probably needs to get refined a little bit there it feels like a lot of these guys coming out of college they can hit it a mile their ball striking is phenomenal and they can get really hot with the putter but where they need to improve tends to be that short game area some of those touchy fing shots but on these type of golf courses where it’s just go go go go oh they’re going to thrive and they’re going to contend seemingly every time you know I want to add to that Patrick um last year at this time I got to call a guy who won the PGA Tour you and his name was ludvick obber I’ve heard and yeah he stand out pretty good I remember watching this kid going holy smoke and learn behold you know he’s got the entire package softly spoken a lot of self-confidence had everything then has the win and the fall at the RSM now he’s a top 10 player in the world I watch Michael thoron today and in many respects I can draw a lot of parallels um if you compare him to Clanton clanton’s kind of got a little Swagger he’s got a little attitude about him um he’s he sort of he looks like he is he’s the Junkyard Dog who’s gonna battle you and just get after you where Thor Bronson’s got this Regal kind of air about him like o Berg and you can see though he’s just like he marches around the place not marches he just saunters around the place going I got guns just watch me and he lets the clubs talk so it’s the two contrasting characters but I gotta say I I saw a lot of similarities between Michael and between ludvick I really did it seems like where they went to college kind of has something to do with that right Stanford you talk about Regal like think about all the guys on Stanford on tour really sure of themselves and then Florida State you got the junkyard dogs boo DB straight Vib and Kea as well so I think there’s something a little bit there too yeah I met out and then then just the the power of the tea I mean Clanton looks you can see he’s getting every ounce out of his little body he’s a tall kid but he’s kind of lean you know wiy but Thor bson when he hits it the thing takes off like a homesick Angel man and it goes and it goes high and it goes far and there’s not a lot of pattern to the shots too the SE things cut through the air with very little shape so I mean reminds me very very much of lck Mark I’m GNA bounce this right back to you here because Clanton is the one who’s still an amateur Thor Bon turned Pro just a couple of weeks ago and Patrick had had mentioned it sounds like Luke is gonna stay an amateur and you are uniquely qualified to kind of discuss the mindset between a college player trying to decide whether or not it’s time to turn pro now I was just on CBS Sports HQ Q Clinton has missed out on nearly $900,000 of payouts uh since he’s been playing on tour this year so what what types of conversations is he having with with the family with the team to figure out whether Florida state will will get him back next year I have to think Rick I cannot speak with good confidence on this but I have to think that after last week they were like sweet I think after this week they’re going uh wait a sec here you know I’ve got another couple starts coming up um let’s just kind of revisit this thing because I reached out to the Florida state coaches and they’re like you know he makes good grades he’s good on the team he’s he’s only he’s going to be a junior a lot of golf left you know PGA T you only counseling your senior year and so I think the coaches were kind of going all right we we’re cool with this kid but after this runnerup finish now um I think the conversations may be changing a little bit yeah had a huge following out there all people there was this one young lady who was wearing a red shirt that said Luke’s number one fan and she was loud man and she looked like she could have been part of so so he’s building a bit of a following and and I think I don’t know he hasn’t won like a dlap but I think he’s looking at this going golly you know I’ve got another event I’m playing well it’s not like he’s stumbling to these finishes he’s playing well and now he’s got two goes around I think it might be time to cash in but then again you never know it’s so interesting Patrick because he’s got a lot of value as a professional but he doesn’t have a clear path to getting a I mean we’re almost at the end of the year he’s probably only going to get a couple more starts here before the Tour Championship he like Mark said he’s not accumulating any of those PGA Tour U points so if he turns Pro he’s going to be relying on on sponsors invites and just playing his way into event so there’s not a super clear path in either direction for him it’s it’s kind of a stickier situation than we’ve seen other guys have it’s very interesting because you would think in the fall those tournaments would clamor over an invitation for someone like him but at the same time guess what he’s going to be back in school right so what do you do there I think is anyone’s best guess but I do kind of agree with Mark where I mean he shot up a back 930 today on the PGA tour and he was almost the guy who qualified for the open and grab that second spot uh to Royal trun so it seems like the Stock’s never going to be higher it’s gonna get higher obviously uh but it’s it’s a tough decision I’m not too sure what uh what he’s going to do but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he contends at at the Isco championship in the 3M open and he might take care of it himself yeah let’s just put a bow on this real fast that’s the one good thing about PGA Tru is because of the guarantees you get in terms of starts and if you win the thing you get a your your PGA Tour exemption there’s a lot of upside to these kids staying in school but the one thing’s for sure about golf it’s Mercurial and when things are going your way you got to make hay while the sun is shining kind of thing so so so that’s where I feel like this conversation for the family I’m sure they’re weighing up both sides but when you’re playing golf and you’re playing well it feels like you’re never going to play badly so you have to maximize that and if you’re playing badly who knows I mean he could go back to University and suck it up next year we we don’t know it’s not likely but it’s possible because of the game so I think you got to maximize and if you look at other guys who’ve come out after their second year in college some of them have turned out pretty well I think of a Jordan spe so um so look he’s got all the tools he is a bit ragged around the greens but what he makes what what he misses around the greens he makes up for with power and just sheer Swagger I mean this kid is unafraid there were me I’d be on the horn tonight with all the oems and all the Manu all the manufacturers all the all the apparel companies I’d have a new a new look when I get to the Isco championship and I’d be playing for that for that cash B I couldn’t find out what he was worth nil was but had a few logos on him so he’s he’s making money now um I’m with you his name’s all over the place you get interviewed by Amanda balanus on CBS on a Sunday afternoon twice I mean he’s his stock is up
1 Comment
Great interview