Tigers on the PGA Tour in 2007

Dec. 7, 2007

By David May

Once again, former Tiger’s had a successful year on the PGA tour in 2007. Lucas Glover, Jonathan Byrd, Charles Warren and DJ Trahan each earned over $1 million dollars for the second consecutive year.

Clemson had five former players on the PGA tour in 2007, as Matt Hendrix was also a full time member of the tour. The Tigers earned a combined $5,802,150.

Jonathan Byrd led the former Tigers in earning’s with $1,854,906 in 2007. Byrd played in only 23 events due to injury, but still made 13 cuts. His spectacular season included a win at the John Deere Classic, four Top 10 finishes, 11 top 25’s, and a scoring average of 70.38. The victory was the third of his career. He is the only American under 30 with three PGA Tour wins.

Byrd finished with 96,061 Fed-Ex Cup points which earned him 28th place in the Fed-Ex Cup chase. Byrd’s year vaulted him up the World Rankings list to number 58, which is currently the highest for a former Tiger. His low round for the year came during the first round of the BMW Championship with a 64.

Byrd ranked second on the PGA Tour in putting average with 1.728 putts per green, trailing only Tim Clark, a former NC State golfer. Byrd also ranked third in average number of birdies per round with 3.89, sixth in sand save percentage, and 12th in putts per round with 28.47. Most impressively, Byrd ranked fourth on the Tour in final round scoring average with 69.69.

Lucas Glover was second among former Tigers in earnings in 2007 with $1,664,167. Glover played 29 events and made 22 cuts, the best percentage among former Tigers. That included three Top tens, 13 top 15’s, and a scoring average of 70.34.

Glover finished the Fed-Ex cup chase with 93,900 points which was good enough for 35th place. His best round of the year came in the first round of the Wyndham Championship with a 65. The Clemson All-American between 1998-01 finished the season ranked 20th in total driving and 96th in final round scoring average with a 71.43. Glover’s most impressive stat for the year was his birdies per round average with 3.77 per round, good enough for eighth on tour in 2007. He also became the first Clemson alumni to represent the United States of America on a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup team, helping the US team to a President’s Cup win in September.

Charles Warren played 29 events in 2007 earning $1,068,440. He came very close to his first PGA Tour win at the Reno-Tahoe Open by finishing in second place. He also had his low round of the year with a 63 in the second round of the Reno Tahoe open.

Warren made 21 cuts, had three top 10’s and six top 25’s in 2007. His scoring average for the year was a 70.02 and he has a world ranking of 199. He also earned 89,297 points in the fed-ex cup which earned him 85th place.

Warren ranked first in total driving on the PGA Tour in 2007. He also tied for first with 15 eagles on tour in 2007. Warren was ninth in driving distance with an average of 302.8 yards. He was fourth in total ball striking, and third in par 5 performances with a total of 131 under par for the year.

DJ Trahan was the fourth Tiger to earn over a million dollars on tour in 2007. He earned $1,106,374 in 30 events. Trahan had a second place finish at the Frys.com Open benefiting Shriners Hospital for Children. He shot his best round of the year at this tournament with a 65 in the second round.

Trahan made 18 cuts including three top 10’s, three top 25’s and finished with a scoring average of 71.00. Trahan finished the year with 86,983 fed-ex cup points earning 117th place and a world ranking of 203.

Trahan ranked 27th on Tour in Green in Regulation with 66.95 %. He also finished 10th in total driving and 48th in driving distance with an average of 295.1 yards.

Overall the Tigers had another successful year on tour. Lucas Glover to $6,882,200, Charles Warren to $3,196,381 and DJ Trahan improved to $2,955,800.