Monday 03/19/2001
March 19, 2001
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Second-ranked Clemson will return to the golf course March 24-25 to compete in the 15-team Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational. The event will be held at the Forest Heights County Club in Statesboro, GA. The teams will play 36 holes on Saturday and 18 on Sunday. Saturday’s action will be the final day of the year in which the Tigers are scheduled to play 36 holes in one day.
The Schenkel has always been an event that attracts the top teams in the country and this year is no exception. Ten of the top 21 teams in the nation and 13 of the top 19 individuals according to the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings will be competiting on the par 72 layout. The field features four ACC teams and six SEC teams. Additionally, Northwestern and Ohio State from the Big 10 and top programs from Augusta State, East Tennessee State and host school Georgia Southern will be in action.
Eight of the top 10 players in the nation will be in action. That list includes second ranked Lucas Glover and third ranked John Engler from Clemson. The field also includes Luke Donald from Northwestern, the 1999 NCAA Champion, and Clemson’s D.J. Trahan, the reigning United States Public Links Champion. This will be Trahan’s final college event before he competes at the Master’s April 5-8.
The Tigers will take a lineup of two seniors, two sophomores and a freshman to Statesboro. Ben Duncan will replace Jani Saari in the Clemson lineup. Duncan played five events in the fall, but is yet to play in the spring. He had a 73.71 stroke average for his five events in the fall. His best finish is a 24th place at The Ridges, the first event of the year. He had a 219 at the Golf World and a 220 at the Jerry Pate, a tournament Clemson won.
Clemson, ranked second in MasterCard and third by the Golfweek/Sagarin Poll and Golf World, will be playing in its ninth team tournament of the year. The Tigers have eight straight finishes in at least the top five. That includes one first-place finish, two seconds and three thirds. The season also includes a fourth-place finish at the Rolex Match Play last November.
Clemson features seniors Lucas Glover and John Engler. Glover took medalist honors at the Puerto Rico Classic and has a 70.61 average for the year, a Clemson single season record pace. Engler has a 70.78 stroke average for the year and has three straight top 10 finishes. He has five top 10s in his last six events.
D.J. Trahan, who finished 15h at Puerto Rico and 21st at Las Vegas, has struggled in his opening round of late, then finished strong. Over his last three events he has averaged a 77 in the first round, then averaged 70.8 for his last two rounds combined. Freshman Gregg Jones has a solid 73.67 stroke average for the year. He has finished 45th in each of his last two events.
Clemson Lineup for Schenkel 2000-01
Clemson’s History at Schenkel This will be Clemson’s 12th trip to the E-Z-GO Chris Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, GA. The Tigers have finished first twice, in 1987-88 and in the 1998-99 academic years. The Tigers first appeared at the event in the 1979-80 academic year and finished sixth with an 880 score. Clemson played at the Schenkel every year from 1979-80 through 1988-89. The tournament had a nine-year absence, then returned for the 1998-99 academic year.
Clemson has finished first or second each of the last four times it has played in the event. Clemson was second last year and in 1988-89. Clemson also had a second-place finish in 1985-86 and now has six straight top five finishes in the tournament. Clemson did not finish in the top five each of the first five times it came to Statesboro.
Clemson won the event in the spring of 1988 with an 854 team score. The Tigers then captured the tournament in the spring of 1999 with an 869 team score. The Tigers won a playoff with Georgia on the second hole to capture the championship.
Two current Tigers had top 20 finishes at the 1999 event. Lucas Glover was one shot off off that pace with a 221 and finished 19th. Current senior Jani Saari also played in that tournament and shot a 224. Jonathan Byrd led the Tigers with a 214, good enough for fourth place individually.
Last year, Lucas Glover and John Engler both shot 210 scores to finish in a tie for fifth. Glover had a 68 in the second round, while Engler had a 68 in the final round. D.J. Trahan also had an under-par score of 215 and finished 18th.
Last Year at the Schenkel Lucas Glover, John Engler, D.J. Trahan all had under-par tournaments, leading Clemson to a second-place team finish at the Chris Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, GA.
Clemson shot 282 on Sunday, March 26, the best team score of the day, but the Tigers could not overcome defending national champion Georgia, who had a 15-stroke lead entering the final day and finished with an 829 score. The Tigers were second with an 846 team score, six strokes ahead of third-place NC State, who had 852. Clemson’s 846 score was its second best 54-hole team score of the year.
Florida and Duke tied for fourth with 861 scores, while Augusta State was sixth at 865 and South Carolina was seventh at 869. TCU was eighth at 870, while Northwestern, ranked third in the nation entering the tournament, was ninth at 872, 26 strokes behind the Tigers.
Clemson had four players under par for the tournament, the first time all year Clemson has done that. It was a consistent event for the Tigers who were at least five under-par for all three rounds, the only team in the tournament to do that.
Glover and Engler, both juniors, had scores of 210 for the tournament. Engler was Clemson’s top golfer on Sunday with a 68, while Glover had a 70, his third straight round at par or better. Both players finished fifth in the individual race. It was the fifth top 10 finish of the year for Glover and the fourth for Engler.
Jonathan Byrd was the only Tiger to shoot under par in all three rounds, scoring rounds of 70-71-71. His 212 score was good enough for 12th individually.
D.J. Trahan, who had won the Las Vegas Invitational in his last outing, had a solid 215 score and finished 19th. He shot a 73 on Sunday and is now 11-under-par for the year. Jani Saari shot a 76 on Sunday and finished with a 226 score for the event. The native of Greenville had 72 in the second round for his best 18 of the tournament.
Clemson at Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational
Glover Wins Puerto Rico Classic Lucas Glover shot a closing round 67 and went on to a five-stroke victory at the Puerto Rico Classic Feb. 25-27 at Rio Mar Resort and Country Club. Glover had a 54-hole score of 205, 11-under par. It was the third tournament title for Glover at Clemson. He also won at the Carpet Classic in Dalton, GA in April of 1998 and won the Mauna Kea Invitational in Hawaii in November of 1998. So, he had gone over two years without a college tournament championship.
Glover’s victory was by five shots, the largest margin of victory on record for a Clemson golfer in any tournament. The previous record that has been found in the Clemson archives was four strokes on many occasions, most recently by Charles Warren at the 1997 ACC Tournament. Glover’s victory at Puerto Rico this year came against a strong field. He was seven shots better than Bryce Molder of Georgia Tech and nine shots better than Luke Donald of Northwestern. The 76-player field posted just four players under par and just nine at par or better.
Glover had scores of 68-70-67 in gaining the victory. His 70 in the second round included six birdies and an eagle. His 67 in the final round tied for the best round by any player in the tournament. Wilhelm Schauman of Minnesota had a 67 on the final day and finished second at 210. Glover had a wire-to-wire lead after he shot 68 the opening day. His final round saw him record six birdies between the fourth and 15th holes. He had 18 birdies for the 54 holes.
Clemson lost the team aspect of the tournament by just one stroke. Georgia Tech and Clemson both shot 282 scores on the final day. Tech finished at three-under-par, 861, while the Tigers finished at 862, two-under. Minnesota was third at 865 and Georgia was fourth at 869.
Glover got plenty of support from consistent John Engler, whose 216 figure was tied for fifth. D.J. Trahan shot a 78 in the opening round, but finished strong with rounds of 70 and 71. His 219 score was good enough for 15th. Freshman Jani Saari finished at 231 and was 59th.
Tigers Have 87 Percent Winning Mark Clemson has a record of 84-12-2 against all competition so far this year. These stats count just the seven previous team scored events and not the match play event in the fall. Clemson’s winning percentage is .867.
The Tigers have faced 36 different teams on its national schedule and Clemson has a losing record against just one team. The Tigers are 2-4 against Georgia Tech. Clemson is 3-3 against Georgia so far this year. Tech and Georgia are the only two teams with a stroke advantage against Clemson.
As far as other top ranked schools, Clemson is 3-1 vs. South Carolina, 4-0 vs. Arizona State, 3-0 vs Arizona, 5-0 vs. Houston, 3-0 vs. Minnesota, 3-0 vs. Northwestern, 3-1 vs. Oklahoma State, 4-0 vs. UNLV and 2-0 vs. Oklahoma.
Clemson had an 85 percent winning percentage last year (156-26-3). The only teams with a winning record against Clemson last year were Texas (1-3) and Georgia Tech (3-6).
Clemson Player/Team Rankings Clemson is ranked second in the nation in the latest MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings announced Wednesday. The MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings, which are administered by the College Golf Foundation and compiled by Golfstat in cooperation with the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA), are determined by a computerized system based strictly on performance during the 2000-01 collegiate golf season.
Georgia is ranked first in the nation, followed by the Tigers and Georgia Tech. The Tigers have won the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate and finished in the top three in five other tournaments so far this year. That includes a second-place finish at the Puerto Rico Classic and a third-place finish at the Las Vegas Intercollegiate this spring. Clemson will next see action March 24-25 at the Chris Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, GA.
Clemson has two of the top three players in the nation according to the latest individual rankings. Lucas Glover is ranked second behind Bryce Molder of Georgia Tech, while John Engler is ranked third. Glover, a Clemson senior from Greenville, SC, has a 70.61 stroke average for his eight tournaments so far this year, while Engler, a senior from Augusta, GA, has a 70.78 average. Engler has five top 10 finishes this year, including five of his last six events. Glover won the Puerto Rico Classic against a national field in February and has four top 10 finishes for the season.
Sophomore D.J. Trahan is a third Clemson player ranked in the top 50 in the nation. The reigning US Public Links Champion is currently ranked 42nd.
Men’s Team Rankings – March 14, 2001 1 Georgia 2 Clemson 3 Georgia Tech 4 Texas 5 TCU 6 South Carolina 7 Southern California 8 New Mexico 9 Minnesota 10 Brigham Young 11 Virginia Tech 12 Arizona State 13 Oklahoma 14 Florida 15 Louisiana State 16 North Carolina State 17 Duke 18 Augusta State 19 East Tennessee State 20 Arizona
Men’s Individual Rankings 1 Bryce Molder – SR – Georgia Tech – 324.900 2 Lucas Glover – SR – Clemson University -217.210 3 John Engler – SR – Clemson University – 182.150 4 Kyle Thompson – SR – South Carolina – 179.773 5 Chris Wisler – SR – East Tennessee St. – 164.187 6 Ryan Hybl – FR – Univ. of Georgia – 162.872 7 Craig Lile – SR – Univ. of Arkansas – 159.680 8 Jamie Elson – JR – Augusta State Univ. – 151.800 9 David Sanchez – SR – North Carolina State – 149.700 10 Luke Donald – SR – Northwestern – 148.331 42 D.J. Trahan – SO – Clemson University – 68.545
Clemson Finishes Third at Las Vegas IntercollegiateMarch 11, 2001Las Vegas, NV – John Engler shot an even-par 72 to finish in the top 10 for the fourth straight tournament, leading Clemson to a third-place finish at the Las Vegas Intercollegiate. It tied for Clemson’s best finish in the event.
Clemson finished with an 869 score for the three-day, 54-hole event after a one-over-par 289 on the final day. Georgia Tech had an incredible 273 team score on Sunday and shot an 844 team score, 24 strokes better than second-place Georgia, who finished at 868, one better than the Tigers. NC State was fourth at 871, while TCU was fifth at 874. Arizona State was sixth at 875, but featured the play of Jeff Quinney, the individual champion who shot a 203. Quinney won by seven shots over Troy Matteson of Georgia Tech.
Engler finished at 214 for the event and his two-under-par score was good enough for eighth place. Trahan, who shot a 77 in the opening round, finished with a 69 on Sunday to shoot 218 for the event. Trahan, who will play in the Master’s in April, won medalist honors last year, but finished 21st this year.
Lucas Glover, Clemson’s best player so far this year in terms of stroke average, shot a 221 for the event and finished 28th. He had won the Puerto Rico Classic two weeks ago, his third career victory. Jani Saari shot a 75 on Sunday and finished tied for 39th, while freshman Gregg Jones shot a 74 on Sunday to finish at 226, good enough for 45th.
Clemson will next be in action at the Chris Schenkel Intercollegiate at Statesboro, GA March 23-25.
Glover/Engler Among Clemson’s Best Clemson seniors Lucas Glover and John Engler are among the top golfers in Clemson history in many areas. Both have had amazing careers and are very similar statistically. For instance, Engler is first in Clemson history in stroke average at 71.88, while Glover is second at 71.96. Engler has 19 top 10 finishes, while Glover has 18.Glover has 27 rounds in the 60s, while Engler has 25. Engler has 58 rounds under par, while Glover has 56.
Engler needs three under-par rounds to tie Jonathan Byrd career record of 61. Engler already has the record for rounds at par or better with 82. Below is a quick rundown on how each ranks in various areas and their major accomplishments thus far.
Engler – Major HonorsFirst-team All-American, 1999 Second-team All-American, 2000 First-team All-ACC, 1999 and 2000 1999 San Juan Shootout Champion Led nation in fairways hit and greens in regulation, 1999 Led nation in greens in regulation, 1998 Named to US Palmer Cup team 1999 and 2000 Clemson career leader in stroke average Clemson career leader in rounds at par or better
Engler All-time Clemson Season Rankings in 1999-00
1st, rounds at 75 or better, 38 2nd in rounds under par, 21 2ndin rounds at par or better, 25 3rd in rounds in the 60s, 12 3rd instroke average, 71.33 9th, top 10 finishes, 6
Engler Clemson Career Rankings Entering Schenkel
1st, stroke average, 71.88 2nd, rounds under par, 58 1st roundsat par or better, 82 4th rounds in the 60s, 25 3rd, rounds 75 orbetter, 122 5th, top 10 finishes, 19
Glover Major Honors First-team All-American, 2000Honorable Mention All-American, 1999 First-team All-ACC, 1999 and2000 Named to 1999 US vs. Japan Cup Team Named to 2000 Palmer CupTeam Carpet Classic champion, Spring, 1998 Mauna Kea champion Fall1998 South Carolina Amateur Champion, 1998, 1999, 2000 Puerto RicoClassic Champion, 2001
Glover All-Time Clemson Season Rankings for 1999-00
1st, stroke average, 71.24 Third, under par rounds, 20 2nd,rounds at par or better, 25 4th Top 10 finishes, 7 7th rounds inthe 60s, 8
Glover Clemson Career Rankings entering Schenkel
2nd, stroke average, 71.96 3rd, rounds in the 60s, 27 3rd,rounds under par, 56 3rd , rounds at par or better, 74 8th in top10 finishes, 18 6th, rounds at 75 or better, 111
Clemson’s D.J. TRAHAN Wins US Amateur Public Links TitleJuly 15, 2000Portland, OR – Qualifying medalist D.J. Trahan, 19, of Inman, S.C. and Clemson University overcame a gutsy charge from Ben “Bubba” Dickerson, 19, of Hilliard, Fla., to win the 36-hole match play final of the 2000 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Heron Lakes in 37 holes.
The 37-hole match tied for the longest in the 75-year history of the championship. It had happened six times previously. Trahan became the second Clemson player to win this tournament. Kevin Johnson, now a regular on the PGA Tour, won the event in 1988. Johnson also was a finalist in 1989. However, in those days, winning the Public Links did not bring an invitation to the Masters.
His victory made him the first Amateur Public Links medalist to win the title since David Berganio in 1993. Ironically, the medalist has won the championship in all three of the Amateur Public Links’ visits to Portland — 1979 (Dennis Walsh at West Delta G.C. now Heron Lakes), 1990 (Michael Combs at Eastmoreland), and now Trahan at Heron Lakes.
Trahan made four birdies and hit seven fairways and 12 greens during the first 18 holes at the 6,869-yard, par 72 yard Great Blue Course to take a 3-up lead into the final 18 holes of the match.
The 2000 Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year in his freshman season at Clemson, Trahan built his advantage to 4-up after 25 holes with a 28-foot birdie putt on No.7. After three successive halved holes with par, Trahan’s lead disappeared.
Dickerson, a rising sophomore at Florida, won three consecutive holes as Trahan bogeyed Nos. 11, 12 and 13. Trahan actually made four straight bogeys but his 5 on the par-4 14th halved the hole.
The slender Clemson player won the 16th with a par to go 2-up. Dickerson then holed a 15-foot putt from the collar to save par on the 17th to win the hole, closing the gap to 1-down. He followed with a clutch downhill, 8-foot birdie putt to win the 18th and even the match after 36 holes. Trahan then parred the 37th hole with two putts while Dickerson made bogey.
“I honestly didn’t have control of the match,” Trahan said. “He had to make the putt on 17 and he had to make the putt on 18. He was in control of his own destiny there and he made two great putts. He was trying to take the match from me, is what it came down to.
“I made four bogeys in a row as just as soon as I’m 4-up, I’m 1-up. If I could have kept the ball in play and hit some better shots, I could have been dormie on the 15th or 16th.
Trahan was the first alternate from the Greenville, S.C. qualifying site. When an exempt player, Jedd McLuen, who had qualified for the U.S. open, declined his invitation to the championship, Trahan was called and he accepted.
Trahan’s March to 75th United States Amateur Public Links Championship1st Round: d. Jerry Strege of Fond Du Lac, WI, 5 and 42nd Round: d. Martin Maritz of Tulsa, oK, 6 and 53rd Round: d. Adrian Quintela of El Paso, TX, 2 and 14th Round: d. Jered Gusso of Savage, MN, 3 and 1Semis: d. Kyle Thompson of Columbia, SC 3 and 2Finals: d. Ben Dickerson of Hilliard, FL, 1 up, 37 holes
Trahan Wins Jones Cup Sophomore D.J. Trahan gained a five-shot victory at the inaugural Jones Cup Invitational Feb. 11 at ocean Forest Golf Club at Sea Island, GA. Trahan had rounds of 67-67-76 in scoring a 210 for the victory. He had a 10-shot lead heading into the final day, but shot 76 in the windy and cold conditions.
The field included some of the top amateurs in the world. Two other Tigers had top 10 finishes. Lucas Glover fired an even par 216 with rounds of 70-71-75, and finished third, while John Engler had rounds of 71-73-76 to finish at 220, good enough for eighth place.
Trahan to Compete in 2001 Master’s By virtue of his victory at the 2000 United States Public Links Tournament last July, D.J. Trahan will compete in the 2001 Masters in Augusta, GA on April 5-8. Trahan will be just the second Tiger to play in the event while he was a Clemson student. Chris Patton made the cut, was the low amateur and finished 39th overall at the 1990 Masters. He had won the 1989 United States Amateur to receive the invitation.
The first former Tiger to play in the Masters was Parker Moore. He played in the 1977 Master’s after finishing in the runnerup spot at the 1976 United States Amateur. Dilliard Pruitt played in the 1992 and 1993 Masters, the only Clemson player to participate in two Masters. He won the 1991 Chattanooga Classic and that got him the 1992 invitation. He finished 13th that year, the highest finish by a Clemson golfer and that got him the invitation for 1993. Danny Ellis played in the 1994 Masters as an amateur after hif finished as the 1993 US Amateur runnerup. Ellis is now on the PGA Tour. Clarence Rose, a 16-year veteran of the PGA, played in the 1997 Masters.
Clemson Schedule World Wide Where the Tigers Play Clemson’s 13-tournament schedule for the 2000-01 academic year includes two trips to Florida, and tournament dates in Las Vegas, Puerto Rico and Mexico. For the academic year, Clemson will travel over 18,000 miles to compete in these national events. Clemson’s tournaments will see an average of 10 top 25 teams per tournament.
Clemson opened its season September 9-10, at The Ridges Intercollegiate in Johnson City, TN. Clemson then played at the Ping Preview September 24-26 against a field that included 15 of the top 25 teams in the nation. Another highlight of the fall was Clemson’s participation in the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate at the old overton Course in Birmingham, AL. Clemson has now won this event four consecutive years against another national field. The fall schedule concluded November 11-12 with the Rolex Match Play Tournament at West Bay Club in Florida. This was the only match-play format tournament on Clemson’s schedule.
The spring season will begin in Puerto Rico at the Rio Mar Country Club. Clemson will also travel to Las Vegas and Mexico in the spring before finishing the regular season at the ACC Tournament at the Disney Golf Complex in orlando.
This year’s NCAA national tournament will take place at Duke University in Durham, NC. Clemson has been to the NCAA Tournament every year since 1982 and has finished in the top 10 in the nation a school record four straight years.
As usual, it is a challenging schedule for Clemson, but that is the way Penley and his players like it. “We truly play a national schedule and have for many years,” said Penley. “over the last four years we have played in Puerto Rico, Ireland, Las Vegas, New Mexico, Mexico, Florida, Minnesota, Illinois, Rhode Island…you name it and we go there.
“It is a great educational experience for our players. We see this country and the world, and there are great benefits to the process. It is a maturing experience for these young men.
“Certainly a highlight of this year’s schedule is a return trip to Mexico for the Ford US Collegiate. For the second year in a row it will be televised by ESPN on the weekend of the Master’s. While D.J. Trahan is playing at Augusta, we will be in Mexico. It will bring great exposure to our program and will be a challenging 12-team field once again.
“The ACC Tournament will be played in orlando at the Disney Golf Complex as part of the ACC’s Spring Sports Jamboree. That will be a great trip for our team and it will be a interesting to be around athletes in other ACC sports, almost an olympic style experience.
“The NCAA regionals are in Williamsburg, VA, then the national tournament is at Duke. This is the second year in a row the NCAA national tournament is within driving distance of Clemson. We had a lot of fans come to Auburn last year, but I think there will be even more at Duke, because that is ACC country. There should be great crowds for the event that will close our season.”
Penley Has won 46 Tournaments You can easily make a case that Larry Penley is the most successful coach in Clemson athletics history. That certainly is the case when it comes to consistency. The Tigers have been to the NCAA national tournament all 17 years he has been at Clemson, something only oklahoma State and Arizona State can also claim on the national scene. That is a level of consistency that no Clemson coach, not Frank Howard, Danny Ford, Bill Wilhelm or any other Clemson has attained.
Clemson has 14 top 20 finishes, 12 top 15 finishes and seven top 10s in this period of time. That includes an active streak of four straight top 10s, the first Clemson program to do that since the men’s and women’s track teams had a run of four in a row from 1980-84.
Individually, Clemson has had 11 top 10 NCAA Tournament finishes in Penley’s career. That includes the NCAA Championship by Charles Warren in 1997, and his number-two finish in 1998. Joey Maxon also finished in the top 10 that year, while Lucas Glover finished eighth in 1999.
on a regional basis, Clemson has been outstanding in the top golf conference in the nation. Clemson has won the ACC Championship three of the last four years, and has had four NCAA East Regional titles in, more than any other school. In fact, only Arizona (with five), has more regional titles than Clemson since the regional format of the NCAA Tournament came into play in 1989.
Penley has been honored for his success in the ACC, winning the ACC Coach of the Year honors three of the last five years and six years overall. He was the first coach in ACC history to win this award three consecutive years (1996-97-98). He has six ACC championships to his credit, second on the all-time list of ACC mentors.
Penley, along with Mike Holder of oklahoma State, are the only coaches in the nation to take a program to the NCAA national tournament each of the last 17 years. overall, Penley has won 46 tournament titles entering the spring of 2001. His Clemson program has ranked in the top 10 in the nation in every poll each of the last five years, in the top five in every poll each of the last four years.
The last four seasons have seen Clemson enhance its status of one of the top college programs in the nation. Clemson has finished third, second, eighth and seventh in the last four years, respectively. Individually, Clemson has seen Charles Warren win the NCAA National Championship in a thrilling playoff over Brad Elder of Texas in 1997 and D.J.Trahan win the US Public Links title in the summer of 2000. Penley also coached 1989 United States Amateur Champion Chris Patton and 1987 United States Public Links Champion Kevin Johnson.
Four Former Tigers Qualify for PGA Tour Four former Clemson golfers, including three former Tiger All-Americans who played for current Head Coach Larry Penley, have earned their PGA Tour Card for the 2001 season. The four Tigers all finished in the top 27 of the Qualifying school event, which was played over six days at the Jack Nicklaus PGA West Course in LaQuinta, CA. The top 35 finishers in the event qualified for the 2001 PGA Tour.
The four former Tigers who made the cut and will compete on the PGA Tour this coming year are Kevin Johnson, Richard Coughlan, Danny Ellis and Jeff Julian. The first three were All-Americans at Clemson, while Julian tried out for the Clemson team in the early 1980s, he never played in a regular season event at Clemson.
Johnson has been a professional since 1990, but this will be the first year he has qualified for the PGA Tour. He finished fifth in the qualifying school tournament, firing rounds of 70-67-65-64-70-69 for a 405 total. Johnson’s six-round tournament featured 34 birdies and three eagles. Johnson played for the Tigers from 1985-89 and was ACC Champion in 1988.
Coughlan finished eighth with a 409 total for the six days, 23-under-par. He posted rounds of 66-69-65-69-68-72. This will be Coughlan’s second year on the PGA Tour. He made it through qualifying school in 1998, the year after he graduated from Clemson and finished 151st on the money list. Coughlan was an All-American in 1996 and 1997 and was named ACC Co-Player of the Year as a senior.
Danny Ellis, an All-American for the Tigers in 1993, finished 27th at the PGA Tour Q School with a 416 total, 16-under-par. Ellis had rounds of 69-67-71-71-71-67. He needed that five under-par final round to make the top 35 cut with one stroke to spare. This will be his first year on tour.
Julian also finished 27th with a 416 total. The native of Vermont had rounds of 67-70-68-72-68-71. This will be his second year on the PGA Tour. He also qualified in 1996 after a top 30 finish at the Q school of 1995. His highest PGA Tour finish is 16th at the 1996 Buick Classic. He has played in two US opens, 1990 and 1995.
Jonathan Byrd, a three-time All-American who was a member of the 2000 Clemson team, advanced to the final stage of qualifying school, but did not get his card. He will be playing on the buy.com tour this year. Joining him will be former Tigers Charles Warren and Tommy Biershenk. Biershenk was 29th on the buy.com tour in 2000, while Warren finished 41st.
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