Ellis Earns PGA Tour Card

Dec. 8, 2003

Clemson, SC – Former Clemson All-American Danny Ellis fired a final round 71 and finished second out of 164 golfers at the final stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament at Winter Garden, FL. It is the third time that Ellis has advanced to the PGA Tour through the qualifying tournament. The top 30 finishers earn PGA Tour cards.

Ellis had a 414 score in finishing second at the Qualifying event. His 18-under-par score included rounds of 71-69-65-72-66-71. He finished two shots behind Mathias Gronberg. Ellis finished 27th at the 2000 Qualifying tournament and was 10th in 2001.

Ellis will be one of three former Clemson All-Americans on the PGA Tour in 2004. He will be joined by Jonathan Byrd, who finished 47th on the PGA Tour money list in 2003, and Lucas Glover, who was 17th on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2003. The top 125 players on the PGA Tour and the top 20 on the Nationwide Tour received exempt PGA Tour status the following year. It will be the third straight year on tour for Byrd, while Glover will be a rookie.

This will be the fourth year for Ellis on the PGA Tour. He played in 27 events in 2001 and earned $242,487. He was injured for half of the year and played in just 17 events in 2002 and earned $73,340. Coming back from injury in 2003, Ellis made 7 of 10 cuts and won $101, 443. He has also was an exempt member of the Buy.com tour in 1996.

Ellis was a member of the Clemson golf team from 1989-93 and played on four top 15 Clemson teams, including the 1993 team that finished fourth at the NCAA Tournament in Lexington, KY. Ellis was a three-time All-American, including his freshman year when he finished eighth in the nation at the NCAA tournament.

Trahan and Warren both tied for 44th at the Qualifying tournament. Trahan, who was an All-American on Clemson’s National Championship team of last June, shot a 75 in the final round to miss making the PGA Tour by three shots. A double bogey on the 16th hole took him out of contention for his card. He had been at seven-under-par with 10 holes remaining, a score that would have earned him a card.

Warren shot a 71 on Monday to join Trahan at four-under-par 428 for the six-round and 108-hole tournament. Warren had rounds of 69-74-65-78-71-71. He had a 10 on a par-five hole in the fourth round that hurt his chances of returning to the PGA Tour. Warren, the 1997 NCAA Champion, played on the PGA Tour in 1999 where he made eight of 26 cuts.

Both Warren and Trahan will be fully exempt on the Nationwide Tour in 2004. They will be joined on that tour by former Clemson All-American Kevin Johnson, giving Clemson three fully exempt players on each tour in 2004. Richard Coughlan, another former Clemson All-American, finished 104th at the Qualifying Tournament with a score of 437. He will be a partially exempt player on the Nationwide Tour in 2004.