Corbin Mills

Mills’ Bio in PDF Format (Updated 4/2/12) Overview: Won the US Public Links at Bandon Dunes Country Club in Oregon in July 2011…won the stroke play qualifier and the match play, joining former Tiger D.J. Trahan as only golfers since 1993 to win both in the same US Public Links Tournament…that was his first career match play tournament and first time he has played on a Links style course…also won the Players Amateur the next week to qualify for the Heritage on the 2012 PGA Tour…moved up to number-five in the US Amateur rankings according to Golfweek in January 2012…entering the Masters he is 12th in the World Amateur rankings, fifth among United States players…ranked 20th among college players in Sagarin computer rankings through April 1 college tournaments…has been named to Ping All-Regional team each of his first two years at Clemson…his score has counted towards Clemson’s team score in 64 of 71 career rounds…has 72.54 career average, eighth best in Clemson history…ranks just behind Jonathan Byrd on the all-time list, Byrd, who is also in this Masters, is at 72.48…finished his sophomore season strong with three straight top 15 finishes…had a 68-67 on the same day in 2010 Augusta State Invitational to become first player in Clemson history with a pair of rounds at four-under-par or better on the same day…he was nine-under for the two rounds that April 3, 2010…recorded an ace in the practice round for the Augusta State Invitational on April 2, 2010, it was his first swing of the day…aced the par three 165-yard fourth hole that day…so some good things have happened to Mills in the city of Augusta, GA…when he tees it up at the Masters on Thursday it will be the first time he has been to the Masters for a tournament round…he has been to a practice round before…the Regional 4A champion at Wren High School in nearby Anderson, SC (but Easley is hometown)…home schooled until his senior year of high school…suffered a personal loss a couple of weeks ago when his grandfather died suddenly of a heart attack…his grandfather had watched him shoot a 65 at the Furman Invitational on Sunday, he then passed the next Thursday…grandfather was a big influence on his interest in the game when he was a child. At Clemson in 2011-12: Has posted a 71.1 stroke average so far this year for Clemson, on pace to be the sixth best season average in Clemson history…leads the team in under-par rounds with 11 of his 21 total rounds…is seven-under-par in the aggregate for his 21 rounds so far this year…has six rounds in the 60s…has three eagles and team best 70 birdies so far this year…he has had the best score of the day in 10 of his 21 rounds…has five top 15 finishes in his seven tournaments and all are in the top 25…has a 70.50 stroke average in the final round…has 85.8 finish percentage this year, on pace to be seventh best in Clemson history…highlight of the year was winning the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate in October with a 201 score, tied for the lowest 54 hole score in Clemson history…had rounds of 65-69-67 for the win at the Old Overton Course in Birmingham…it marked the first time in nine years that a Clemson golfer had three rounds in the 60s in a 54-hole event…tied Clemson record for consecutive rounds in the 60s with his last round at the Carpet Classic (68), then the three in a row at the Jerry Pate…helped Clemson to second-place finish at the Pate…his 201 score tied record for low 54-hole score also held by Lucas Glover and D.J. Trahan…it was third major win for Mills in a national field in four months…the others were the 2011 Public Links and the 2011 Players Amateur in consecutive weeks in July…his last competitive round for Clemson coming into the Masters was a 65 at the Furman Invitational in Greenville, SC on March 18…that tied his career best for total score, but was his career best round vs. par (-7)…a major reason Clemson was ranked 14th in the nation in the Sagarin computer poll and the Golf World Coaches poll of March 26…Clemson team has two wins and two second-place finishes in four of the seven tournaments he has played in this year…for his career, Mills has a 72.54 stroke average with 28 under par rounds in 83 total rounds…has nine career top 10s…played in Australian World Amateur in January, he finished 13th individually…teamed with Kelly Kraft, 2011 US Amateur Champion and fellow Masters competitor, to win the team title for the United States with a three-shot victory over New Zealand. Summer 2011: Had one of the best summer performances in history for an active Tiger, he won the United States Public Links, then won the Players Amateur the following week…perhaps the best back-to-back amateur performance by a Clemson golfer…won the stroke play qualifier with a 138 score, then won six matches to win the US Public Links at Bandon Dunes Old Macdonald Course in Oregon…joined former Clemson golfer D.J. Trahan as only golfers to win the stroke play qualifier and the match play championship since 1993…Mills defeated Greg O’Connor of Kennesaw State (4&2), John Peterson of LSU (1-up) who had recently won the NCAA Championship, Talor Gooch of Oklahoma State (4&2), John Vijarro of Oregon (4&3), Harris English, a four-time All-American from Georgia (5&3), and Derek Ernst of UNLV (37 holes)…won the final match over Ernst with a five-foot putt for par on the first playoff hole…had a 74-hole streak without trailing at one point during his US Public Links run…became just the third Clemson golfer to win the US Public Links, Kevin Johnson (1987) and D.J. Trahan (2000) are the other two…continued his fine summer run with 12-under-par winning score at the Players Amateur in Bluffton with a 276 score…had three rounds in the 60s, then closing round of 72…actually overcame a four-shot deficit in the final round…finished fourth at the Palmetto Amateur with a seven-under-par score…also finished 16th at Monroe, 26th at Porter Cup and 18th at Western Amateur. At Clemson in 2010-11: Clemson’s top player in terms of stroke average with 73.00, rounds at 75 or better (25) , rounds under par (10), top 10 finishes (4), and low rounds of the day (13)…his score has counted 26 of 30 rounds this year…had six rounds in the 60s to rank second on the team…finished the year strong with three straight top 15 finishes, he was 10th at Augusta State, sixth at the ACC tournament and 14th at NCAA Regional…finished sixth at the ACC Tournament with a four under par 212, his low tournament of the year vs. par…had four rounds in the 60s in his last nine rounds of the year…finished the year with three straight under-par tournaments…finished 10th at Augusta State in tournament prior to the ACC Tournament, he had a one under par 215 score…had eighth place finish at The Brickyard with a 213 score…had best finish of the year at Jacksonville Invitational with a third place…had five tournaments in which he finished under par…had a hole-in-one on October 26, 2010 at Golf Club of Georgia when he made a shot from 183 yards on the par three 13th hole with an eight-iron…yes an eight-iron from 183 yards…that was just the fifth hole-in-one in Clemson history in tournament play.. Clemson’s best player in six of the 11 tournaments …top Tiger at the Ping Preview at Oklahoma State in September, then best Clemson player at The Brickyard where he shot a 213 and finished eighth…in spring, best player among Tigers at Jacksonville Invitational with a 214 score, and at each of the last thee tournaments, …had six rounds in the 60s, second on the team, but all were rounds of 69…36 over par for the year, so +1.20 strokes over par per round, best on the team…had 73.00 stroke average in opening rounds and 72.70 in final rounds of tournaments…had 71.2 stroke average over last nine rounds of the year…had best stroke average on team on par four holes with a 4.10 average…tied for first on team in eagles with five and third in birdies with 90…ranked 116 in the college rankings by Sagarin at the end of the season. Summer of 2010: Had the busiest schedule among Clemson golfers in amateur events in summer of 2010 and he had some strong results…had four top 20 finishes overall…started summer with 15th place at Monroe Invitational with a 284 score…had rounds of 74-70-69-71…finished 52nd at Northeast Amateur before finishing 12th at Players Amateur with a 289 score…finished 36th at Southern Amateur with even par 288…had third round 67 on way to 17th place finish at Palmetto Amateur…finished summer with 10th place at South Carolina Amateur where he shot 212…tournament included second round 67. At Clemson in 2009-10: Had 73.06 stroke average, fourth on the team, but just 0.20 stroke per round out of second best…played in 11 of the 12 events, he missed only the first tournament of the year at the Carpet Classic…starter on Clemson’s #16 ranked team as a freshman…played well in NCAA Tournament to end the year, he was Clemson’s third best golfer at the National at The Honors Course, he and Ben Martin were the only Tigers to shoot 75 or better in all three rounds…had two even-par rounds at NCAA Southeast Regional, helping the Tigers to a second-place finish…made his debut at The Brickyard as an individual…Clemson’s second best golfer at the prestigious Isleworth Collegiate, he finished 39th with 229 score…also second best at Jacksonville Invitational in the first event of the spring when he finished in fifth place with a 223 score…only Tiger to shoot 75 or better in every round of that event…finished 11th at Puerto Rico with a seven-under-par score of 209…finished third at Furman with 215 score, helping the Tigers to the tournament title, he was Clemson’s second best golfer at Furman…top Tiger at the Administaff Augusta State Invitational with a 207 score, nine-under-par, he finished sixth overall…that tied Clemson record for 54-hole score overall and vs. par by a Clemson freshman…had a 72.50 stroke average in the final round, tied for the best on the Clemson team…had a 4.71 stroke average on par five holes, best on the Clemson team…had 95 birdies for the year, tied for third best on the Clemson team…second on team in greens in regulation with .685 figure…his scores counted in 30 of his 32 rounds playing for the Clemson team and that was the best percentage on the Clemson team…only rounds that did not count were a 78 in the second round of the USC-A Cleveland Classic and a 78 in the second round of the NCAA Southeast The Crabapple Course…had a streak of 13 straight rounds that counted towards Clemson team score come to an end at Alpharetta…helped Clemson to second place regional finish with a 218 score…had opening and closing rounds of 70, his opening round tied for the best by a Tiger that day…hit 16 greens in regulation in carding his 70 in the final round…joined Ben Martin as only Tigers to score at par or better in two of the three rounds at The Crabapple Course. Summer 2009: Had solid summer that included reaching second round of the South Carolina Match Play in June…had 138 figure for the 36-hole qualifier for a six-under-par score that was fourth best in the field…reached second round of the match play before he lost to Austin Reeves in 19 holes…finished second at Festival of Flowers in Greenwood with a six-under-par score…played in Carolinas Match Play, but did not qualify for match play…only Tiger to reach the United States Public Links tournament, he had rounds of 78-78 and did not qualify for match play…finished the summer with solid performance at South Carolina Amateur, he was 12th with two-under-par 286…that included a 67 on the final day that was the low round of the day and best round of the tournament by any of the Clemson golfers. In High School: Ranked 48th in the nation in late May of 2009 according to the AJGA national rankings…honorable mention AJGA All-American in 2008…attended nearby Wren High School for two years, he was home schooled for two years…played his senior year at Wren and was named the Anderson Independent-Mail Area Player of the Year…had nine-hole average of 34.0 and 18-hole average of 70…won the Region 4A Championships with an eight-under par score…played his high school golf for Wren Head Coach Fran Campbell…played in eight AJGA tournaments in 2008…finished second at the Horseshoe Bend Junior Classic with a 140 total in April…finished 12th at Ringgold Telephone Company Junior Classic in June with a 214 total. Personal: Son of Stoney and Kristi Mills…parents were missionaries in Russia and Italy when he was growing up so he has lived all over the world…family came to the United States for his freshman year or high school…majoring in sociology…born April 30, 1990. Mills Personality ProfileFavorite Current Professional Golfer: Jonathan ByrdFavorite Athlete outside of golf: Josh HamiltonFavorite Clemson golfer of all-time: Chris PattonFavorite course I have played: Augusta NationalFavorite Golf Hole: Number 17 at TPC SawgrassToughest Course I have played: Victoria National Golf ClubMy best all-time round: 61The Best Part of my game is: Off the teeMy favorite club: DriverThe part of the game I must improve is: Short gameThe Biggest influence on my golf career has been: My Family