Trahan Finishes Fourth at United States Open

June 15, 2008

Trahan Quotes

Clemson, SC — Former Clemson All-American D.J. Trahan shot a final round 73 on Sunday and finished in a tie for fourth at the United States Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, CA. Trahan finished with a 72-hole score of 286, two over par, and just three strokes off the pace set by Rocco Mediate and Tigers Woods, who will meet in an 18-hole playoff on Monday.

Trahan’s fourth place finish is the best in history by a former Clemson golfer in any major. Jonathan Byrd had the previous best finish with an eighth place at the 2003 Masters. Byrd also had the previous best by a former Clemson golfer at the US Open with a 15th place finish at the 2003 US Open. It was also the closest a Clemson golfer has ever come to winning a major tournament in terms of stroke margin.

Trahan was the only player under 30 years of age to finish in the top five of the tournament. He is 27 years old.

Trahan had rounds of 72-69-73-72 for his two over par total of 286 on the par 71 course. He got off to a poor start with bogeys on four of his first five holes and dropped to 17th place in the individual standings. He then birdied the seventh and eighth holes to finish the first nine two-over-par for the day and three over for the championship. He was in sixth place on the leaderboard at that point. He then made birdies on the 11th and 13th holes to get back to even for the day. He had bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes before making a 10 foot putt for birdie on the last hole.

It ended quite a two-week period for Trahan. On June 2 he won a two for one playoff with current Clemson golfer Ben Martin at Roswell, GA just to get into the United States Open. In fact, Trahan had to make a 15-foot birdie putt on the 36th hole just to tie Martin, then dodged a bullet when Martin missed a six-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole that would have eliminated Trahan. Trahan then made a birdie on the third playoff hole to get into the United States Open.

Trahan will move up considerably on the PGA Tour money list and the Golf World Rankings with this performance. He was 33rd on the money list and 135th on the world golf rankings entering the US Open. Back in January he won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, his second career PGA Tour win.

By virtue of his top four finish, Trahan is now qualified for the 2009 Masters and the 2009 United States Open. The top eight finishers at the US Open qualify for the next Masters and the top 15 finishes at the US Open qualify for the event the next year.

Trahan was expected to board a plane for Hartford, CT on Sunday night and is in the field for the Travelers Open in Cromwell, CT next week.

Top Finishes by Former Clemson Golfers in Majors