2016 U.S. Amateur Champ Luck Earns Web.com Tour Card

By David Shefter, USGA

| Dec 11, 2017 | Far Hills, N.J.

Curtis Luck’s victory in the 2016 U.S. Amateur Championship secured several PGA Tour and Web.com Tour starts via sponsor’s exemptions.

And he took full advantage of those opportunities. Two weeks after tying for 41st in the Masters Tournament, Luck, 21, of Australia, made the cut in six of 10 PGA Tour events, including a tie for fifth in the Quicken Loans National.

But Luck, who made his professional debut two weeks after the Masters, won’t need to rely on wild-card spots in 2018. Luck, who defeated Brad Dalke, 6 and 4, in the 2016 U.S. Amateur final at Oakland Hills Country Club, earned his 2018 Web.com Tour card by tying for third in the Final Qualifying Tournament that concluded on Sunday at Whirlwind Golf Club’s Devil’s Claw and Cattail courses in Chandler, Ariz. He posted a 72-hole total of 22-under-par 266, finishing six strokes behind medalist Lee McCoy, a former University of Georgia All-America who was a member of the 2015 USA Walker Cup Team.

All four of Luck’s rounds were in the 60s, including an 8-under 64 in Friday’s second round.

Now a pro, reigning #USAmateur champion Curtis Luck finish tied for 5th in the Quicken Loans National and enjoyed his first time in contention in a PGA Tour event.

A post shared by United States Golf Association (@usga) on Jul 5, 2017 at 1:26pm PDT

Luck will now look to finish among the top 25 on the Web.com Tour money list to garner his PGA Tour card for the 2018-19 season. Three Web.com Tour victories also could earn him a “battlefield” promotion. Twenty-five more PGA Tour cards are available next fall in the four-event Web.com Tour Playoffs, which also incorporates PGA Tour players who fail to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Luck was the only USGA champion to garner full Web.com Tour status last weekend. Two-time Walker Cup competitor and 2013 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Jordan Niebrugge, 2014 U.S. Amateur champion Gunn Yang and 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion T.J. Vogel all will have conditional status.

Maverick McNealy and Cameron Champ, both members of this year’s victorious USA Walker Cup Team, earned full-time status, with the former tying for 10th and the latter sharing 16th. Champ, one of two amateurs to make the 36-hole cut in this year’s U.S. Open, turned professional last month.

David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.

2016 U.S. Amateur Champ Luck Earns Web.com Tour Card

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