Lucas Glover

Lucas Glover
Personal information
Full name Lucas Hendley Glover
Born November 12, 1979 (1979-11-12) (age 32)
Greenville, South Carolina
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13.9 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Greenville, South Carolina
Career
College Clemson University
Turned professional 2001
Current tour(s) PGA Tour
Professional wins 6
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 3
Nationwide Tour 1
Other 2
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 1)
Masters Tournament T20: 2007
U.S. Open Won: 2009
The Open Championship T12: 2011
PGA Championship 5th: 2009

Lucas Hendley Glover (born November 12, 1979) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. He is best known for winning the 2009 U.S. Open.

Contents

Amateur career

Glover was born in Greenville, South Carolina. He was a three-time High School All-American at Wade Hampton High School. He won the South Carolina State High School championship as a freshman and sophomore and finished as the runner up as a junior and senior. Glover was All-State for all four years of high school.

Glover attended Clemson University from 1998 to 2001, where he was a brother of Alpha Tau Omega. He was named first-team All-American in 2000 and 2001 and honorable mention All-American in 1999. He was a member of the 2001 United States Walker Cup team and the 1999 USA vs. Japan Cup Team. He won three college tournaments and also won the South Carolina Amateur in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and the Sunnehanna Amateur in 2001.

Professional career

2002–2003: Nationwide Tour

Glover turned professional in 2001 after graduating from Clemson. He joined the Nationwide Tour in 2002, making 7 of 12 cuts while recording two top-10 finishes and five top-25 finishes in his rookie season. He earned $64,692 and finished 67th on the money list. Glover went to PGA Tour qualifying school for the first time where he finished tied for 39th which was not good enough to earn his tour card.

2003 was Glover's breakthrough year on the Nationwide Tour. He made 17 of 26 cuts while recording six top-10 finishes and 7 top-25 finishes. He picked up his first Nationwide Tour win at the Gila River Classic at Wild Horse Pass Resort. This win helped Glover finish 17th on the money list with $193,989. Glover's high finish on the money list earned him his PGA Tour card for 2004.

2004: PGA Tour rookie

In his rookie season on tour, Glover made 17 of 30 cuts while recording two top-10s and five top-25s. His best finishes came at the Wachovia Championship and the FUNAI Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort where he finished in a tie for 10th. He earned $557,454 and finished 134th on the money list, just shy of the top 125 which would earn him his tour card for 2005. This forced him to go back to Q-School, although he was ultimately able to regain his card.

2005: First PGA Tour victory

Glover had a much better second year on tour. He made 16 of 28 cuts while recording 7 top-10 finishes and 9 top-25 finishes. He picked up his first PGA Tour victory at the FUNAI Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort in dramatic fashion by holing a 35 yard bunker shot on the 18th hole for birdie to avoid a playoff with Tom Pernice, Jr. Glover went on to finish 30th on the money list with earnings of $2,050,068.

2006–2007: Continued success

Despite not winning an event in 2006, Glover played well on tour. He made 23 of 31 cuts and finished in the top-10 9 times and the top-25 17 times. His most impressive finish came at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational where he finished in a tie for fourth. Another impressive finish came at The Tour Championship where he finished in a tie for eighth. He also made his first cut in a major at the PGA Championship where he finished in a tie for 46th. Glover earned $2,587,982 in 2006 and finished 31st on the money list. He was ranked in and out of the top 50 of Official World Golf Rankings during the year.

2007 was another good year for Glover. He made the cut in 22 of 29 events and recorded three top-10s and 13 top-25s. His best finish came at the PODS Championship where he finished in a tie for fourth. Glover earned $1,664,167 on the year and finished 53rd on the money list. He was selected for the 2007 Presidents Cup where the United States defeated the International team 19½ to 14½. Glover went 2–3 in his matches.

2008: Slump

2008 was not as successful as previous years for Glover. He made 20 of 26 cuts but only recorded two top-10s and eight top-25s. His best finishes came at the Verizon Heritage and the Buick Open where he finished in a tie for 7th. He earned $998,491 in 2008 and finished 105th on the money list.

2009: U.S. Open Champion

In February, Glover finished in a tie for third at the Buick Invitational. Then in May he finished in a tie for second at the Quail Hollow Championship.

Glover won the U.S. Open at the Bethpage Black Course (Farmingdale, New York) by two strokes over Phil Mickelson, Ricky Barnes, and David Duval.[1] He was a surprise winner of the event, being ranked 71st in the Official World Golf Ranking and never having made a cut in his three previous U.S. Open appearances. He shot a second round 64, tying the low round of the week with Mike Weir. Glover entered the final round one stroke behind 54-hole leader Ricky Barnes but in tough conditions on Monday's final round, both Glover and Barnes struggled. Coming to the 16th hole, Glover was 4 over for the day without a birdie but that would soon change. He hit his approach shot to within 6 feet of the hole and made the putt to take a lead he would not relinquish. After sinking a 3 foot putt for par on 18, Glover won by a margin of two strokes. The win propelled him to 18th in the world rankings.

Glover would be honored for his U.S. Open win at a Clemson Alumni Association meeting in Greenville at Fluor Field the following month. He was the first Clemson graduate and the first native South Carolinian to win a major professional golf championship.[2]

Glover continued to play well after his victory at Bethpage. He finished in a tie for 11th at the Travelers Championship the following week. The week after that, Glover finished in a tie for 5th at the AT&T National, moving Glover into the top 10 of the money list. In August, Glover finished 5th at the PGA Championship.

In October 2009, Glover won the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda. The event featured the four major winners of 2009, Glover, Ángel Cabrera, Stewart Cink and Y. E. Yang. Glover won the two day event by five strokes over Cabrera.[3]

2011: Third PGA Tour win

On May 8, 2011, Glover defeated Jonathan Byrd in a playoff to win the Wells Fargo Championship. This was his first official win on Tour since the 2009 U.S. Open.[4]

Amateur wins (4)

Professional wins (6)

PGA Tour wins (3)

Legend
Major Championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (2)
No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 23, 2005 FUNAI Classic at the
Walt Disney World Resort
-23 (68–66–66–65=265) 1 stroke Tom Pernice, Jr.
2 Jun 22, 2009 U.S. Open -4 (69–64–70–73=276) 2 strokes Ricky Barnes, David Duval,
Phil Mickelson
3 May 8, 2011 Wells Fargo Championship -15 (67–68–69–69=273) Playoff Jonathan Byrd

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2011 Wells Fargo Championship Jonathan Byrd Won with par on first extra hole

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runners-up
1 Oct 12, 2003 Gila River Classic at Wild Horse Pass Resort -18 (67-69-67-67=270) 1 stroke John Elliott, Robin Freeman,
Tommy Tolles

Other wins (2)

PGA Tour career summary

Year Wins (Majors) Earnings ($) Rank
2001 0 6,180 n/a
2002 0 16,349 n/a
2003 0 0 n/a
2004 0 557,454 134
2005 1 2,050,068 30
2006 0 2,587,982 21
2007 0 1,664,167 48
2008 0 998,491 105
2009 1 (1) 3,692,580 9
2010 0 1,511,275 57
2011 1 1,823,327 48
Career* 3 (1) 14,907,873 65

*Through the 2011 season.

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runners-up
2009 U.S. Open 1 shot deficit −4 (69–64–70–73=276) 2 strokes Ricky Barnes, David Duval,
Phil Mickelson

Results timeline

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT T20 DNP DNP
U.S. Open CUT DNP DNP DNP CUT CUT DNP 1
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT T27 T78 CUT
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP CUT T46 T50 DNP 5
Tournament 2010 2011
The Masters T36 CUT
U.S. Open T58 T42
The Open Championship T48 T12
PGA Championship CUT CUT

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament 2006 2007 2008
Accenture Match Play Championship R64 R64 DNP
Cadillac Championship T13 T26 DNP
Bridgestone Invitational T4 DNP T63
Tournament 2009 2010 2011
Accenture Match Play Championship DNP R64 DNP
Cadillac Championship DNP T56 DNP
Bridgestone Invitational T19 T22 T23
HSBC Champions DNP DNP T20

DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. ^ "Glover grabs dramatic US Open win". BBC Sport. June 22, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/8112053.stm. Retrieved 2009-06-22. 
  2. ^ "Glover brings home U.S. Open". Clemson World. Summer-Fall 2009. p. 7.
  3. ^ "Glover lands major winners' title". BBC Sport. October 21, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/8319578.stm. Retrieved 2009-10-24. 
  4. ^ "Glover defeats Byrd in playoff to win third PGA Tour title". BBC Sport. May 8, 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/13329984.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-10. 

External links