Amateur Luke Clanton overtakes Cam Smith, other stars to enter top-100 of World Golf Ranking

Luke Clanton surpassed the 2022 Open Championship winner Cam Smith in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). The American amateur golfer has been phenomenal with his game in PGA Tour events as he has made the cut in numerous Tour events this season and recorded two runner-up finishes.

Luke Clanton recently settled in a tie for second place at The RSM Classic, and with that, he entered the top 100 in the OWGR, securing the 93rd spot. The amateur golfer now ranks ahead of Cam Smith, who is currently ranked 100th in the World Golf Rankings.

Luke Clanton was ranked 155th before The RSM Classic, but his runner-up finish at the PGA Tour event helped him jump to 93rd in the rankings.

On the other hand, Cameron Smith competes on LIV Golf, which does not award players ranking points, causing the Saudi Circuit players to constantly slip down in the OWGR. Before joining LIV, Smith was ranked second in the world before slipping to 100th place.

Ranked 128th in the world at the start of last week, Smith regained the 100th rank following his runner-up finish at the BMW Australian PGA Championship, which concluded on Sunday, November 24. It was a DP World Tour event, and thus he was awarded ranking points.

Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler is still leading the Official World Golf Rankings with 683.59068 points, followed by Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy. Bryson DeChambeau is the only LIV golfer ranked within the top 10 in the world rankings, thanks to his 2024 U.S. Open victory. Jon Rahm is ranked 18th.

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A look into Luke Clanton's performances in 2024

Luke Clanton has been impressive with his game on the PGA Tour, despite being an amateur. He has played in eight tournaments this year and recorded two runner-up finishes.

Clanton was tied for second place at the John Deere Classic in July after shooting four rounds of 63, 67, 67, and 63. He was then phenomenal at The RSM Classic and finished runner-up.

He started his campaign at the FedEx Cup Fall Series event with a round of 68 and then shot 65 in the second round. He carded another round of 68 followed by a final round of 66 and tied for second place. His other notable finishes this year include T10 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and fifth at the Wyndham Championship.

Meanwhile, Cam Smith has also been impressive with his game on LIV Golf. He secured three runner-up finishes this season in the Saudi Circuit, including at the Hong Kong, Singapore, and UK events. Smith even fared well in the Majors. He was tied for sixth at the Masters and T32 at the U.S. Open.