Next up on The Scoop: Luke Clanton! The 21-year-old PGA Tour player joined me for a scoop of chocolate fudge brownie ice cream ahead of the Travelers Championship. At the time of this interview, Clanton had played in 14 PGA Tour events, made 10 cuts, had two runner-up finishes, three top-five finishes and four top 10s.
He made his professional debut earlier this month at the RBC Canadian Open, and I was super excited to sit down with the new pro considering all of his success. Turns out I left the interview an even bigger fan of Clanton — his personality, the way he talks about his sisters and his storytelling ability.
We discussed all sorts of things, from how he got into the game to a man on the street who helped grow his faith to his favorite movie.
Although one of my favorite stories he told was about how he met his caddie, Jason Wiertel.
I met Wiertel at the Drive, Chip and Putt finals at Augusta National the Sunday before the Masters. I was walking with my pals Gabby Herzig and Emma Devine when one of the tallest men I’ve ever seen approached Herzig, introduced himself to Devine and me and invited us to sit by the 18th green with him. Wiertel was there to support his daughter’s friends as they competed in the event and cheered for the kids as if they were his own.
The four of us sat together as he told us about every girl who was putting. Where they were from, what their family was like and how nervous they were. I’d never encountered someone so passionate about junior golf. He was over the moon for kids who weren’t even his own. I remember thinking that every junior athlete should have a support system that includes someone like Wiertel. After going our separate ways, I asked Herzig how she knew him. “That’s Luke Clanton’s caddie,” she said.
Fast forward to this episode of The Scoop. Herzig had told me a little bit about how Wiertel’s daughter played a role in him ending up on Clanton’s bag, and I wanted the full story.
“So we were at North & South Amateur, I guess it was the summer before going to college. So I was 18 … I was hitting balls on the member side, and I wasn’t technically supposed to be over there. But I was with a member and we were just hitting some balls and I saw a little girl and a big dude, like 6’7”. And I was like, who is this guy? I was hitting pitching wedges and the little girl walked over to me and said ‘How far do you hit your pitching wedge?’ We kinda started a conversation and Jason walked over. And Jason was talking to me and was just trying to pick my mind … He was like, ‘Do you have a caddie this week?’ And I said ‘Oh, I have Bill,’ who was an older gentleman, around 80 years old. I was like, ‘He’s probably not gonna caddie for match play.’ Wiertel goes, ‘Well, if you wanna win the tournament, I’ll take the bag.’
I was like, ‘Woah. Slow down a little man, I don’t know who you are.’ So through Instagram I found him, and we were texting a little bit back and forth. I was like ‘Here’s my tee time, it’s 6:50 in the morning. Match play. If you want to show up, show up.’ So I get there at like, 5:20 and he’s on the range with a towel in his back pocket. And I was like, ‘Okay, this guy’s pretty serious.’
So we never really spoke, we never hung out. We go to the first tee and we just kind of hit it off right away … We went on to win that week, and that’s not even the best part about it. When the ceremony was happening, I was giving a speech and I was looking around trying to find him. I couldn’t find him, so I texted him. I said ‘Where are you?’ He goes, ‘Oh, I’m caddying for my daughter.‘
So he drove right after we won, he drove immediately over to the golf course to caddie for his daughter for a nine-hole event. So I walked over there and I said to him, ‘Dude I want you on the bag. You’re not just a great person, but you’re a great father and you have good morals.’ So he caddied for me in multiple U.S. Amateurs and he’s caddied for me in a lot of PGA Tour events and now we’re here.”
Shout out to Lucy Wiertel for the role she played in getting her dad that gig. I’m glad the whole thing worked out!
The Scoop with Luke Clanton is now live on GOLF’s YouTube Channel. I think you’re going to enjoy this one!
“>
; "How rising star Luke Clanton found his caddie")
Claire Rogers
Golf.com Editor
