Donald Roland "D.J." Trahan, Jr. (born December 18, 1980) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf p ...

Early life

Trahan was born in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

, the son of

Don Trahan Donald Roland Trahan (born November 13, 1949) is an American PGA Master Professional golf instructor. Known as "The Swing Surgeon," Trahan is the father of PGA Tour professional golfer D. J. Trahan. Early life Trahan was born in New Bedford, ...

. Shortly after being born his parents moved to

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of Charleston. The island is ...

where he spent his younger years playing at

Harbour Town Golf Links Harbour Town Golf Links is a public golf course in the eastern United States, located in South Carolina in Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island in Beaufort County. Since 1969, it has hosted the RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour, usually in mid-A ...

and where he attended Hilton Head Island High School. He then moved to

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Of ...

where he attended and graduated from Paul M. Dorman High School, playing both golf and baseball. He attended

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

. He won the

U.S. Amateur Public Links The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, was a men's amateur golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the United States Golf Association. The USGA typically cal ...

in 2000 and represented the United States in the 2001

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

and the 2002

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eise ...

Professional career

After turning professional in 2003, Trahan spent 2004 on the

Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

winning the final full-field event of that season at the Miccosukee Championship. He was a

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

rookie in 2005 and won his first PGA Tour title at the 2006

Southern Farm Bureau Classic The Sanderson Farms Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually in Mississippi. It moved to the Country Club of Jackson in Jackson in autumn 2014, early in the 2015 season. The tournament has been part of the PG ...

which was an alternate event to the

WGC-American Express Championship The WGC Championship was a professional golf tournament that was held between 1999 and 2021. It was one of the three or four annual World Golf Championships until the number of WGC events was reduced to two following the 2021 season. Under sp ...

. He won his second event at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic by three strokes over

Justin Leonard Justin Charles Garrett Leonard (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional golfer. He has twelve career wins on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1997 Open Championship. Early years Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Leonard graduated ...

on January 20, 2008. He has featured in the top 100 of the

Official World Golf Rankings The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

Amateur wins

*2000

*2001

Jones Cup Invitational The Jones Cup Invitational is an annual amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 2001 at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Georgia. It was originally biannual but it became an annual event in 2009. It is an individual 54-hole stroke- ...

, South Carolina Amateur *2002

Azalea Invitational The Azalea Invitational is an annual amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 1946 at the Country Club of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. Several past champions have subsequently gained membership to the PGA Tour, including maj ...

Monroe Invitational The Monroe Invitational Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament in the United States, played since 1937 at Monroe Golf Club in Pittsford, New York, a suburb southeast of Rochester. Originally a match play event, it switched to 72-hole s ...

, South Carolina Amateur

Collegiate wins

*2000 Las Vegas Intercollegiate *2001 Carpet Classic, Jerry Pate Invitational *2002 NCAA East Regional *2003 Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate

Collegiate Honors

*All-ACC: 1st Team (2000–2003) *ACC Freshman of the Year: 2000 *ACC Player of the Year: 2002 *All-American: 2000 (Honorable Mention, 1st Team Freshman), 2001 (Honorable Mention), 2002 (1st Team), 2003 (1st Team) *

Ben Hogan Award The Ben Hogan Award is an annual prize given by Friends of Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America, since 1990, to the best college golf player in the United States. The Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas joined the organization i ...

: 2002 *Jack Nicklaus Award: 2002 *ACC 50-Year Anniversary Golf Team: 2002 (only active collegiate golfer named to the list) *Carolinas Golf Association Player of the Year: 2000-2002 During Trahan's collegiate career, Clemson won two ACC titles (2000, 2003), three NCAA East Region titles (2000, 2002, 2003), and the 2003 NCAA Division I Championship. The 2001 team was national runner-up and the 2002 team came in third place at nationals.

Professional wins (3)

PGA Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

(winners) * Palmer Cup:

(winners)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trahan, D.J. American male golfers Clemson Tigers men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Atlanta Golfers from South Carolina People from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina 1980 births Living people