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 pr ...

Early life

Trahan was born in

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

, the son of

Don Trahan Donald Roland Trahan (November 13, 1949 – June 21, 2024) was an American PGA Master Professional golf instructor. Known as "The Swing Surgeon," Trahan was the father of PGA Tour professional golfer D. J. Trahan. Early life Trahan was born ...

. Shortly after being born his parents moved to

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, often referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia (as the crow flies), a ...

where he spent his younger years playing at Harbour Town Golf Links and where he attended Hilton Head Island High School. He then moved to

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 11th ...

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

Amateur career

Trahan attended

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

. He won the

U.S. Amateur Public Links The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

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 featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

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 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

. 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 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 The Miccosukee Championship was a golf tournament on the Web.com Tour from 2003 to 2012. It was played at the Miccosukee Golf & Country Club in Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Flo ...

. He was a

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

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 P ...

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 The Desert Classic (currently known as The American Express for sponsorship reasons; previously known as the CareerBuilder Challenge, Palm Springs Golf Classic, the Bob Hope Desert Classic, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and the Humana Challeng ...

by three strokes over

Justin Leonard Justin Charles Garrett Leonard (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional golfer. He has 12 career wins on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1997 Open Championship. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He is one of only five ...

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 "rolling ...

Amateur wins

*2000

, Las Vegas Intercollegiate *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, Carpet Classic, Jerry Pate Invitational *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 Men ...

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, NCAA East Regional *2003 Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate

Awards and honors

*In 2000, Trahan earned the ACC Freshman of the Year *From 2000-2002, Trahan was named the Carolinas Golf Association Player of the Year *From 2000 to 2003, Trahan was a first team All-ACC member *Trahan was an All-American from 2000 to 2003 *In 2002, Trahan was the ACC Player of the Year *In 2002, Trahan was selected for the

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 award is named in memory of Ben Hogan, an American professional golf ...

, an award given to the best college golfer of the year *In 2002, Trahan also earned the Jack Nicklaus Award *In 2002, Trahan was named to the ACC 50-Year Anniversary Golf Team

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 year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

(winners) *

Palmer Cup The Palmer Cup is a 1200–1215 CE goblet from northern Syria or Jazira region, Jazira, and an example of early Islamic glass. It is sometimes described as "Ayyubid", since it corresponds to the time when the Ayyubids disputed control of areas of ...

(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 Sportspeople from Charleston County, South Carolina 1980 births Living people