Lucas Hendley Glover (born November 12, 1979) is an American professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er who currently plays on the

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 ...

. He is best known for winning the 2009 U.S. Open.

Early years and amateur career

Glover was born in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

, the son of Ron Musselman and Hershey Hendley (the daughter of former pro football player Dick Hendley). Musselman and Hendley separated in 1981 (when Lucas was two) and divorced the following year. Musselman had a career as a major league baseball player from 1982 to 1985, but after his baseball career ended, Musselman fell behind on child support payments and went more than six months without seeing his son. This led to a loss of parental rights after the matter went to court in 1992; Musselman also was barred from seeing Lucas (then 13) until he turned 18. Meanwhile, Hendley remarried to Jim Glover, and Lucas Glover today only recognizes his stepfather, Jim Glover, as his father. Lucas' grandfather Dick Hendley introduced Glover to golf at age three, and by the time he was a teenager Lucas Glover 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 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 ...

from 1998 to 2001, where he was a brother of

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters an ...

. He was named first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in 2000 and 2001 and honorable mention All-American in 1999. He was a member of the 2001 United States

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 ...

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 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. ...

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 In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

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 have earned 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 The WGC Invitational was a professional golf tournament that was held in the United States. Established in 1999 as a successor to the World Series of Golf, it was one of three or four annual World Golf Championships (WGC) until 2021, when the nu ...

where he finished in a tie for fourth. Another impressive finish came at

The Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

where he finished in a tie for eighth. He also made his first cut in a major at the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

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 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 ...

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 The 2007 Presidents Cup was held in 2007 between September 27 and 30. It was played at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Île Bizard, Quebec, Canada. The United States team won the competition by a margin of 19–14. Format On the first day six ...

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 The Buick Open was a PGA Tour golf tournament from 1958 to 2009. In 2007, the tournament was held at the end of June, a change from its traditional spot between The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. Regardless, many prominent players use ...

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. 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 The Bethpage Black Course is a public golf course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island, New York (U.S. state), New York. The course was designed by Joseph H. Burbeck and was assisted by noted golf architect A. W. Tillinghast. It is the most dif ...

(

Farmingdale, New York Farmingdale is an incorporated village on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 8,466 at the time of the 2020 Census. The Lenox Hills neighborhood is adjacent to Bethpage State ...

) by two strokes over

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...

, Ricky Barnes, and

David Duval David Robert Duval (born November 9, 1971) is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 Golfer who competed on the PGA Tour and currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Duval won 13 PGA Tour tournaments between 1997 and 2001; inc ...

. He was a surprise winner of the event, being ranked 71st in the

Official World Golf Ranking 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 ...

and never having made a cut in his three previous U.S. Open appearances. Glover was one of just a handful of players who won the U.S. Open after having to play in a sectional qualifier. He shot a second round 64, tying the low round of the week with

Mike Weir Michael Richard Weir, (born May 12, 1970) is a Canadian professional golfer. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He spent over 110 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 2001 and 2005. He plays golf left-hande ...

. 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. After his victory at Bethpage, Glover 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

. In October 2009, Glover won the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. The event featured the four major winners of 2009, Glover,

Ángel Cabrera Ángel Leopoldo Cabrera (; born 12 September 1969) is an Argentine professional golfer who has played on both the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is known affectionately as ''"El Pato"'' in Spanish ''("The Duck")'' for his waddling gait. He is a ...

Stewart Cink Stewart Ernest Cink (born May 21, 1973) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2009 Open Championship, defeating Tom Watson in a four-hole aggregate playoff. He spent over 40 weeks in the top 10 of the Official ...

and Y. E. Yang. Glover won the two-day event by five strokes over Cabrera. Glover also earned his second President's Cup bid.

2011: Third PGA Tour win

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

2012: Injury

A left knee injury limited Glover to 16 events in 2012. He made six cuts with a season best of T46. He did not lose his Tour card due to the fact that he had two years remaining on the exemption from his U.S. Open win.

2015: Another slump

Glover finished the 2014–15 season 147th in the FedEx Cup. His exemptions for winning the U.S. Open and Wells Fargo Championship had run out. Glover had to either regain his PGA Tour card through the Web.com Tour Finals or play out of the conditional (126th–150th in the FedEx Cup) category for the 2015–16 season. Glover finished 14th in the finals, regaining his Tour card.

2016

Glover earned $948,927 during the 2015–16 PGA Tour Season. He finished 106th in the

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...

and kept his PGA Tour card. His best finish was 8th in the Wells Fargo Championship.

2017

Glover earned $1,955,822 in 26 events during the 2016–17 PGA Tour Season. He finished 43rd in the season long

and kept his PGA Tour card. His best finish was third in the

Shriners Hospitals for Children Open The Shriners Children's Open is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Nevada. Founded in 1983, it is the fourth event of the Tour's 2019–20 wrap-around season and is played annually in October in Las Vegas. It is currently held at the TPC Su ...

2018: Back to the Web.com Finals

Glover finished the 2017–18 PGA Tour Season 135th in the season long

. He made $789,382 in 18 tournaments, with 15 made cuts. Glover returned to the Web.com Tour Finals, where he finished 8th, thus regaining his PGA Tour card for the 2018–19 PGA Tour season.

2019

Glover started the 2018–19 PGA Tour Season with a T17 at the

Safeway Open The Procore Championship, previously the Fortinet Championship and the Safeway Open, is a professional golf tournament, part of the PGA Tour. Originally sponsored by Fry's Electronics, it was first staged in 2007 as the Fry's Electronics Open at ...

and T14 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. On November 3, 2018, during the third round of the

, Glover shot 61 (10-under-par). He started his round with a bogey at the 10th but managed seven birdies and a pair of eagles from that point on. This matched his career-low round on the PGA Tour (9-under 61 in round 2 of the 2016

Wyndham Championship The Wyndham Championship is a professional golf tournament in North Carolina on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in Greensboro and was originally the Greater Greensboro Open. History Founded in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open, it was usua ...

). Glover entered the final round in third place. In the fourth round, Glover shot 71 and finished in T7. Glover then finished in the top 12 finishers in 5 of his next 6 PGA Tour starts, this included a T4 at the 2019 Honda Classic. As of March 12, 2019, Glover had earned $1,372,193 for the season, good for 23rd on the money list.

2021

In July 2021, Glover won the

John Deere Classic The John Deere Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in July, usually the week before The Open Championship, at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities community of Silvis, Illinois. History The tournament bega ...

by two shots. In the final round, Glover shot seven-under par 64. This ended a drought of 10 years without a win on the PGA Tour.

2023

In June 2023, after years of struggling with the

yips In sports, the yips are a sudden and unexplained loss of ability to execute certain skills in experienced athletes. Symptoms of the yips are losing fine motor skills and psychological issues that impact the muscle memory and decision-making of ath ...

while putting, Glover switched from a traditional putter to a longer putter similar to the one used by Adam Scott. This led to a drastic improvement in results for Glover, including three consecutive top-10 finishes in July. In August 2023, Glover won the

by two shots. In the final round, he shot two-under-par 68, for rounds of 66, 64, 62, 68 for a 20-under-par total. The win secured Glover a place in the season ending FedExCup Playoffs. One week later, Glover won the FedEx St. Jude Championship in a playoff over Patrick Cantlay. With the win, Glover became the 3rd player in his 40s to win back-to-back weeks on PGA Tour in the last 25 years.

Personal life

Glover has lived in St. Simons Island, Georgia,

Simpsonville, South Carolina Simpsonville is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. It is part of the Greenville-Mauldin-Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area, Greenville, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 23,354 at the 2020 United Stat ...

, and Tequesta, Florida. He has two children with his wife Krista. Krista was arrested and charged with domestic violence and resisting arrest in Ponte Vedra, Florida during the 2018 Players Championship. Several months after the incident was over, Glover made a public statement that his wife is not on probation nor will she have to proceed with substance abuse or mental health evaluation. He also added that she never hit him.

Amateur wins

*1998 South Carolina Amateur *1999 South Carolina Amateur *2000 South Carolina Amateur *2001 Sunnehanna Amateur

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour wins (6)

PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

Other wins (2)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (three times) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the

Results in World Golf Championships

''Results not in chronological order before 2015.'' ¹Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

PGA Tour career summary

''*Through August 14, 2023 season.'' *Glover was not a member of the PGA Tour until 2004.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

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 ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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 ...

(winners) *

Professional *

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

(winners),

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

(winners)

References

External links

* *
Profile on Clemson Golf's official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glover, Lucas American male golfers Clemson Tigers men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from South Carolina Golfers from Georgia (U.S. state) Golfers from Florida Sportspeople from Greenville, South Carolina Sportspeople from St. Simons, Georgia People from Simpsonville, South Carolina People from Tequesta, Florida Sportspeople from Palm Beach County, Florida 1979 births Living people Presidents Cup competitors for the United States