Aussie sensation and amateur world number one Curtis Luck will play his first event as a pro at this week's Valero Texas Open
World Amateur Number One Curtis Luck Turns Pro
The world number one ranked amateur Curtis Luck has turned professional and will tee it up in his first event as a pro this week at the Valero Texas Open on the PGA Tour.
The 20-year-old won both the US Amateur Championship and Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in 2016 to qualify for The Masters, the US Open and The Open.
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His decision to turn pro means that he has surrendered his spot in the next two majors and will instead have to qualify by his results, but his main focus will be to earn a 2018 PGA Tour card.
Luck from with the Havemeyer Trophy after defeating Brad Dalke 6&4 to win the U.S Amateur Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club on August 21, 2016 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
Luck (+9) finished second in the race for low-amateur at The Masters, three behind Stewart Hagestad (+6).
He has had plenty of experience playing with the pros, playing in events such as the Australian Open, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Dubai Desert Classic, Maybank Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational already this season.
He has even won a professional tournament. He was victorious at the 2016 Western Australian Open, his home open being from Perth, on the PGA Tour of Australia.
Luck tees off on the 8th hole during the final round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on February 5, 2017 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
“I’ve been playing golf 10 years now, so I guess it’s been a long time coming to be and turning professional,” Luck told reporters.
“It’s going to be a great week this week to be able to say I could potentially make some money. I’ve had a really big six months. I’ve played basically professional golf purely for the last four months in particular.”
Luck will base himself out of Orlando, Florida and has seven sponsors invites to earn his card for next year, although he’s already used one at the Arnold Palmer Invitational where he was disqualified after round one for signing for the wrong score.
He has accepted invitations to the Dean & DeLuca Invitational, Memorial Tournament and Quicken Loans National.
“Just trying to bump up my invites as much as I can for this season,” he said. “At this stage, a lot of it is uncertain because tournaments aren’t in the position to I guess give things out yet. We’re going to be out on a limb for awhile and see what happens.”
Let’s hope that Luck find success similar to Jon Rahm, the most-recent world amateur number one to turn professional, who has won a PGA Tour event and reached a high of 13 in the Official World Golf Ranking within a year.
This article World Number One Ranked Amateur Curtis Luck Turns Pro appeared first on Golf Monthly.