Canon Claycomb shattered all kinds of personal bests in his victory on Feb. 22 at the Watersound Invitational. The Crimson Tide junior earned his first career individual tournament title, his first career top-five finish and recorded, for the first time, three consecutive rounds in the 60s. Rounds of 67-66-69 at Shark’s Tooth Golf Course in Panama City, Florida, left him at 14 under and eight shots ahead of runner-up Ross Steelman of Georgia Tech. He had 17 birdies for the week and led the field in par-5 scoring.
Claycomb was a standout junior golfer and at one point, the top-ranked player in the Golfweek Junior Rankings. Now a junior on the Alabama roster, Claycomb is ranked No. 54 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.
The Bowling Green, Kentucky, native arrived a semester early at Alabama but played only two events in the spring of 2020 before the season ended prematurely for COVID.
“It feels amazing. This has been a hurdle I’ve been trying to get over (winning first collegiate tournament). I’ve had some good events but haven’t won at the college level before today, so this feels great. It was awesome. I felt like I didn’t miss a shot this entire weekend. This win is not only good for me but great for our team. The guys knew I was playing well and I was in the lead but it was great to see our entire team step up and finish strong, especially on the back nine today. I think it made every one of us more focused and we were able to get some birdies down the stretch to earn a second-place finish. I couldn’t be prouder of our team and the way the spring season has started.”
Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk