Keith Clearwater

ELIGIBILITY CODE: 23

He started to play golf at the age of 12 when some friends and him would sneak under the fence at a municipal course near his home in Walnut, California. He enjoyed success at high school and then went to Brigham Young University where he was a teammate on the team with future Tour players Bobby Clampett, Rick Fehr and Richard Zokol. He earned All-American status in 1981, the year he helped to lead BYU to the NCAA team championship. When he joined the PGA Tour in 1987 he took it by storm by winning the Colonial National Invitation and the Centel Classic. Not only did he win Rookie-of-the-Year honors, he became the first rookie in a decade to win two tournaments in a year and also earn the most money ($320,007 - ranked 31st) in a freshman season up until John Daly broke the record in 1991. He also gained national attention at the 1987 U.S. Open when he shot a 6-under-par 64 in the third round to get within one stroke of the lead, but a final round 79 dropped him to a T-31st... Clearwater suffered through putting problems the next two seasons, but went back to the fundmentals he used as a rookie and it paid off as his performance in the last part of 1990 improved, with a T-2nd at the BellSouth Atlanta Classic. . .Claimed medalist honors at the Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament at the TPC Eagle Trace in November 2010 in Florida. Finished with a 72-hole total of 16-under-par 272, three strokes better than the trio of Phil Blackmar, Lee Rinker and Frankie Minoza.