Trahan in the Masters

Former Clemson All-American D.J. Trahan will tee off at 11:51 AM on Thursday in the first round of The Masters.

He will be paired with former Masters champion Mark O’Meara and Pat Perez. The same group will also play together on Friday with an 8:51 AM start.

Trahan will be playing in his third Masters. He played in the 2001 event as an amateur after winning the 2000 United States Public Links Championship. He then played again last year after winning the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in January. He qualified this year by virtue of his fourth place finish at the 2008 US Open, by his top 30 finish on the PGA Tour Money list, and his berth in the 2008 Tour Championship.

So far this year, Trahan has played in nine events and made the cut in eight. He has a pair of top 10 finishes, sixth-place rankings at the Mercedes Benz and the AT&T Pebble Beach National. He is first on the PGA Tour in total birdies so far this year with 146 and is first in par five scoring average with 4.48. He is 62-under-par on par five holes so far this year. His 69.59 scoring average is 11th best on tour. He has won $701,275 in the nine events, 30th best on the PGA Tour.

Trahan led Clemson to the 2003 National Championship and was a two-time first-team All-American. He received the Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan Awards as national player of the year in 2002 as a junior. Trahan set 21 Clemson records over his career and was a four-time first-team All-ACC selection.

Nine different golfers with ties to Clemson have played in the Masters over the years. The history dates to 1977 when ACC Champion Parker Moore played in the event as an amateur after finishing as the runner up at the United States Amateur. Chris Patton and D.J. Trahan are the only Tigers to play in the Masters while still a member of the Clemson golf team.

Five former Tigers have made the cut at the Masters. Chris Patton finished 39th, the low amateur in 1990, Dillard Pruitt, now an official with the PGA Tour, was 13th in 1992, Clarence Rose was 43rd in 1997 and Jonathan Byrd was eighth in 2003. In 2007, Lucas Glover finished 20th in his second career Masters.

Pruitt had a 68 in the second round in the 1992 Masters and a 69 in the final round that same year for the top two rounds for a former Tiger at the Masters. His 282 score is also the top tournament by a former Clemson golfer.