Sam Saunders Class: Junior Hometown: Windermere, FL High School: Trinity Prep Height / Weight: 6-0 / 200 Experience: 2VL Major: Sociology

Overview: Much improved player as a sophomore who was Clemson's number two player in terms of stroke average all year...looks to be a leader for the Tigers in 2008-09 as a junior...improved his stroke average from 74.42 as a freshman to 73.42 as a sophomore, so exactly a one shot improvement per round...enters junior year ranked 19th in Clemson history in career stroke average with a 73.84 figure...had solid finish to the season in NCAA Tournament play, especially at the NCAA West Regional where he was 11th, helping Clemson to a third place team finish...shot a 216 to tie for best among Tiger golfers...finished 11th out of 140 golfers, or the top 92 percent of the field, the best finish in his career based on percentage of the field...finished 38th at the NCAA national tournament with a 306 score on the difficult Purdue University Course... had strong second round with a 74, and the same score during the final round...his final round 74 was the best by a Clemson golfer that day and helped the Tigers to a number five national finish...has four top 10 finishes in his Clemson career... scored 75 or better in 82 percent of his rounds in 2007-08 after achieving that in just 66.7 percent as a freshman...has had two top 10 finishes each of his first two years...has played in 19 of the last 22 tournaments over two years...has finished in the top 10 at Isleworth Intercollegiate each of his first two years...has nine rounds at par and nine under par so far in his career... one of the biggest hitters in the ACC... already has experience playing on a PGA Tour event, he played in the Bay Hill Invitational in March of 2006... reached number-one junior ranking in June of 2006 after winning the FCWT National Championship in late May.... had outstanding year in the classroom in 2007-08, he made the academic honor roll each semester ...has now been on academic honor roll for three straight semester...had strong summer of 2008, he qualified for US Amateur and reached match play...finished the summer ranked 41st in the United States Amateur rankings by Golfweek and 103rd in the World.

Summer of 2008: Had four top 15 finishes in major amateur events...started with a 15th place at the Sunnehanna with a 282 score...had final round 68 that moved him from 25th to 15th on the final day...his 68 on the final day tied for the best round of the day...played in the British Amateur and missed qualifying for match play by one shot...finished eighth at the Players Amateur in Bluffton, SC with a nine under par score of 271...had consecutive rounds of 66 to close the event and reach the top 10...finished 11th at The Southern Amateur with a nine under 279 score...that gave him consecutive tournaments of nine under par...might have had his most impressive performance at his US Amateur qualifier in Haines City, FL...had rounds of 63-67 to win the qualifier by 14 shots...his 130 total was 14 under par...his opening round 63 missed the course record by one shot...finished sixth at The Cardinal Amateur in Greensboro with a 213 score...reached match play of the US Amateur after finishing 47th in the stroke play qualifying...lost in first round in 19 holes Sihwan Kim of Stanford ...he won the last three holes to force a playoff, then lost the first playoff hole.

In 2007-08: Second on the Clemson team in stroke average at 73.42...also second on the team in birdies with 104...had 12 rounds at par or better to also rank second on the team...had just one round in the 60s, but he was very consistent with rounds from 71-73... scored between 71-73 in 11 of his last 14 rounds prior to the NCAA National event, and for 19 of his 33 rounds for the entire year ...led Clemson in stroke average with a 72.55 for the fall season part of the schedule....interesting stat considering he was never Clemson's low man in any of the three events, but was second twice and fourth once, so he showed consistency...played in three of the four events, he did not go to Japan...had four-under par rounds to lead the team and five rounds at par or better...finished at 214 in each of the last two tournaments of the fall, he had a 214 at the Brickyard and 214 at Isleworth...his top finish was at Isleworth where he finished 10th, helping the Tigers to a second place team finish...had best round at The Brickyard when he shot a 68...played with consistency at Isleworth where he had rounds of 71-72-71...best performance of the spring in terms of finish took place at Furman where he was seventh with a 219 score in difficult weather conditions...shot 215 at Hootie @ Bulls Bay, helping Tigers to second place finish...his score counted towards Clemson's team score in 28 of his 33 rounds this year...finished his spring strong with the 216 at the NCAA West Regional...tied for Clemson's best player and finished 11th in the field of 140 golfers...he played the par five holes at five under for the three rounds, tied for seventh best in the field...also played the par three holes at +1, tied for ninth best...had pars on 36 of the 54 holes to rank 10th in the field in total pars....tied for third among Clemson golfers at the national event with a 306 score...had four top 15 finishes for the year, second on the Clemson team behind Kyle Stanley....played in 2004 US Amateur as a high school student....ranked 81st in the nation at end of the 2007-08 season by the Sagarin/Golfweek computer.

Summer 2007: Had a solid summer, he competed in five major amateur events, including the United States Amateur...had three top 15 finishes, including a top 10 at The Cardinal...started summer with 14th place at the Sunnehanna, where he shot a 284...also had a 284 at the Monroe and finished 15th...his performance included a final round 65 that was the top round of the day...finished 22nd at the Southern Amateur in July with a 285...had the first round lead after a summer low 63...finished ninth at the Cardinal with a 214, including an opening round 68...advanced to stroke play of the US Amateur, but did not make it to match play after rounds of 74-77.

In 2006-07: Got season off to a great start with top 10 finish in his very first tournament...finished 10th at Isleworth with a 221 score, five over par...had consistent rounds of 74-72-75... first Clemson first-year freshman to record a top 10 finish in his first career event since D.J. Trahan finished sixth at the Ping Preview in the fall of 1999... one of just 12 players in the 90-player field to score at 75 or better all three days on the par 72 Isleworth Country Club Course ...had 10 birdies in the event to lead the Clemson team and he played the par five holes at six-under-par, tied for second best in the field... got off to a great start with a 10th place at Isleworth, a course with which he is very familiar, as it is close to his home...his grandfather, Arnold Palmer, followed him during that tournament and saw him chip in the first hole he saw him play in college... then finished 14th at the Aloha Classic with three straight rounds at 72 or better...started the spring strong with eighth place, his career best, at Puerto Rico Classic...had season best 69 in opening round, followed by a 70 in the second rounds...finished at 212, four under par, his only under par tournament of the year...other top 20 finish in the spring was at the ACC Tournament where he was 19th with a 218 score...he helped Clemson to a third place team finish at The Old North State Club...his second round included chipping in from 35 yards away down a hill on a par three hole on the backside...also competed for the Tigers in the NCAA East Regional...had a 75 in the final round for his best outing on the Golf Club of Georgia course...a long hitter, he was second on the team in par five scoring with a 4.89 average...also second on the team in putting with 29.75 putts/round...third on the team in total birdies with 72...his 74.42 stroke average was fourth best on the team, but just .26 strokes per round out of third... ranked in the top 50 in the nation after the fall season according to the Sagarin/Golfweek rankings with a 49th place standing....had 72.67 stroke average for his six rounds in the fall, third best on the team...each of his first 10 rounds were at 75 or better and he finished with 16 of 24 at 75 or better...also played for the Tigers at the Callaway Collegiate Match Play, he had an 0-1-2 record...halved Zach Bixler of Washington and Michael Quagliano of Duke during the competition... his only loss was to All-American Trent Leon of defending NCAA Champion Oklahoma State....his score counted towards Clemson's team score in 20 of his 24 rounds, including 12 in a row entering the NCAA Tournament....named to the academic honor roll for the Spring semester of 2007.

Prior to Clemson: Won the Florida High School State championship as a junior in the fall of 2004...had rounds of 68-68 at PGA Village's north course to win by five shots...State Player of the Year for 2004-05 academic year...finished in the final four of the state championship all four years of his high school career, he was second as a sophomore and senior and fourth as a freshman...four-time first-team all-state at Trinity Prep in Winter Park, FL where he played for coach Dave Ballard...three-time regional champion, he was victorious as a freshman, junior and senior...team MVP for four years...played on district championship team all four years, and on regional championship team three times....ranked number-one in the nation in Golfweek's junior rankings on June 4, 2006 after he captured the FCWT National Championship at PGA National's Champions Course in Florida...shot a final round 65 to win by three shots....medallist after stoke play by three strokes at the 2005 National Junior Amateur after shooting a seven-under-par 133 for the 36 holes at Longmeadow Country Club in Massachusetts...had a hole-in-one on the fourth hole in the first round, then shot 65 thanks to six birdies within the first 12 holes in the second round...advanced to the final 16 of the tournament before losing to Kevin Tway in the third round...two-time Men's club champion at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, including 2002 when he was just 15-years-old...also won the club championship at Bay Hill in 2006 by an astounding 17 shots...local medallist for the 2004 US Amateur, he played in the stroke play portion of the event at Winged Foot...winner of many national junior events, including the Sawgrass Invitational in 2005..AJGA honorable mention All-American in 2003.

Personal: Son of Amy and Roy Saunders...Roy was a walk-on kicker on the University of Florida football team...his sister Katie, is a Clemson graduate, and his sister Annie is senior at Clemson majoring in architecture...grandson of four-time Master's champion Arnold Palmer, the 1954 ACC Golf Champion...Palmer has followed Saunders each of the last two years at Isleworth...appeared in a program with his grandfather on The Golf Channel in 2005 and played together in the national Father-Son tournament in 2005 and 2006...majoring in sociology...born July 30, 1987 in Orlando, FL.

Saunders Personality Profile
Favorite Current Professional Golfer: Tiger Woods
Favorite Athlete Outside of golf: Michael Jordan
Favorite Clemson Golfer of All-Time: Chris Patton
Favorite Course I have Played: Augusta National
Favorite Golf Hole: #6 at Bay Hill
Toughest Course I have Played: Oakmont
Best Shot Ever: Once chipped in on last hole to win a tournament
Best Part of My Game: Irons
Part of Game I must Improve: Putting
My Favorite Club: Driver
Biggest influence on my golf career: My grandfather and my dad
After My Golf Career is Over I Want to: Design Golf Courses
My Dream Foursome: Bobby Jones, Tigers Woods, Ben Hogan and myself