JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – England’s David Skinns set a personal best and course record with a 60-under score to lead the Sanderson Farms Championship. And he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed Thursday.
Skinns made six birdies on the back nine and six more on the front nine at the Country Club of Jackson, and he faced a final birdie putt from just under 10 feet on his final hole. He never had a chance, missing on the low side.
Skinns, a 42-year-old Englishman, was still three strokes ahead of Michael Thorbjornsen.
“How many 9-footers are you going to be able to shoot on 59?” » Skinns said. “I’m sure I won’t have many.” It’s hard not to be a little disappointed, but I really want to go back to how mentally in control I felt, how I kept pushing. I wasn’t really thinking about the future at all, and that’s kind of what I’m going to remember about today.
The future is a big part of the Sanderson Farms Championship, one of eight PGA Tour “FedEx Cup Fall” events that determine the 125 players who will maintain a full card for next year.
Skinns was ranked 108th, and his 60 is a big step in the right direction.
Rickie Fowler was among those playing this afternoon. Fowler is ranked 110th, but has another year of full exemption to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic last year. Fowler, whose wife gave birth to their second daughter, is playing for the first time since the British Open.
Skinns hit only five fairways, but he was rarely out of position. The two times he was not on the regulation green, he made a birdie. He also made birdie putts from 55 feet and 25 feet during the round, as well as five more birdies from outside 10 feet.
“It’s great to see a few come in when some days maybe not,” Skinns said. “I was kind of catapulted, and I was able to keep my momentum going, which I was happiest about.” I never really thought about the score, just where I was going to hit the next shot.
Mackenzie Hughes and Patton Kizzire, who won the first FedEx Cup fall event at the Procore Championship, were in the 67-year-old group. Hughes won the Sanderson Farms championship two years ago when he was left off the Presidents Cup team. He is playing this year a week after making his debut at the Presidents Cup.
He is ranked 51st in the FedEx Cup and will play in the first two $20 million marquee events if he stays in the top 60. The Canadian doesn’t plan to play for another month, so even after winning the Presidents Cup, he was going to stop him.
“Monday was basically sober; Tuesday recovery and rest, travel here; Wednesday was just a light day with the pro-am and a little practice,” Hughes said. “I felt like Wednesday night I caught my breath and was ready to come here today. Obviously it’s a big moment after last week, but my job is still there and I was ready to go.
Thorbjornsen finished No. 1 in the PGA Tour University Rankings, meaning the Stanford graduate already has a full card for next year. He had a slow summer after finishing second at the John Deere Classic and now has a full slate of fall events.
As for Skinns, he left the Jackson Country Club thinking about a missed putt and determined to remember the 12 that went in.
“I probably lashed out about a ball out of the cup. If I had to do it again, I’d have a cup outside. I broke down a lot more than I thought I would,” Skinns said. “It turns out it was for a 59. But there were a lot of them I got right, so I’m going to focus on the ones I got right.”
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