JACKSON, Miss. — David Skinns of England shot a personal best and course record with a 12-under 60 to lead the Sanderson Farms Championship on Thursday. And he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.
Skinns made six birdies on the back and six on the front nine at the Country Club of Jackson, and hit a final birdie putt from within 10 feet on his final hole. It didn’t have a chance, it missed the low side.
Skinns, 42, was three shots ahead of Michael Thorbjornsen.
“How many 9 footers are you going to get to shoot 59?” Skinns said. “I’m sure I won’t get many. It’s hard not to be a little disappointed, but I want to look back at how I was able to control my mind, that I kept attacking. I wasn’t really thinking about that. The future at all, which is the kind of thing I’ll take away today.”
The future is a big part of the Sanderson Farms Championship, one of the PGA Tour’s eight “FedEx Cup Fall” events that determine the 125 players who keep the full card next year.
Skinns was at No. 108, and his 60 gives him a big step in the right direction.
Former US Open champion Gary Woodland, making some progress from brain surgery last year, played a bogey free 64 and was tied with Ben Griffin.
Rickie Fowler, playing for the first time since the British Open because he missed the FedEx Cup playoffs and his wife gave birth to their second daughter, hit two shots in the water but fought back for a 69. Fowler is at No. 110 but has another year of full exemption from winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic last year.
Skinns only hit five home runs, but he was rarely out of position. Two times he was off the putting green in regulation he made birdie. He also holed birdie putts of 55 feet and 25 feet during the round, with five more birdies outside of 10 feet.
“It’s good to see a couple come in that might not come in some days,” Skinns said. “I just got hit, and I was able to keep the momentum going, which I was really happy about. I never thought too much about the results, just where I’m going to hit the next shot.”
Matt McCarty opened with a 66 in his debut as a member of the PGA Tour. He won three times this year on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn promotion.
Mackenzie Hughes, Lucas Glover and Patton Kizzire, who won the first FedEx Cup Fall event at the Procore Championship, were in the big group with 67s. Hughes won the Sanderson Farms Championship two years ago while being left off the Presidents Cup team. He is playing this year a week after he played for the first time in the President Cup.
He is No. 51 in the FedEx Cup and will enter the first $20 million signing event if he stays in the top 60. The Canadian is not scheduled to play for a month, so he was not even out of the Presidents Cup. to stop him.
“Monday was pretty good; Tuesday recovery and rest, go here; Wednesday was an easy day with pros and practice,” Hughes said. “I felt like Wednesday evening I caught my breath and I’m ready to get out here today. Obviously it’s great to be out last week, but my job is still there and I’m ready to go.”
Thorbjornsen finished No. 1 in the PGA Tour University rankings, meaning the Stanford grad already has a full card for next year. Finishing the year in the top 125 will improve his ranking going into the tournaments.
As for Skinns, he left Jackson’s Country Club thinking about the one missed putt and determined to recall the 12 going in.
“I almost had the ball out of the cup. If I can get it back I can get the cup out. I just broke more than I thought,” said Skinns. “Maybe that was 59. But I’ve fixed a lot, so I’ll focus on what I’ve fixed.”
Reed Hughes opened with a 76, notable for being the oldest man in the field at 71. Hughes qualified for the Sanderson Farms Championship by winning the Gulf States PGA Championship.
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