JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Steven Fisk said he wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of his first PGA Tour victory, and it took birdies on his last three holes Sunday to close with an 8-under 64 to win the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Fisk and Garrick Higgo of South Africa finally separated themselves over the closing holes at the Country Club of Jackson, and they put on quite a show.
They were tied when Fisk missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the reachable par-4 15th. This was his final mistake. South Africa responded with his own 12-foot birdie — his fourth consecutive on the back nine. He smiled and put his finger on his lips. Higgo responded with another wedge just outside of 3 feet. Fisk won by two strokes over Higgo after a birdie. “I came out today with the attitude that nothing was going to stop me,” Fisk said during his Golf Channel interview on the 18th green. I’m confident that I can do it. I knew I could do it. “
And he did, finishing at 24-under 264 for a win that carries big benefits for the 28-year-old who played his college golf at Georgia Southern and who played on the 2019 Walker Cup team at Royal Liverpool.
Fisk was at No. Fisk was ranked 135th in the FedEx Cup rankings, and would return to the Korn Ferry Tour until he gained ground over the two remaining months of the Fall Series. He now has a 2-year exemption until 2027. It took him five long years to reach the tour. It’s been a hard, long year. Higgo appeared to be out of contention after a bogey bogey start on the back nine. He then ran off four consecutive birdies to catch Fisk and was poised for a fifth in a line until the short missed at the 17th hole that cost him. “I almost achieved that.” Steven did the exact same thing, so hats of to him. Danny Walker, who was tied for first place early on in the back nine of the tournament, hit the ball into the water on the par-5 eleventh hole and made a bogey. He then drove into a hazard left on the seventeenth, which led to bogey. He tied for third place with Vince Whaley, who shot 67 and Ryder Cup golfer Rasmus Hojgaard with a weekend score of 66-65. Hojgaard ranked No. He left New York to go to Mississippi because he was ranked 87th in the FedEx Cup. He moved up 12 places to No. The other two also moved up, Whaley moving to No. Walker moved up to No. 84, and Whaley to No. 86.
I’ll be less stressed, I hope, when that number comes up,” said Walker. He had missed the cut at eight consecutive tournaments before the Sanderson Farms Championship. You can go and play to win. It will be much nicer. “
Hojgaard and Whaley were among the players who headed to Japan for the Baycurrent Classic. This was the only PGA Tour event in Asia for this year.