PGA TOUR welcomes Dream Finders Homes as Official Marketing Partner

JACKSON, Miss. – Sometimes you get the best results when you least expect it. That was certainly the case for Andrew Landry during Thursday’s opening round of the Sanderson Farms Championship. Battling allergies and an achy shoulder, Landry started the round with low expectations – and then proceeded to light the course on fire, making birdies on the first four holes, and then holing out for eagle from 113 yards on the next to reach 6 under par after five holes. He cooled off after that, and finished with a 6-under 66, good for a spot atop the very crowded leaderboard with Ryan Armour, Conrad Shindler, J.J. Spaun, and Wyndham Clark. And if you had asked Landry what he expected before he teed off, well, he probably didn’t expect to see his name that high up. “Honestly, I wasn’t feeling that up to par going into the day, with my whole golf game and the way I’m feeling,â€� he said. “I’ve been sick the last week. … I’ve been blowing snot out and just nasty stuff.â€� To add to that, he said, “I slept on my shoulder wrong and didn’t really get to practice the last two days. It’s been kind of hurting.â€� So, distractions can help the golf game? “It actually does,â€� said Landry, smiling. “Kind of gets your mind off it, where you don’t have any expectations and you can go out and free up and play golf.â€� Landry’s remarkable opening nine (he started on the back) began with a 6-iron to 4 feet for birdie on the par-3 10th, and ended with a chip-in birdie on No. 18. His back-nine score of 29 included two hole-outs and just nine putts. “It’s fun doing that,â€� he said. “Hitting shots like that and making putts. You just go black out, and it gets really fun.â€� He made two bogeys on his inward nine, but capped the day with a birdie on his final hole, No. 9. Landry, 30, has two Web.com Tour victories but is chasing his first PGA TOUR win. He nearly became an overnight sensation during the 2016 U.S. Open, when he shot the lowest-ever first-day U.S. Open round at historic Oakmont, 66, and then played his way into the final pairing on Sunday. He faltered that day, shooting 78, but that week told him he belonged on this kind of stage. “It’s just a belief system, knowing that you can come out here and play golf and have fun doing something you love,â€� Landry said. “Just believing in yourself. That’s the biggest part of this whole entire job, believing yourself that you can do it and sticking to your game.â€� OBSERVATIONS Spaun’s 66 included seven birdies and several long par putts. All told, he made 103 feet of putts, including 77 feet worth on his inward nine. Armour’s 66 was his best first-round score since he shot 67 on Day 1 of last year’s Sanderson Farms Championship. He’s obviously hoping for a better second round this year – last year he shot 77 on Friday and missed the cut. Local favorite Jonathan Randolph held a share of the early first-round lead– for about 10 minutes. Randolph, who grew up in the Jackson area and considers CCJ his home course, birdied Nos. 13 and 14 to get to 6 under par and a share of the lead in the morning wave, but he then bogeyed 15 and made double-bogey at No. 16. He finished with a 3-under 69. The double on the par-4 16th came after he dumped his second shot from the right rough into water left and short of the green. “I’ve played that hole 100 times, and I knew as soon as I hit it,â€� Randolph said of his water ball. “I told my caddie, ‘You can’t do stupid stuff like that and win this golf tournament.’â€� The last two champions of this event, Cody Gribble (2016) and Peter Manalti (2015), were in the same threesome – and posted decidedly different results. While Gribble struggled to hit fairways and shot 3-over 75, Manalti made seven birdies to shoot 5-under 67 and stand one shot off the lead. NOTABLES WYNDHAM CLARK – A recent University of Oregon grad who is in this week’s field on a sponsor’s exemption, birdied five straight holes (Nos. 11-15) on the way to his 66. He also had an eagle on No. 3. This is his sixth PGA TOUR event, but he does not have status on the PGA TOUR or Web.com Tour. Does he feel pressure to play his way in? “My first few starts, I felt pressure to play well and earn my status that way, but, honestly, this event is to get me ready for Q School, which is next week. If I happen to play great, that’s awesome, and I don’t need to get to Q School.â€� DAVID HEARN – His 68 included birdie putts of 42, 12, 28, and 18 feet. All told, he made 157 feet of putts – tops in the field on Day 1. DRU LOVE – He shot 1-under 71, which was one better than his father, Ryder Cup captain and 21-time PGA TOUR winner Davis Love III. This is the sixth TOUR event they have played in together, and Thursday marked the first time son’s score has bested father’s in the same round. QUOTABLES “I’m just a medium hitter, but I drive the ball awesome. I truly believe I hit driver as the best club in my bag. I like to hit it every hole. There’s holes you can’t hit it, and that’s OK, but whenever I have the opportunity to hit driver I hit it.â€� – First-round co-leader Andrew Landry   “The greens are so pure right now, like marble floors, so if you’ve got good lines and good speed, good things are going to happen.â€� – First-round co-leader Conrad Shindler, whose round included a 25-foot eagle putt on No. 3   “It’s always important, I mean, disregarding the weather. But I saw that stuff. It’s coming. To get off to a good start can only help.â€� – First-round co-leader Ryan Armour, on the importance of a good start in Thursday’s sunshine, with cold and wind forecast for the weekend SUPERLATIVES Low Round: 66, by Ryan Armour, Andrew Landry, J.J. Spaun, Conrad Shindler, and Wyndham Clark. Longest Drive: 381 yards, by Brandon Hagy, on No. 6. Longest Putt: Talor Gooch (71) drained a 51-foot, 6-inch birdie putt on No. 16, for one of just five birdies made there Thursday. Toughest Hole: The par-4, 453-yard 16th hole played to an average of 4.356 and yielded just five birdies. Ten of the 32 double-bogeys posted on Thursday came at 16. Easiest Hole: The par-5, 554-yard third hole played to an average of 4.447. There were three eagles made there, and more than half the field (71 players) made birdie there. CALL OF THE DAY SHOT OF THE DAY BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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Jordan Spieth fell short in his bid for a third Australian Open title, but says having coach Cameron McCormick as caddie for the week will pay dividends for the duo.

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JERSEY CITY, N.J. – There are many paths to the FedExCup Playoffs. With a regular season that began in October and featured more than 40 events, playerss accumulated the necessary FedExCup points in myriad ways. It took 376 points to qualify for this year’s FedExCup Playoffs, which start with this week’s THE NORTHERN TRUST at Liberty National in New Jersey. FEDEXCUP: Scenarios | How the new format works | One-liners on the 125 | Experts’ roundtable Some players secured their Playoffs spot with a strong start to the fall season. Others made a late dash across the line. There were displays of remarkable consistency, and examples of players who earned the bulk of their points with one high finish. Here’s a closer look at how players qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs. MOST POINTS PER START Let’s start by looking at average points earned per start. It’s no surprise that the top players in the standings are atop this list. Prize distribution is always top-heavy, and it’s no different with FedExCup points. A win is worth 500 points at most events, while a 10th-place finish is worth 75. For reference, a third-place finish in most events is worth 190 points. A fourth-place finish is worth 135. Each player’s FedExCup ranking is listed next to their name. Every player in the above list is in the top 10 of the FedExCup except for Collin Morikawa, who’s catapulted to 49th in the FedExCup in just seven pro starts. He has a win and two other top-5 finishes and has yet to miss a cut. His worst finish is T36. Rory McIlroy has a tour-leading 12 top-10s in just 16 starts this season, including two wins. Brooks Koepka is the only player with three wins this season. He won the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in the fall, then added a major (PGA Championship) and World Golf Championship (FedEx St. Jude Invitational). He also has three runners-up this season. He’s finished first or second in one-third of his starts. POINTS EARNED IN ONE START Pro golf can be a tough way to make a living. It’s not as easy as the top players make it look, but the beautiful thing about the game is that a career can change in a week. That’s what the players on this list exemplify. These are the players who earned the highest percentage of their points in a single start. Matthew Wolff’s presence on this list is a bit misleading. He’s only played six events as a pro. He won in his third start, at the 3M Open, to join Tiger Woods and Ben Crenshaw as the only players to win an NCAA Championship and PGA TOUR title in the same season. Max Homa and Adam Long both had two top-10s this season. One of them was a win. Dylan Frittelli’s win at the John Deere Classic was his only top-10 this season. He was 154th in the FedExCup before his victory. Patrick Rodgers was runner-up at the RSM Classic after shooting 61-62 in the final two rounds. He set the PGA TOUR record for low score over the final 36 holes of a tournament. POINTS EARNED IN THREE BIGGEST WEEKS The old saying goes that a player earns the bulk of his money (or FedExCup points) in just three weeks of work. It’s true. Of the 125 qualifiers for this year’s playoffs, 88 earned more than half their points in just three starts. The players on the below list earned the highest percentage of their points in their three biggest weeks. Wolff and Morikawa are on this list, of course, because of their brief pro careers. Phil Mickelson had his two best finishes of the season in California. He finished second at the Desert Classic after opening the tournament with a 60. He added to his Hall of Fame resume with a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, as well. Those are his only top-10s this season. Shane Lowry’s win at The Open Championship was preceded by a runner-up finish at the RBC Canadian Open and third-place finish at the RBC Heritage. PERCENTAGE EARNED IN THE FALL The PGA TOUR season started 10 months ago, and the points accrued last October count the same as those earned last month. The fall tournaments were crucial for several players. Here’s a look at the players who earned the highest percentage of their points in the eight tournaments played in October and November. Cameron Champ’s play was the story of the fall. He had two other top-10s in addition to his win at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He was sixth in the FedExCup standings after the fall. Kevin Tway was the early FedExCup leader after winning the season-opening Safeway Open. PERCENTAGE EARNED BY MARCH 1 The PGA TOUR travels from the West Coast to Florida in March. It also marks the start of the Season of Championships, with THE PLAYERS taking place in the idle of the month. Here’s a look at who’d earned the highest and lowest percentage of their points when the TOUR headed to the Sunshine State. First, the players who did the bulk of their work before arriving in Florida: Phil Mickelson has had just one top-30 finish since his win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. J.B. Holmes was in contention at The Open, but he only has one top-25 in a stroke play event since winning the Genesis Open. Now a look at the players who earned the lowest percentage of their points by March 1: Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff were still attending college classes in March, so they would top the list with 0%, but I left them off since they hadn’t even started their pro careers by then. Shane Lowry won a major and had two other top-3 finishes after the Masters. His only made cut before March was a T62 at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship (which doesn’t have a cut). He missed the cut in four of his first six starts this season, including a 78-73 performance at the Masters. He finished third the next week at the RBC Heritage. Rory Sabbatini, who finished fourth in the inaugural FedExCup, is seeking his first trip to East Lake sine 2007. He has six top-10s in his last 11 starts, including a T6 at last week’s Wyndham Championship. Jordan Spieth earned more than half his FedExCup points with three consecutive top-10s in May and June. He didn’t have his first top-25 of the season until the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. POINTS EARNED AFTER THE U.S. OPEN The summer months are crunch time for players are trying to keep their card. Several players delivered in the clutch. Here’s a look at the players who earned the highest percentage of their points after the U.S. Open. Every player on this list was ranked outside the top 125 after the U.S. Open, but used a strong finishing kick to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs: Wolff, Morikawa, Frittelli and Nate Lashley all won after the U.S. Open, of course. Russell Henley was looking at losing his card until an incredible final round at the John Deere Classic. He shot 61 to finish second to make a large leap from 165th in the FedExCup standings. Joaquin Niemann was outside the top 125 until back-to-back T5s at the Travelers Championship and Rocket Mortgage Classic. Like Henley, Andrew Landry used a high finish at the John Deere Classic to catapult inside the top 125. He was 171st in the FedExCup until finishing third at the Deere and T19 at the Wyndham.

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