TMRW Sports to bring venue to Palm Beach through partnership with Palm Beach State College

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JACKSON, Miss. – Notes and observations from the first round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson. LEADING LIGHTS Cameron Champ is just one start into his rookie season, but he already appears on the cover of this month’s Golf Digest. Fans are enamored with the long ball, and Champ feeds that fascination. Champ, 23, set the Web.com Tour driving distance record this year (343.7 yards) but also proved that he’s more than just a one-man long-drive contest. He finished sixth on the money list, including a win at the Utah Championship, to earn a PGA TOUR card less than a year after turning pro. His strong play has continued into the PGA TOUR season. He holds the first-round lead at the Sanderson Farms Championship after finishing T25 in his debut at the Safeway Open. Champ made eight birdies and one bogey in a 65 Thursday at the Country Club of Jackson. He closed the round with a birdie at 18 that was set up by a 347-yard drive, the longest of the day on that hole. He shot a back-nine 31 after hitting six of his seven tee shots over 300 yards. He also drove it over the green on the 315-yard, par-4 15th hole. After he finished his round, he led the field in driving distance on all tee shots (304.5 yards), Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (+2.14). He hit 9 of 14 fairways, including five of seven on the back nine, and missed just two greens. “I know the rough here is pretty brutal in some areas, but today I drove very well off the tee,â€� he said. OBSERVATIONS ANOTHER CAMERON: Until Champ’s birdie at the final hole, there were two Camerons, Champ and Tringale, tied for the lead. Tringale, playing in the day’s first group, shot 66. The 31-year-old has played on TOUR ever since turning pro out of Georgia Tech in 2009; the Sanderson Farms Championship is his 245th start. His impressive streak almost came to an end, though. After missing the cut in 19 of 26 starts last season, he regained his card with a T3 at the Web.com Tour Championship. He finished fifth at the same event last year to regain his playing privileges. “I drove it really poorly last (season) and it was hard to play golf short and crooked,â€� he said. “I’ve been driving it a lot better since the Web.com Tour Finals. … (I’m) trying to see my shot more clearly and hit the shot I’m trying to play instead of thinking about the shot I don’t want to have happen. When you hit a lot of bad ones, it’s a lot harder than it sounds to get those out of your mind.â€� OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: The Sanderson Farms Championship is an opportunity for nonmembers to get a TOUR start, and two players who fit in that category are off to a strong start. Chad Ramey, a Monday qualifier from Mississippi, shot 67 on Thursday. Scottie Scheffler fired 68. Ramey, a Mississippi State alum, survived a 10-for-3 playoff to make the field. He finished 80th on the Web.com Tour money list in 2018. Scheffler turned pro earlier this year; he was teammates with Champ on last year’s Walker Cup team. Scheffler recently advanced out of the first stage of Web.com Tour Q-School. Last year, Monday qualifier Scott Strohmeyer finished T4 at this event.

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LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas resident Kevin Na had two back-nine eagles and shot a 9-under 62 on Friday for a share of the second-round lead in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Playing alongside Phil Mickelson at TPC Summerlin, Na eagled the par-5 13th and 16th holes and added birdies on the par-3 17th and par-4 18th to match Lucas Glover, 2017 winner Patrick Cantlay and Brian Stuard at 12-under 130. “My putter was hot,” Na said. “I started with a 60-footer on the first hole, and I just kept making putts today. I hit a lot of good shots, too, but the putter was working.” Na won the 2011 tournament for the first of his three TOUR titles. He made four long putts on the back nine Friday, holing out from 43 and 35 feet for the eagles and 23 and 22 feet on the closing birdies. “One of those days you stand over it and you feel everything,” Na said. “My stroke just felt good and I felt confident over the putt. I was more into focusing on putting a good stroke on than trying to make it.” Glover shot 63, also making an eagle on the 15th. “Same as any weekend. It’s going to be a shootout,” Glover said. “I’ve got to go out there and shoot 10 or 12 more. Just stay aggressive when I can be and be smart when I have to be. If the putts go in, fine. If not, keep rolling that line end over end. That’s all I can do.” Cantlay eagled the par-4 15th, driving the green and holing a 45-footer, in a 64. “Hit it really well,” Cantlay said. “Hit a lot of tee balls in play and far down there, which leaves you a lot of wedges. … That’s what it takes to play well here. If I keep driving it well, should have a lot of opportunities.” Stuard shot 65. “Just feeling comfortable with my game,” Stuard said. “I wanted to get off to a good start this fall and I feel like I’ve done that.” Matt Jones was a stroke back after a 63. First-round leader Nick Taylor followed his opening 63 with a 69 to top the group at 10 under. Mickelson was 8 under, following an opening 65 with a 69. “I didn’t score great. I didn’t have a very good putting day,” Mickelson said. “I missed five or six putts that I should have made and it took away from what could have been a really good round on the back nine. Should have been 5-, 6-under par pretty easily, and I just struggled with the putter on the greens.” He missed the cut last week at the Safeway Open in his season debut. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau also was 8 under, shooting 68. Joel Dahmen ended up at 8 under, too, settling for a 64 after playing the first 10 holes in 9 under. Needing to play the final eight in 3 under to shoot 59, Dahmen was 2 over with bogeys on the par-4 second and fourth holes. Brooks Koepka missed the cut in his season debut with rounds of 70 and 71. He had stem cell treatment on his left knee Aug. 25 after the FedExCup ended. “Not really disappointing,” Koepka said. “Everything I’ve worked on — I’ve worked on my wedges, trying to control yardages a lot, and they were spot on all week. And I was just a hair off. Putting, just kind of reverted back to some old things, but that’s going to happen. I’m not disappointed. I feel like I was very, very close.” Koepka’s younger brother, Chase, advanced to the weekend, shooting 66-69 in his fourth PGA TOUR start.

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