Luke List won the Sanderson Farms Championship on Sunday when nobody was expecting it. He entered a five-way playoff and easily ended it with a birdie putt from just inside 45 feet for his second PGA TOUR triumph.If Ben Griffin had not had trouble at The Country Club of Jackson towards the end of the game, the playoff would not have been feasible. Griffin missed a par putt from 8 feet on the last hole.List, Swedish star Ludvig Aberg, Henrik Norlander, and Scott Stallings all had a chance as a result, and they all returned to the 18th par-4 hole alongside Griffin. Before List sank his putt and celebrated by slamming his fist, none appeared to have a realistic chance of making a birdie.List finished the round with a 2-under 70 and missed a birdie opportunity from well inside 10 feet on the last hole, giving his cap to a supporter thinking it would be his final shot.”It has been a complete roller coaster ride. I persevered. I didn’t believe it would be sufficient, but here we are. A hectic 20 minutes have passed.” List said.
Griffin had a birdie putt in the playoff from about 35 feet, and when he saw it was going to miss on the bottom side, he slapped his left knee. He started with a three-shot advantage and maintained it with three holes remaining, leading by two strokes. This was his tournament to win.He missed the putt to make a bogey after moving from the right rough to long and right of the 16th green and chipping to about 20 feet. He was in the left rough when he pulled his approach shot to the 18th hole, which was close to the grandstands, still holding a one-shot lead. His par putt for his first PGA TOUR victory brushed the right cup edge as he chipped in from 8 feet by the hole.”I made the incorrect shot at the incorrect time. I picked a club that I was hitting high because I needed to keep it low due to the wind up there. I wish I had perhaps given the shot a little more thought and taken a little more time. It’s unfortunate. I believed I would still be able to finish it today.” Griffin said.It was a wild ride the rest of the way for Griffin, who had gone 44 holes without a bogey before making one on hole No. 8. He ended at 18-under 270 with four other golfers after shooting a 74 in his final round.Norlander, who is also vying for his first PGA TOUR championship, held the lead for a short period of time before hooking his approach shot into the water on the 14th par-5 hole and making a bogey. He also dragged his approach shot on the 17th hole, where he missed a 12-footer for par. He shot a 70 to finish.Norlander had one final opportunity to extend the playoff, putting from roughly 20 feet away off the green on the 18th hole. It was off-course and moved at a high speed.Stallings also shot 70 and kept his chances alive by getting up and down for par from the left of the 18th green. He was barely over the back of the green in the playoff, but his difficult putt from just outside 30 feet had to go over the fringe and a ridge.When Aberg concluded his round of 68, he was sitting at a table, nonchalant as usual. Given an unexpected opportunity, he pushed his approach to the playoff’s 18th hole much to the right, to a distance of about 55 feet. Before List completed his unlikely birdie putt, it appeared as though he would have another chance. He lagged it just left of the hole.”To be truthful, I always believed that 18 (under) wouldn’t be possible when I was on the golf course. I was quite lucky that it turned out the way it did. But Luke deserves praise for his final putt. That was incredible. Well done, to him.” Aberg said.Since another playoff triumph at Torrey Pines in early 2022, List hadn’t won. Since then, he had not placed in the top 10, and in the middle of July, he ceased competing due to injuries to his thumb and foot.He will start the new year at Kapalua for The Sentry before returning to the Masters.Two additional people had a chance to win within the last hour because it was so unpredictable. On the 17th hole, Mark Hubbard had a 12-foot birdie putt to grab the lead. He missed the playoff by one stroke after making a three-putt bogey, on the last hole, and shooting a score of 67.Carl Yuan appeared to be out of it until the 17th hole, where he holed out in a flash for eagle and fell one shot behind Griffin. He missed the playoff by one shot, though, as he fell far short of the 18th hole, made a bogey, and finished 72.
