[PHOTO: Jonathan Bachman]
Leave the door ajar and you’re inviting someone to walk through. Or sprint through.
Taking advantage of a second life given to him when Ben Griffin bogeyed the 72nd hole, Luke List sank a 43-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to emerge from a five-man showdown and steal away with the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi.
List, who won his first PGA Tour title by beating Will Zalatoris in a playoff at the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open, had already given away his hat to a spectator when he holed out for a final-round 70 and an 18-under 270 total at the Country Club of Jackson. But Griffin, who began the day with a three-stroke lead, struggled coming home. He missed an eight-foot par putt that would have given him his first tour title in just his 36th start.
List, 38, was making just his second start since the Genesis Scottish Open in July after being sidelined by a thumb injury. He entered the week 119th in the FedEx Cup standings and 159th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He now has earned another berth in the Masters, which is nice because he lives in Augusta, Georgia.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” List said of the closing moments of the tournament. “I didn’t think it was going to be enough, but here we are. It’s been a crazy 20 minutes. My heart rate is going pretty good right now.
Griffin’s bogey, his fifth in his last 11 holes, also gave a second chance to rookie sensation Ludvig Aberg, Henrik Norlander and Scott Stallings, who won the event in 2012 when it was played at Annandale Golf Club. Griffin had tied the 54-hole scoring record held by Stallings and Steve Lowery, but he carded a 74 in which he hit just three fairways and nine greens.
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Aberg was the first to putt in the playoff, but his 53-foot putt on the 18th green veered left. List, putting on the same line, took advantage of the read and poured in his putt. He reacted with an energetic fist pump followed by another a few seconds later.
Griffin, who also let a late lead slip away last October at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, came up short on his chance from a similar line from 32 feet. Stallings, just off the back edge of the green, missed from a similar distance. That left Norlander, who hadn’t posted a top-10 finish all season. He faced a pitch from behind the hole from 18 feet but struck the ball much too hard and wide left.
The five-man playoff was the first of that size since the 2016 RSM Classic won by Mackenzie Hughes. Coincidentally, Norlander was a part of that one, too.
The clubs Luke List used to win the 2023 Sanderson Farms Championship
Aberg, a member of last week’s winning European Ryder Cup team and the lone participant in Rome to make the trip to Mississippi, shot a final-round 68. Stallings shot 70 and Norlander, who bogeyed two of his last five holes after catching Griffin briefly for a share of the lead at 20-under par, also had a 70.
Mark Hubbard, who finished T-6, bogeyed his final two holes after also grabbing a share of the lead and missed the playoff by a stroke. He had a final-round 67. Carl Yuan also fell one stroke shy. He eagled the par-4 17th hole from 109 metres but then bogeyed 18. He settled for a 72.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
