Sam Ryder and Danny Walker Lead Sanderson Farms Championship
In a day full of emotions at the Sanderson Farms Championship, Sam Ryder and Danny Walker emerged as leaders, both with an impressive round of 65 strokes (-7). Ryder, with an impeccable performance without bogeys, and Walker, who finished with two consecutive birdies, shared the top of the leaderboard on Thursday. Eric Cole and Garrick Higgo also stood out, matching the score of 65 strokes. Cole achieved 10 birdies, despite a double bogey, while Higgo demonstrated a remarkable recovery after an injury. The tournament is crucial for Ryder (110 in the FedEx Cup standings) and Walker (104), who are seeking to secure their place among the top 100 to maintain their full PGA Tour cards.Walker, after a sixth-place finish at the Players Championship, has struggled recently, but he bounced back strongly in this competition.I am very aware of my situation. You know everything all year,” Ryder commented. “You get a text message every week that tells you exactly where you are in the FedEx. You can’t hide from that. But it doesn’t dictate my schedule. If I were in a better position, I would still like to think that I would be working hard on my game and trying to win and check other boxes.
Sam Ryder
Michael La Sasso, NCAA champion, suffered a two-stroke penalty for violating a rule, which affected his performance. Mac Meissner and defending champion Kevin Yu, with 66 strokes, also had a standout performance. Yu won last year, which secured him a place in the Masters. Rasmus Hojgaard, after his victory in the Ryder Cup, finished with 69 strokes and seeks to secure his card on the circuit.It’s really difficult when you’ve missed several cuts not to go into a week and all you’re thinking about is hoping to make the cut, and that’s where it got to,” Walker said. “When all you’re thinking about is the results… it really got in my head, and I felt like going into this week I finally got to a place where I wasn’t really worried about that.”
Danny Walker
