Chesson Hadley takes 1-shot lead after 64 at Sanderson Farms

JACKSON, Miss. — Chesson Hadley performed bogey-free Thursday within the Sanderson Farms Championship and posted an 8-under 64 for a 1-shot lead in his newest bid to safe his PGA Tour card.

That is the third straight 12 months Hadley has been on the bubble to complete among the many high 125 within the FedEx Cup. At the least now he has time on his facet, and religion in a swing that he tweaked initially of the 12 months.

He had two stretches of three straight birdies on a day of ever-shifting climate on the Nation Membership of Jackson to maneuver previous Henrik Norlander, who had a 65 within the morning, and Brandon Wu, who made an 18-foot birdie putt on his last gap within the afternoon for a 65.

Ludvig Aberg, the 23-year-old Swede who made his Ryder Cup debut final week at Marco Simone, had a 67 that left him just a little annoyed. He missed three birdie putts from 7 ft or nearer on the again 9.

Aberg was No. 1 within the PGA Tour College rating, and thus is assured his PGA Tour card for 2024. Hadley is not so lucky.

The FedEx Cup Fall is for gamers to safe their positions inside the highest 125 on the finish of the 12 months. Hadley is at No. 122, with little room for error. He mentioned he wasn’t in panic mode like he has been in earlier years, primarily as a result of he has greater than a month left.

“I have been feeling good. I really feel harmful. I am feeling harmful proper now,” Hadley mentioned. “I really feel like a few of the laborious work and a few of the shot-shape change that I’ve finished has paid off, and my recreation feels good. Simply have to hold it going. The fuel is on the fitting.”

Hadley needed to tie for eighth within the last regular-season occasion to safe his card final 12 months. In 2022, he tied for fifteenth within the last occasion to get into the FedEx Cup playoffs.

So this sort of stress is nothing new.

“It is nice,” Hadley mentioned with a small measure of sarcasm. “I am not as panicky as I’ve been the final couple of years. We have got loads of golf left. I really feel good. I am desirous about it lower than I’ve in years previous.”

Norlander, who’s No. 142 within the FedEx Cup standings, has a bit extra urgency. He confirmed that on the again 9 when he two-putted for eagle at No. 11, holed a 35-foot birdie putt on the subsequent gap, adopted with an 8-foot birdie after which holed a 100-foot chip for eagle on the par-5 14th.

The big group at 66 included Russell Knox, who must good fall to maintain his card. One other shot behind was Kevin Kisner, who took the previous two months of the common season off due to a deep hunch.

Aberg is among the many star points of interest at Sanderson Farms, primarily due to his fast begin since leaving Texas Tech after his senior season. He did properly sufficient to get the eye of Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, after which received the European Masters in Switzerland that assured him getting one of many captain’s picks.

He teamed with Viktor Hovland for a Ryder Cup report 9-and-7 win over Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, and he spent Sunday night time celebrating a European victory.

Three of his teammates made the quick flight to Scotland for a European tour occasion. Aberg went to Mississippi to enhance his FedEx Cup standing. Whereas his card is assured, Aberg would like to get into the Gamers Championship and a few of the $20 million occasions subsequent 12 months.

“Going into the day, I used to be a bit drained, not going to lie,” Aberg mentioned. “However I knew what I used to be able to doing, and it was fairly cool to see that displaying up. Felt like I hit the ball stable immediately. Form of a bizarre day on the greens, to be sincere. I made a number of longer ones however then I additionally missed a number of shorter ones. It is simply certainly one of them days.”

Additionally at 67 was Sam Ryder with a wild scorecard. Ryder had just one par on the again 9, 10 birdies for the day together with two bogeys and a double bogey.