Ben Griffin posted a round of 63 with an eagle and seven birdies to take a two-shot lead at the Sanderson Farms Championship; watch the third round live Sky Sports Golf This weekend
Last updated: 07/10/23 8:15 a.m.
Ben Griffin leads Sanderson Farms championship
Ben Griffin made an eagle and seven birdies to take the lead in the second round of the Sanderson Farms Championship Friday in Jackson, Mississippi.
Griffin’s nine-under-par 63 at the Country Club of Jackson – a career-high – moved him to 14-under-par 130 for the event.
He leads by two strokes ahead of Luke List (66 Friday), the Australian Harrison Endycott (65), the Chinese Carl Yuan (66) and the Swede Henrik Norlander (67).
First-round leader Chesson Hadley posted a 69 on Friday and is tied at 11 under with Harry Higgs (64), Troy Merritt (65) and China’s Zecheng Dou (66).
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During the Sanderson Farms Championship, Wesley Bryan fell into a creek and found himself covered in mud before reaching the par-five 14th!
The highlight of Griffin’s round was a 65-and-a-half-foot eagle putt just short of the green on the par-five 14th hole – that put him in a tie for the lead, and birdies at Nos. 15 and 17 gave him a good cushion before the weekend.
“I backed up (his second shot at No. 14) and kind of hit a little thin 3-wood, I would say, but he still continued up there and went all the way to the back of the green from 65, 70 feet,
“I’m just trying to get behind it, and it was just a bonus to see it go down. But that’s what has to happen here when you have these days in the 60s.”
The 27-year-old is yet to win on the PGA Tour and has a top-10 finish in 2022-23. However, he ranked a respectable 66th in the FedEx Cup fall standings earlier this week and could move into the top 60 with a win.
That would qualify Griffin for two of the tour’s marquee events next winter: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
Griffin says he wants to capitalize on a particular motivator to win a tournament named after a poultry producer.
“I’m mostly vegan. I’m plant-based, so it’s the Sanderson Farms tournament, so it’s kind of funny,” Griffin said.
“I just want the headline to say, ‘Vegans win the chicken championship.’ I mean, it’s bad, it’s bad.
“But I have to be honest with you guys, it’s kind of a motivator for me – I think it would be kind of funny to make the headlines if I did it.”
Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, the only Ryder Cup entrant this week, is tied for 16th at eight under after shooting a 69 on Friday.
The 36-hole cut came in at five under par. Sam Bennett (four under), who was the lowest amateur at this year’s Masters, missed the cut. So did the tournament’s reigning champion, Canadian Mackenzie Hughes (four under) and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (one under), who is the highest-ranked player in the field according to the world rankings at 35th. .
Watch the Sanderson Farms Championship live on Sky Sports Golf this weekend.