Sanderson Farms Championship 2014: Daily Leaderboard Analysis, Highlights, More
College football and the NFL may be dominating the headlines for the foreseeable future, but for sports fans needing a change of pace from all pigskin, all the time, the Sanderson Farms Championship offers the perfect alternative.
With a number of former champions in the field and a young gun impressing, the tournament held plenty of intrigue. Below, you'll find the leaderboard, highlights and analysis from each round of play at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi.
Leaderboard
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| 1 | Nick Taylor | -16 | 67 | 69 | 70 | 66 |
| T2 | Boo Weekley | -14 | 70 | 68 | 70 | 66 |
| T2 | Jason Bohn | -14 | 68 | 71 | 66 | 69 |
| T4 | Peter Uihlein | -13 | 70 | 71 | 69 | 65 |
| T4 | Justin Thomas | -13 | 71 | 68 | 69 | 67 |
| T4 | John Rollins | -13 | 68 | 66 | 68 | 73 |
| 7 | William McGirt | -12 | 68 | 70 | 66 | 72 |
| 8 | Robert Streb | -11 | 67 | 70 | 70 | 70 |
Sunday Analysis
With leader John Rollins struggling, the Sanderson Farms Championship was for the taking. Nick Taylor turned in a performance fitting of the title.
Taylor shot a six-under 66 in Sunday's final round, giving him a two-shot advantage over the field en route to his first career professional victory. The Canadian, who has largely struggled since turning pro in 2010, had eight birdies against two bogeys in an all-around sterling round.
Playing in his 13th career PGA event, Taylor's best previous finish was a tie for 36th at the 2009 U.S. Open as an amateur. As noted by Justin McElroy of Global News, Taylor is the first Canadian to win a PGA event since Stephen Ames in 2009.
Highly touted out of the University of Washington, Jason Sobel of Golf Channel noted that the 26-year-old may be realizing his promise:
Boo Weekley and Jason Bohn tied for second place, finishing at 14 under overall. Weekly was able to match Taylor's Sunday 66, but his up-and-down first and third rounds put him too far behind. Bohn came into the day hanging around in third place and was one of a select few leaders to have an above-average day.
The final group of Rollins and William McGirt both played their way out of contention. Rollins parred his first 10 holes before turning in three bogeys against two birdies in his last eight holes. He finished 13 under for the tournament in a tie for fourth place.
McGirt surprisingly bogeyed two par fives and had a double on No. 8 en route to an even-par day. He finished four behind Rollins, alone in seventh place.
The low round of the day went to Peter Uihlein, who shot a seven-under 65 thanks to a bogey-free round. Uihlein tied Rollins and Justin Thomas for fourth place, rocketing 15 spots up the leaderboard. Only Blayne Barber, who moved up 28 spots, had a bigger day among top-10 players.
Saturday Analysis
John Rollins entered the third round of the Sanderson Farms Championship in a tie for first place, but he will have the advantage all to himself when the final round commences Sunday.
The 39-year-old native of Richmond, Virginia was locked in all day long as he shot a four-under 68, which helped him break a tie with David Toms and take a two-shot lead through three rounds.
Rollins was excellent during Friday's second round as he registered a score of six-under par. After that showing, Rollins was optimistic about his chances moving forward, according to ESPN.com (h/t The Associated Press).
"To get off to that kind of start is always great, birdieing the first three, birdied four out of the first five, and really just kind of helped me relax a little bit and just kind of get in the rhythm of the round. I hit the ball well, made some good putts and put myself in a good position.
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The veteran did nothing to hurt his chances in the third round, and he now has a chance to pick up his best finish in a very long time. Per Ben Coley of SportingLife.com, Rollins figures to end his lengthy top-10 drought barring a complete catastrophe:
While Rollins flourished Saturday, Toms took a sizable step back. The former PGA Championship winner shot an even-par 72, so he will have some ground to make up on Sunday.
Perhaps the LSU alum was a bit distracted by Saturday night's impending clash between the Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide football teams in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. According to PGA Tour Media, Toms revealed that he planned on attending the game:
One of the day's biggest movers of the day was undoubtedly Jason Bohn. He was five shots off the pace through two rounds, but he shot a cool 66 Saturday, which was good enough to put him within striking distance of the lead, per the PGA Tour's official Twitter account:
Bohn was joined by William McGirt, who also shot six-under par and finished the round in second just two shots behind Rollins.
Although this tournament is far from over, Rollins will be the overwhelming favorite to win when he steps up to the first tee Sunday.
He should be able to hoist the trophy if he maintains his consistent play, but all it takes is one bad round to ruin an event. There are plenty of other golfers in fine form who are nipping at Rollins' heels, so he can't afford to get complacent.
Friday Analysis
Bad news in the second round, as play was suspended due to darkness with 15 players still left on the course. They were all through at least 15 holes, so it won't take long to make up on Saturday.
It was a rough second day for Sebastian Cappelen, who is playing in his first PGA Tour event. After taking the lead on Thursday with a seven-under par 65, the 24-year-old started off well on Friday with two birdies on No. 3 and 4. Everything went down hill after that, as he took consecutive bogies on the seventh and eighth holes.
After making the turn, Cappelen fired two more bogies on No. 12 and 15 to sit at two-over par for the round. It didn't help that David Toms and John Rollins both shot six-under 66 earlier in the day to sit atop the leaderboard.
It's even more devastating when you realize that Cappelen is here on a sponsor's exemption after just missing out on getting his PGA Tour card. He talked about the experience of playing in the event after Thursday's first round, via Rusty Hampton of PGATour,com:
"Obviously, it’s a heartbreaker being so close and then not getting it (a PGA TOUR card). So to get a chance to be out here, where I felt like I should have been, it’s everything. I couldn’t thank the sponsors here more for what they’ve done… just having this opportunity, showing that I can actually play out here, is very important to me.
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The good news is there's still time for Cappelen to make up the shots he lost on Friday, and he showed the ability to put up a low number on this course.
Unfortunately for Cappelen, he's got a steep climb up the mountain because Toms and Rollins have gotten better. Both American stars have posted rounds of 68 and 66 thus far, taking a two-stroke lead into the third round. Both rounds have been undeniably impressive, Toms has been the story of the tournament thus far.
As noted by Justin Ray of The Golf Channel, Toms has been flawless so far and that bodes well for his chances heading into the weekend:
Playing bogey-free rounds is becoming hold habit for Toms, per Riley Blevins of The Clarion-Ledger:
There's no simple solution for anyone trying to catch the leaders when Toms isn't making mistakes that others are. Even Rollins has endured his share of adversity with two bogeys on the back nine on Friday and two more in the first round.
The good news for Rollins is that he's racking up birdies like they are going out of style. He had eight in the second round, including this one provided by the PGA Tour's official Twitter:
Neither player can afford to rest on their laurels in the third round because Nick Taylor is at eight-under par and a group of nine players are within at least four shots of the lead. There were a lot of low scores on Friday, including eight players tied for sixth or better shooting under 70.
Thursday Analysis
Talk about knowing how to make a debut.
In his first PGA Tour event, Cappelen raced out to an early lead, shooting a seven-under 65 in the opening round of play at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Not too shabby for a player who turned pro mere months ago and is playing on a sponsor exemption, per Rusty Hampton of PGATour.com.
“I have to make it look like they made the right decision,” Cappelen said of that sponsor’s exemption, per Hampton. “That’s important to me, proving that I can play with these guys.”
For at least a day, it sure seems as though he can.
An All-American at Arkansas, Cappelen got off to a shaky start with a bogey on his first hole (No. 9), but promptly birdied eight of the next 15 to open up his first-round lead. Will Gray of the Golf Channel put his first round into perspective:
"It's an amazing position for the Dane, considering that he was finishing up his college career just five months ago.
Cappelen, who won the SEC individual title in 2013 while at Arkansas, turned pro following the NCAA Championships this summer and immediately headed to a Monday qualifier at the Air Capital Classic on the Web.com Tour. He made the field after surviving a 7-for-3 playoff, but he didn't stop there: Cappelen carded four straight rounds of 66 or better en route to a one-shot win, the first on the circuit for a player from Denmark.
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It's a great story, there's no doubting that. Still, Cappelen has several contenders staring him down in the rear-view mirror.
McGladrey Classic champion Robert Streb, Nick Taylor and Scott Pinckney are all two strokes back, while a slew of players—including familiar faces like Ben Curtis, David Toms and David Duval—are all three strokes behind.
And while Padraig Harrington finished the day at two-under, five strokes back of the lead, he provided one of the highlights of the day, as shared by the PGA Tour on Twitter:
That wasn't the most notable shot of the day, however, as the PGA Tour Twitter account noted:
Roger Sloan's ace helped that fan a bit more than it helped the golfer, who finished two-over for the day, tying him for 110th on the leaderboard.
Play ultimately had to be suspended due to darkness before several players could finish, and play will resume at 7:40 a.m. ET on Friday morning. You can bet the rest of the field will be waking up bright and early and devising their plan to catch up to the young Cappelen.
With a huge group of players nipping at his heels, however, the tournament will head into Friday with plenty of players in contention. For Cappelen, reaching the weekend atop or near the top of the leaderboard and retaining his momentum from Thursday will be a huge factor in his pursuit of his first PGA Tour title.
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