Pro Golf Now
Fansided

Sanderson Farms Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Country Club of Jackson

By Mike Randleman

JACKSON, MS - OCTOBER 30: The trophy during the Final Round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson on October 30, 2016 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
JACKSON, MS - OCTOBER 30: The trophy during the Final Round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson on October 30, 2016 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 11
Next
PUNTA CANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – SEPTEMBER 27: Hudson Swafford poses with the trophy after putting in to win on the 18th green during the final round of the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship on September 27, 2020 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
PUNTA CANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – SEPTEMBER 27: Hudson Swafford poses with the trophy after putting in to win on the 18th green during the final round of the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship on September 27, 2020 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Hudson Swafford didn’t exactly come out of nowhere to win the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. He was already a PGA Tour winner at the 2017 Careerbuilder Challenge.

The 33 year old did break a trend of bad form to win the title by one over Tyler McCumber.

Swafford’s poor results can be excused by a rib injury that’s plagued him the last couple years. He only had a few events left on a medical exemption, so winning this week to earn him two more years on Tour is humungous.

Swafford said he’d see good things in practice but couldn’t convert it to the course. The birth of his first child recently seems to have changed his perspective for the better.

He kept working and it paid off.

“So I got back to doing a bit of work with my buddy (and sports psychologist) Bhrett McCabe and he got me back on the straight and narrow, being like a kid and having fun again,” Swafford was quoted by Tee Scripts. “He’s like, “If you keep thinking about a medical, you’re not going to keep your card anyway, so you might as well go out and have fun. You know your game’s good, you know your stuff’s good, it’s going to show up. Just commit to the process and have fun and see what happens.”

Swafford was the only player in the 60s all four days (65-67-69-69) and led by multiple shots most of Sunday. The former Georgia Bulldog ranked 26th or better in the main statistical categories, including fifth in putts per green in regulation (1.647), 13th in driving distance (303) and T-14th in driving accuracy (78.57%).

The question is if he can keep it up. The win was his third made cut in eight events since the pandemic, two being Korn Ferry Tour events. The next highest result was T-30th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Swafford did have some good form going in the winter with T-9th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T-21st at the Honda Classic.

The Floridian an Sea Island, Georgia, resident should be comfortable playing a southern course like the Country Club of Jackson. Bermuda greens are far from foreign.

Swafford won’t win two weeks in a row, but look for him to get into the mix against another weak field.

Home/Golf Power Rankings