By Billy Watkins
It was meant to be. It had to be.
Luke List holed a 45-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole late Sunday afternoon at the Country Club of Jackson to win the Sanderson Farms Championship. He defeated four others on the extra hole.
This tournament is known for raising millions for Children’s of Mississippi in Jackson, the only hospital in the state solely dedicated to caring for kids with serious illnesses.
List and his wife, Chloe, know what care centers such as these can mean to a family. Their son, Harrison, was born prematurely in 2022 and eventually wound up spending nearly two weeks in ICU at Children’s Hospital of Georgia while battling RSV, a respiratory virus.
List admits it was “touch and go” for a while.
But Harrison pulled through and was at the course Sunday — along with his mom and sister Ryann — to greet his dad on the 18th green after the victory.
“The game gives us so much in these moments and this platform,” List said, “but ultimately it’s using our exposure and our platform to give back to those that need it.”
It was his second win on the PGA Tour. A runner-up here in 2016, List has always enjoyed coming to Jackson. He said the Sanderson Farms is “one of the best tournaments we play all year.”
“I like this golf course,” List said. “(Tournament executive director) Steve Jent is such a fantastic guy, and he works so hard to get the field as good as he can. This tournament is so sleepy under the radar.”
Among List’s winning benefits: A paycheck of $1.476 million and an invitation to The Masters next April in Augusta, Ga., where he and his family reside.
List, who played college golf at Vanderbilt, trailed third-round leader Ben Griffin by four shots entering Sunday. Griffin shot a 2-over 74 in regulation.
Three others — Ludvig Aberg, Scott Stallings and Henrik Norlander — also made the playoff.
Aberg’s four rounds of 67, 69m 66 and 68, were particularly impressive. He was part of Europe’s emotional Ryder Cup victory one week ago Sunday in Italy, then flew to Jackson to keep his commitment to play here.
Prior to the tournament, Aberg (pronounced oh-bear) said he was hoping his age (23) would help battle jet lag.
“For me to kind of come over here to play after Rome was something that I wanted to do, and obviously I think the round on Thursday kind of set the pace a little bit,” he said following the playoff. “It was nice to see a good score coming in, and then I just kept going. Luckily, today I found myself quite close to the lead coming down the stretch.”
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