Five players finished atop the leaderboard at 18-under at the Sanderson Farms Championship Sunday. But, it only took one extra hole to declare a winner.
In the playoff, Ludvig Aberg gave Luke List an excellent read by missing his lengthy birdie putt. The 38-year-old List then sunk his 43-foot birdie putt in miraculous fashion, sending fans and his family into euphoria. This victory gave him his second PGA Tour victory.
List had his ups and downs on Sunday. He made the turn at even par with two bogeys and two birdies. On the back nine, he made two more birdies to enter the clubhouse at 18-under.
The two-time PGA Tour winner likely didn’t think it would be enough as he gave away his hat to a fan at the event.
However, Ben Griffin bogeyed two of his last three holes, prompting a five-man playoff to decide the winner.
It was the first playoff of this size since 2017. The officials thought it would go much longer than it did, which would have forced the tournament into Monday. Instead, List made an unbelievably putt when it mattered most.
Griffin was in control of the tournament throughout until the final few holes.
“It’s just emotional. They [His support system] wanted me to win probably more than I wanted to,” Griffin said as he teared up. “But it’s just a bummer. But I’m so happy to have all of them in my life. They have my back, and I know I’m going to be back.”
His late blowup allowed List, Aberg, Scott Stallings and Henrik Norlander to join him in a 5-man playoff.
Aberg was coming off his Ryder Cup trip, where he played beautifully. He posted four rounds in the 60s at the Sanderson Farms Championship, going 67-69-66-68. The rookie made an eagle on the par-5 11th and birdie on the par-4 15th to get to that 18-under number.
He had a similar putt for birdie on the first playoff hole as List but didn’t hit the right line. The ball didn’t break like it needed to. List saw that and took advantage of the opportunity.
Griffin, Stallings and Norlander all had looks, but none of them could get the ball to drop into the hole.
The second event of the FedEx Cup Fall series is over as List shoots up to No. 61 in the points. Meanwhile, Griffin moved up to No. 51 and into the Next 10.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
