Most intriguing participant on the PGA Tour this week? Strive the 71-year-old

Reed Hughes laughs at himself. He’d simply completed rolling in putts all around the yard — and that’s the humorous half to him. 

“I didn’t simply have the yips all day like I usually do,” he quipped. 

Issues, although, rapidly grew to become funnier, so to say. The PGA professional had additionally simply gained the 2023 Gulf States E-Z-GO Part Championship, performed final September at Deerfield Golf Membership in Canton, Mississippi, a few half-hour north of the state’s capital, and the winner earned a spot on this 12 months’s Sanderson Farms Championship, a PGA Tour occasion that kicked off Thursday on the Nation Membership of Jackson, additionally in Mississippi. Heady stuff. Earlier this week, organizers paired Hughes with Kevin Dougherty, the fourth-longest hitter this 12 months on Tour; and Parker Coody, grandson of Masters champ Charles Coody, although he ultimately withdrew.

And Hughes? He’s performed in eight Tour occasions, the newest coming in 2007, when he missed the reduce on the Zurich Basic. Notably, his first Tour begin was the Danny Thomas Memphis Basic — performed in 1984. The U.S. president then was Ronald Reagan; there have been six since then. The highest-grossing film 40 years in the past was “Ghostbusters” — the unique one. 

Hughes, you see, is 71. 

His birthday, in keeping with the Tour’s web site, is Aug. 8, 1953. He performs out of Senatobia, Mississippi, and a 12 months in the past, he performed higher than 36 different gamers on the Gulf States E-Z-GO, capturing rounds of one-under 71 and four-under 68, to win him the Sanderson spot alongside such execs as Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland. Nationally, his story was first noticed by Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine, then Golfweek’s Cameron Jourdan and Ryan French of the Monday Q web site picked it up, and Thursday, throughout Sanderson round-one play, Hughes received some love on Golf Channel protection, together with a one-on-one interview. (Stated announcer Steve Sands playfully at one level: “Are we allowed to root within the sales space for a 71-year-old?” — to which analyst Sam Saunders replied: “I’m. I don’t care in the event you’re not. That’s spectacular proper there.”)

His begin is newsworthy, little question. 

Ought to he make the reduce, he’d be the oldest ever to take action on the PGA Tour — Jay Haas was 68 when he reached the weekend on the 2022 Zurich Basic, although that was a staff occasion, and Sam Snead was 67 when he made the reduce on the 1979 FedEx St. Jude Championship. Hughes might additionally shoot his age or higher; the final participant to do this was Arnold Palmer, who, in 2001, shot a 71 on the age of 71. (Notably, Palmer was Saunders’ grandfather.) 

Thursday, Hughes was trending towards that rating. 

He parred the 398-yard, par-4 1st, after a 255-yard tee shot that discovered the left tough, a 36-yard second shot, a 3rd shot that he dropped to 23 ft — and a one-putt. He birdied the 392-yard, par-4 2nd, after hitting his method to 11 inches. However he tripled the 552-yard, par-5 eleventh, and doubled the 148-yard, par-3 thirteenth, and he shot a four-over 76. 

There’s excellent news right here, although, within the Hughes story.  

He performs once more Friday, at 9:55 a.m. ET, alongside Dougherty, who’s 38 years youthful. 

Beneath is a take a look at Hughes performed Thursday, in keeping with the Tour’s on-line leaderboard:

1st, 398-yard par-4 (par)
Shot 1: 255 yards to the left tough, 139 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 36 yards to the left tough, 104 yards to the outlet
Shot 3: 112 yards to the left aspect of the inexperienced, 23 ft, 8 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: Within the gap

2nd, 392-yard par-4 (birdie)
Shot 1: 273 yards to the left aspect of the golf green, 123 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 123 yards to the left aspect of the inexperienced, 11 inches to the outlet
Shot 3: Within the gap

third, 581-yard par-5 (par)
Shot 1: 274 yards to the best aspect of the golf green, 305 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 228 yards to the best aspect of the golf green, 80 yards to the outlet
Shot 3: 88 yards to the best aspect of the golf green, 22 ft, 9 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: 33 ft, 2 inches to the best aspect of the inexperienced, 10 ft, 1 inch to the outlet
Shot 5: Within the gap

4th, 172-yard, par-3 (bogey)
Shot 1: 156 yards to the left aspect of the inexperienced, 60 ft, 1 inch to the outlet
Shot 2: Putt 50 ft, 7 inches, 9 ft, 5 inches to the outlet
Shot 3: Putt 11 ft, 11 inches, 2 ft to the outlet
Shot 4: Within the gap

fifth, 594-yard par-5 (birdie)
Shot 1: 273 yards to the best tough, 314 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 181 yards to the best aspect of the golf green, 133 yards to the outlet
Shot 3: 135 yards to the best aspect of the inexperienced, 5 ft, 9 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: Within the gap

sixth, 462-yard par-4 (bogey)
Shot 1: 271 yards to the best intermediate, 199 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 188 yards to the left tough, 41 ft, 3 inches to the outlet
Shot 3: 19 ft to the left tough, 23 ft, 1 inch to the outlet
Shot 4: 25 ft, 4 inches to the left aspect of the inexperienced, 3 ft, 1 inch to the outlet
Shot 5: Within the gap

seventh 216-yard par-3 (par)
Shot 1: 213 yards to the left aspect of the inexperienced, 15 ft, 6 inches to the outlet
Shot 2: Putt 14 ft, 6 inches, 12 inches to the outlet
Shot 3: Within the gap

eighth 396-yard par-4 (birdie)
Shot 1: 264 yards to the left aspect of the golf green, 131 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 139 yards to the best aspect of the golf green, 28 ft, 2 inches to the outlet
Shot 3: Within the gap

ninth, 408-yard par-4 (par)
Shot 1: 289 yards to the best tough, 121 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 132 yards to the left aspect of the inexperienced, 38 ft, 4 inches to the outlet
Shot 3: Putt 37 ft, 11 inches, 3 ft, 9 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: Within the gap

tenth, 227-yard par-3 (par)
Shot 1: 218 yards to the left fringe, 70 ft, 8 inches to the outlet
Shot 2: 70 ft, 11 inches to the best aspect of the inexperienced, 6 ft, 2 inches to the outlet
Shot 3: Within the gap

eleventh, 552-yard par-5 (triple bogey)
Shot 1: 265 yards to the best tough, 286 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 138 yards to the best aspect of the golf green, 149 yards to the outlet
Shot 3: 137 yards to the best water, 43 ft, 5 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: Penalty
Drop in the best aspect of the golf green, 124 yards to the outlet
Shot 5: 129 yards to the left aspect of the golf green, 50 ft, 11 inches to the outlet
Shot 6: 42 ft, 2 inches to the best aspect of the inexperienced, 8 ft, 9 inches to the outlet
Shot 7: Putt 10 ft, 8 inches, 20 inches to the outlet
Shot 8: Within the gap

twelfth, 428-yard par-4 (par)
Shot 1: 301 yards to the best aspect of the golf green, 127 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 132 yards to the best aspect of the golf green, 16 ft, 1 inch to the outlet
Shot 3: 15 ft, 11 inches to the best aspect of the inexperienced, 13 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: Within the gap

thirteenth, 148-yard par-3 (double bogey)
Shot 1: 150 yards to the left tough, 25 ft, 7 inches to the outlet
Shot 2: 16 ft, 7 inches to the left aspect of the inexperienced, 9 ft to the outlet
Shot 3: Putt 13 ft, 7 inches, 4 ft, 3 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: Putt 5 ft, 10 inches, 15 inches to the outlet
Shot 5: Within the gap

14th, 572-yard par-5 (birdie)
Shot 1: 266 yards to the best tough, 308 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 217 yards to the left aspect of the golf green, 91 yards to the outlet
Shot 3: 91 yards to the best aspect of the inexperienced, 20 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: Within the gap

fifteenth 318-yard par-4 (par)
Shot 1: 274 yards to the best aspect of the golf green, 45 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 52 yards to the left aspect of the golf green, 21 ft, 2 inches to the outlet
Shot 3: 22 ft, 5 inches to the best aspect of the inexperienced, 12 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: Within the gap

sixteenth 449-yard par-4 (bogey)
Shot 1: 295 yards to the best aspect of the golf green, 157 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 162 yds to the best aspect of the inexperienced, 40 ft, 5 inches to the outlet
Shot 3: Putt 46 ft, 5 inches, 5 ft, 8 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: Putt 8 ft, 7 inches, 2 ft, 6 inches to the outlet
Shot 5: Within the gap

seventeenth 438-yard par-4 (par)
Shot 1: 273 yards to the left tough, 166 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 180 yards to the left tough, 59 ft, 10 inches to the outlet
Shot 3: 58 ft, 8 inches to the best aspect of the inexperienced, 4 ft, 11 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: Within the gap

18th 480-yard par-4 (par)
Shot 1: 270 yards to the left aspect of the golf green, 210 yards to the outlet
Shot 2: 221 yards to the best aspect of the inexperienced, 54 ft, 9 inches to the outlet
Shot 3: Putt 53 ft, 22 inches to the outlet
Shot 4: Within the gap

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Journal. In his function, he’s liable for enhancing, writing and creating tales throughout the golf area. And when he’s not writing about methods to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native might be taking part in the sport, hitting the ball left, proper and quick, and ingesting a chilly beer to scrub away his rating. You’ll be able to attain out to him about any of those matters — his tales, his sport or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.