Sam Ryder part of 4-way lead at Sanderson Farms Championship

The Ryder Cup may be in the rearview mirror, but now the name Ryder is on top of a PGA Tour leaderboard.

Sam Ryder shot a bogey-free, 7-under-par 65 to open the Sanderson Farms Championship and is part of a four-way tie for the lead Thursday at the Country Club of Jackson (Miss.).

Eric Cole, Danny Walker and South African Garrick Higgo are also at 65 after the first round. They have a two-shot lead over a large tie for fifth at 5-under 67 that includes Max Homa and defending champion Kevin Yu of Taiwan.

Amateur Michael La Sasso, the NCAA individual champion from Ole Miss, originally finished with a 6-under-par 66. However, he was assessed a two-stroke penalty on the sixth hole for improving his lie, turning that into a 4-under 68.

The course finishes with four consecutive par-4 holes, and Ryder birdied three of them, including a 29 1/2-foot putt at No. 17. At No. 18, he missed the fairway left but stuck his recovery shot to 6 feet of the pin.

"It was definitely the old kind of no-pictures-on-the-scorecard kind of day for me," Ryder said. "Wasn't really thinking too much about it. I was just trying to focus on the next shot. I felt like things were right there, so I didn't really lose a lot of confidence, even though I wasn't really hitting it great."

Following the Ryder Cup last week, the PGA Tour resumed its FedEx Cup Fall series to determine the top 100 players who'll retain full tour cards for 2026. Walker (No. 104) and Ryder (No. 110) were among the players who entered this week outside the top 100.

"I'm very aware where I'm at. You know it all year," Ryder said. "You get a text every single week that tells you exactly where you are on FedEx. You can't hide from it."

Cole overcame a bogey on the opening hole and a double bogey at No. 16 by making 10 birdies, including at six in his final eight holes. The up-and-down day was not unlike his year at large.

"I've had some good stuff in there for sure," Cole said of his season. "Also haven't played my best at times. So it's kind of been a little bit hit or miss. So there is definitely some signs I'm going in the right direction, and then I would kind of drop off a little bit, so there is good and bad I would say."

Higgo, who started on the back nine and birdied five of his first seven holes, has returned to the tour after missing time due to a torn hip labrum.

"I feel pretty confident, but I'm trying to play the long game, as well, trying to get ready for next year and have a good next year and play some (signature events)," Higgo said.

Higgo is not battling for his tour card, as he earned a two-year exemption when he won the Corales Puntacana Championship in April. The same goes for Homa, whose status is safe through 2028 thanks to a string of wins he had from 2021-23.

Homa is concluding a tough season that landed him No. 107 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings entering this week.

"Top 100 would guarantee me The Players (Championship)," Homa told Golf Channel mid-round. "I'd like to win because winning's good. I would also like to finish top 100 just out of pride."

The top 50 players at the end of last season are already locked in for all signature events in 2026. Those who finish the fall Nos. 51-60 will qualify for the first two signature events of 2026.

There were two holes-in-one Thursday, both at the 183-yard fourth hole. Matt Kuchar rolled one in during his 4-under round of 68 after Denmark's Niklas Norgaard holed one on his way to shooting even-par 72.

--Field Level Media