Rookie Cody Gribble on Sunday lifted his first PGA Tour title with a storming finish in the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Gribble, making his eighth PGA Tour start and his second as a tour member, fired a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi to notch a four-stroke victory on 20-under par 268.
England’s Greg Owen and the US’ Luke List and Chris Kirk shared second on 272.
Owen fired a 68 while List and Kirk — the highest-ranked player in the field at 76th in the world — both carded 70s after sharing the overnight lead one stroke in front of Gribble, Canadian Graham DeLaet and former US Open champion Lucas Glover.
“There’s no words right now,” said 26-year-old Gribble, who birdied five of his final eight holes.
That included three birdies on the trot at the 15th, 16th and 17th.
Gribble was a teammate of Jordan Spieth on the University of Texas team that won the national collegiate championship in 2012.
Spieth, three years younger, turned professional during his second year at the university in 2013 and two years later won the Masters and the US Open on his precocious rise to No. 1 in the world.
Gribble has followed a more meandering path. He missed four straight cuts on the Web.com tour last season before a top-five finish saw him secure his PGA Tour membership.
“It’s an unbelievable experience,” he said.
The week’s tournament was an ideal opportunity for rookies and lesser lights of the tour to shine, with the top players in the world competing at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai won by Hideki Matsuyama.
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