Davis Riley calls Sanderson Farms Championship fifth major

JACKSON, Miss. – Davis Riley thinks highly of the Sanderson Farms Championship.

The 25-year-old from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, has a home game this week at The Country Club of Jackson, situated about an hour and a half from Riley’s hometown. It’s a place he played when he was in middle school competing for his high school team and is now playing against the best golfers in the world.

And as far as how important it is to him? Very.

“Anytime I can get close to home and be back in Mississippi, it’s special,” Riley said. “(The) Sanderson Farms was one of the first tournaments that I got one of my first PGA starts at, so it’s always had a special place in my heart. This is my fifth major, so it’s definitely one I’ve had chalked up on the calendar and would like to have a chance to win at one day.”

Move over, TPC Sawgrass and The Players. The Country Club of Jackson and the Sanderson Farms Championship is the new fifth major.

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Jokes aside, Riley will make his fourth start at the Sanderson Farms Championship come Thursday when he tees off at 1:50 p.m. ET. In 2019, he made the cut and shot 7-under 281 in his debut. The last two years, however, Riley has missed the cut.

Riley made the BMW Championship in the FedEx Cup Playoffs during his rookie year, and he nearly got into East Lake, but a poor opening round put him behind the field for the Tour Championship.

Now in a new PGA Tour season, Riley missed the cut at the Fortinet Championship two weeks ago, but he’s back at a place he has won before, though it was on a different stage. Now he wants to replicate that prior success.

“I will have a bunch of friends out and a bunch of family,” Riley said. “It definitely is a special tournament. Just anytime you can play in front of a home crowd and your family is really special. There’s definitely a little extra motivation there to do well. You just don’t want to put too much pressure on yourself, but you do want to perform. I think that’s the biggest thing is just taking it day by day and trying to ride some of that hometown momentum a little bit.”