Garrick Higgo (-13), a true expert in taking advantage of PGA Tour events where the big stars are absent, leads the standings by one stroke at the Sanderson Farms Championship after the first two rounds. The South African, with two victories on the circuit, one this year at the Corales Puntacana Championship, aims to be the standout student of Scottie Scheffler to take a giant step in the FedEx Cup that allows him to enter the first designated events of next year.
With the 2026 and 2027 card guaranteed as a result of his latest title, Higgo is trying to put into practice everything he has been working on recently with Sean Foley, the coach he started working with in 2023 and whom he fully trusted despite the difficult beginnings, and what he could learn from the Number One in the world, with whom he shared a match in the last round of the Procore Championship, the first tournament of the autumn calendar of the circuit and the last before the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
“I learned a lot from Scheffler, I couldn’t say how much, but a lot just by watching him. He is an inspiration to all of us. He has set the bar very high. The level of skill he has is simply phenomenal. Obviously, he also has a great mindset, but it’s incredible how well he hits the ball, he’s putting very well and also has a great short game,” Higgo confessed after delivering a card of 66 strokes this Friday, with eight birdies and two bogeys, to take the lead in the standings.
Off the flagstick from 263 yards 🎯@K_M_Mitchell converts to eagle and is now one shot back from the projected cut @Sanderson_Champ.
📺 @GolfChannel pic.twitter.com/PMAVkU2E27
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 3, 2025
Eric Cole (-12) and Danny Walker (-11), two of the three players with whom he shared the lead after the first 18 holes, have managed to withstand the South African’s surge and remain in the fight. A battle that Taylor Montgomery (-12), Vince Whaley (-10), and a very dangerous opponent, South Korean Tom Kim (-10), have joined, who despite not being at his best with only one top 10 all year, at Pebble Beach, has the talent and experience, with three titles to his name, to make a strong comeback. Moreover, he needs it because he started the week on the brink of losing his card, in 99th place in the FedEx.
Virtually everyone, except for Higgo, is immersed in that double battle, the tournament and the overall standings to retain playing rights in 2026. There are also several players from the DP World Tour like Jesper Svensson (-7), Rasmus Hojgaard (-6), Thorbjorn Olesen (-6), or Thriston Lawrence (-6), who have managed to pass a tight cut at four under par and will have the weekend to continue climbing positions to earn points that could be very important for their future on the PGA Tour.
Brandt Snedeker has made 307 career cuts on the PGA TOUR … but it still means plenty.
He came *this* close to his 308th @Sanderson_Champ.
📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/GHPCDtkCv0
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 3, 2025
Other names like Molinari, Manassero, Wallace, Nicolai Hojgaard, Pavon, Valimaki, Svensson, Rozner, Noorlander, or Norgaard, among others, will have to look for a new opportunity in the next event on the calendar. Meanwhile, the blow of the day was taken by the young amateur Michael La Sasso (PAR), who after flirting with the top positions in the standings yesterday, said goodbye to the tournament today with a round of 76 strokes. Michael Thorbjornsen (-5), a star in his amateur days, also fell almost 40 places in one day, although he managed to make the cut. And Brandt Snedeker (-3) missed what would have been his 308th cut made by just one stroke, narrowly missing the birdie on his last hole…
