Cody Gribble, one of Jordan Spieth’s teammates on Texas’ NCAA championship team in 2012, won the Sanderson Farms Championship on Sunday in only his second start as a PGA Tour member.
Gribble, 26, closed with a bogey-free seven-under par 65 at the Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Miss., and won by four. With a Spieth-like putting performance, he birdied five of his last eight holes, including three in a row at holes 15 through 17. He also played his last 56 holes with only a single bogey.
“There’s no words right now," Gribble said. "It’s an unbelievable experience. It was pretty rough toward the end of the year on the Web Tour, but I caught fire at the right time.”
After missing four straight cuts near the end of the Web.com Tour season, he tied for fifth in the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship to earn his PGA Tour membership.
After opening with a one-over par 73 in the Sanderson Farms, he played himself back into the tournament with scores of 63 and 67 in the following two rounds. He finished at 19-under par 269. Fifty-four hole leaders Luke List and Chris Kirk, as well as Greg Owen, tied for second at 273.
In his first start as a member of the tour, Gribble tied for eighth in the Safeway Open.
Spieth and Gribble were friends and rivals in junior golf circles in the Dallas area, despite a three-year age difference. Spieth, in fact, caddied for Gribble in a U.S. Amateur qualifier 2007. The two often play together when they’re in town.
The best of Golf Digest delivered daily
Sign UpWill be used in accordance with our PRIVACY POLICY