First-Time PGA Tour Winner Emerges After Back-Nine Battle at Sanderson Farms

Rookie Steven Fisk made two clutch birdies on the final two holes to claim a win that was bigger than golf for him and his caddie.

Steven Fisk earned his maiden PGA Tour win in his 24th start. / Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It was a dazzling golf battle. 

Steven Fisk and Garrick Higgo, playing together in the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship, were going hole for hole. But tied for the lead on the Country Club of Jackson’s 17th tee box, Fish sealed the deal, finishing with two birdies for his maiden PGA Tour title. 

MORE: Final results, payouts from Sanderson Farms Championship

“I came out today with an attitude that nothing was going to stop me from what I wanted, no matter what happened, no matter what shots I hit,” said Fisk, who finished at 24 under par with a final-round 8-under 64. “I just felt like I’d be standing right here, right now [victorious on the 18th green] before today started.”

Fisk began the day two back of Higgo’s lead. At the turn, he was one back, before Higgo bogeyed Nos. 10 and 11. Then, a match-play-esque battle between the two began. 

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Higgo, a 26-year-old South African and two-time Tour winner, rattled off four consecutive birdies between Nos. 13 and 16, burying an 11-footer. Fisk, however, matched it with a 41-footer to stay tied for the lead. 

The 28-year-old followed that by hitting his approach from 102 yards to 2 feet (as Higgo missed a 3-footer for birdie) and then knocking his second shot on the final hole from 152 yards to 3 feet. 

Clutch, indeed. 

Cookin' on the course down the stretch 🔥

Steven Fisk and Garrick Higgo match birdies on 16 and are tied with two holes to play @Sanderson_Champ.

📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/IN4iIG1mFn

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 5, 2025

“The one on 17 is just kind of exactly how we saw it riding the wind in there,” Fisk said. “With as windy as it was, it’s a little lucky for it to be as close as it did. 

“Eighteen, I’ll be honest, I pulled it a little bit. I wasn’t quite going left of that pin, but it worked out really good.”

Fisk, who entered the week 183rd in the world, is in his rookie season and had struggled, ranked 145th in the FedEx Cup standings with the top 100 after the fall series securing a Tour card for 2026. The Sanderson Farms was the second of seven autumn events, which presents a final chance for players to finish inside the top 100.  

Now, though, Fisk is exempt through 2027. 

This victory meant more than securing a trophy or Tour card. Fisk lost his father earlier this year, and his caddie, Jay Green, formerly looped for Grayson Murray, who died last year. 

“I think [my father] nudged a couple putts in for me for sure, maybe him or Grayson,” Fisk said. “I had a couple of helpers out there. I miss him very much, and I know he’d be really proud of how I played all week and especially today to keep my composure and just kind of go about my business the best way I know how. 

“I’d like to think that he knew this day would happen.”