Cody Gribble

First Appearance Qualifying win: Sanderson Farms Championship

Cody Gribble is making his first appearance at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in his rookie season on the PGA TOUR thanks to his win in November at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Gribble, 26, is a recent graduate of the Web.com Tour, where a T5 in the Web.com Tour Finals secured his PGA TOUR card for the 2016-17 season.

The native Texan opened with a 1-over-par 73 at the Country Club of Jackson, but he responded with a second-round 63 to jump from a tie for 101st to a tie for eighth. The steady play continued on the weekend with rounds of 67-65 to win by four strokes over Chris Kirk, Luke List and Greg Owen. Gribble’s bogey-free performance on Sunday was highlighted by birdies on holes 15, 16 and 17, which served as the exclamation mark on his maiden victory.

When asked about where his clutch play down the stretch ranks among the best golf he has played in his career, Gribble said: “It’s up there. To be under that circumstance, it’s probably one of the best. I think that I put in a lot of work with my wedges in the last year and a half, and to finally see that really pay off the way it did is something I’ll hold for a long time.”