The most interesting player on the PGA Tour this week? Try the 71 year old

Reed Hughes laughs at himself. He had just finished puttingts all over the yard – and that’s the funny part for him.

“I didn’t have the yips all day like I usually do,” he laughed.

However, things quickly turned ridiculous. The PGA pro also just won the 2023 Gulf States EZ-GO Section Championship, played last September at Deerfield Golf Club in Canton, Mississippi, about half an hour north of the state capital, with the winner earning a spot in this year’s Sanderson. The Farms Championship, a PGA Tour event that began Thursday at the Country Club of Jackson, also in Mississippi. Heady things. Earlier this week, organizers matched Hughes with Kevin Dougherty, who is the fourth-tallest player on Tour this year; and Parker Coody, grandson of Masters champion Charles Coody, though he eventually withdrew.

And Hughes? He has played in eight Tour events, the most recent in 2007, where he missed out on a medal at the Zurich Classic. Notably, his first tour start was the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic – played in 1984. The US president at the time was Ronald Reagan; it’s been six since then. The highest grossing movie of the last 40 years was “Ghostbusters” – the first one.

Hughes, you see, is 71 years old.

His birthday, according to the Tour’s website, is August 8, 1953. He plays in Senatobia, Mississippi, and last year, he bested 36 other players in the Gulf States EZ-GO, shooting one under par. 71 and four-under 68, to earn Sanderson a place alongside pros like Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland. Nationally, his story was first seen by Golf Station Brentley Romine, then Golfweek’s Cameron Jourdan and Ryan French of the team Monday Q The website got it, and on Thursday, during Sanderson’s round, Hughes got some love from the Golf Channel’s coverage, including a one-on-one interview. (Announcer Steve Sands joked at one point: “Are we allowed to root for a 71-year-old?” — to which commentator Sam Saunders responded: “I am. I don’t care if . It’s amazing right there.”)

His debut is good news, no doubt.

If he does decide, he will be the oldest player to do so on the PGA Tour — Jay Haas was 68 when he reached the weekend at the 2022 Zurich Classic, though that was a team event, and Sam Snead was 67 when he won the 1979 FedEx St. Jude Championship. Hughes could shoot his age or better; the last player to do that was Arnold Palmer, who, in 2001, shot 71 at the age of 71. (Notably, Palmer was Saunders’ grandfather.)

On Thursday, Hughes was trending toward that outcome.

He equaled the 398-yard, par-4 1st, after a 255-yard tee shot left, a 36-yard second shot, a 23-foot third shot — and a one-putt. He birdied the 392-yard, par-4 2nd, after reaching 11 inches. But he tripled the 552-yard, 5 11th, and doubled the 148-yard, par-3 13th, and shot a four-over 76.

There is good news here, however, in Hughes’ case.

He plays again Friday, at 9:55 a.m. ET, next to Dougherty, who is 38 years younger.

Below is a look at Hughes’ play on Thursday, according to the tour’s online leaderboard:

1st, 398-yard par-4 (par)
1 shot: 255 yards to the left, 139 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 36 yards to the left, 104 yards to the hole
Shot 3: 112 yards to the left side of the green, 23 feet, 8 inches to the hole
Shot 4: In the hole

2nd, 392-yard par-4 (birdie)
Shot 1: 273 yards to the left side of the fairway, 123 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 123 yards to the left side of the green, 11 inches to the hole
Shot 3: In the hole

3rd, 581-yard par-5 (par)
Shot 1: 274 yards to the right of the fairway, 305 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 228 yards to the right of the fairway, 80 yards to the hole
Shot 3: 88 yards to the right of the fairway, 22 feet, 9 inches to the hole
Shot 4: 33 feet, 2 inches to right of green, 10 feet, 1 inch to hole
Shot 5: In the hole

4, 172-yard, par-3 (bogey)
Shot 1: 156 yards to the left side of the green, 60 feet, 1 inch to the hole
Shot 2: Putt 50 feet, 7 inches, 9 feet, 5 inches to the hole
Shot 3: Putt 11 feet, 11 inches, 2 feet from the hole
Shot 4: In the hole

5th, 594-yard par-5 (birdie)
Shot 1: 273 yards to rough right, 314 yards to hole
Shot 2: 181 yards to the right of the fairway, 133 yards to the hole
Shot 3: 135 yards to the right of the green, 5 feet, 9 inches to the hole
Shot 4: In the hole

6th, 462-yard par-4 (bogey)
Shot 1: 271 yards to right of center, 199 yards to hole
Shot 2: 188 yards to the left, 41 feet, 3 inches to the hole
Shot 3: 19 feet to the left, 23 feet, 1 inch to the hole
Shot 4: 25 feet, 4 inches left side of green, 3 feet, 1 inch hole
Shot 5: In the hole

7th 216-yard par-3 (par)
Shot 1: 213 yards to the left side of the green, 15 feet, 6 inches to the hole
Shot 2: Putt 14 feet, 6 inches, 12 inches from the hole
Shot 3: In the hole

8th 396-yard par-4 (birdie)
Shot 1: 264 yards to the left side of the fairway, 131 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 139 yards to the right of the fairway, 28 feet, 2 inches to the hole
Shot 3: In the hole

9th, 408-yard par-4 (par)
1 shot: 289 yards to rough right, 121 yards to hole
Shot 2: 132 yards to the left side of the green, 38 feet, 4 inches to the hole
Shot 3: Putt 37 feet, 11 inches, 3 feet, 9 inches to the hole
Shot 4: In the hole

10, 227-yard par-3 (par)
Shot 1: 218 yards to the left fringe, 70 feet, 8 inches to the hole
Shot 2: 70 feet, 11 inches to the right side of the green, 6 feet, 2 inches to the hole
Shot 3: In the hole

11th, 552-yard par-5 (triple bogey)
1 shot: 265 yards to right fairway, 286 yards to hole
Shot 2: 138 yards to the right of the fairway, 149 yards to the hole
Shot 3: 137 yards to right fairway, 43 feet, 5 inches to hole
Shot 4: Penalty
It goes down the right side of the fairway, 124 yards to the hole
Shot 5: 129 yards to the left side of the fairway, 50 feet, 11 inches to the hole
Shot 6: 42 feet, 2 inches to the right side of the green, 8 feet, 9 inches to the hole
Shot 7: Putt 10 feet, 8 inches, 20 inches from the hole
Shot 8: In the pit

12, 428-yard section-4 (par.)
Shot 1: 301 yards to the right of the fairway, 127 yards to the hole
2 shot: 132 yards right of fairway, 16 feet, 1 inch to hole
Shot 3: 15 feet, 11 inches to the right side of the green, 13 inches to the hole
Shot 4: In the hole

13, 148-yard par-3 (double bogey)
Shot 1: 150 yards to the left, 25 feet, 7 inches to the hole
Shot 2: 16 feet, 7 inches left side of green, 9 feet to hole
Shot 3: Putt 13 feet, 7 inches, 4 feet, 3 inches to the hole
Shot 4: Place 5 feet, 10 inches, 15 inches from the hole
Shot 5: In the hole

14, 572-yard par-5 (birdie)
Shot 1: 266 yards to rough right, 308 yards to hole
Shot 2: 217 yards to the left side of the fairway, 91 yards to the hole
Shot 3: 91 yards to the right side of the green, 20 inches to the hole
Shot 4: In the hole

15th 318-yard par-4 (par)
Shot 1: 274 yards to the right of the fairway, 45 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 52 yards to the left side of the fairway, 21 feet, 2 inches to the hole
Shot 3: 22 feet, 5 inches to the right of the green, 12 inches to the hole
Shot 4: In the hole

16th 449-yard par-4 (bogey)
Shot 1: 295 yards to the right of the fairway, 157 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 162 yds to the right of the green, 40 feet, 5 inches to the hole
Shot 3: Putt 46 feet, 5 inches, 5 feet, 8 inches to the hole
Shot 4: Putt 8 feet, 7 inches, 2 feet, 6 inches to the hole
Shot 5: In the hole

17th 438-yard par-4 (par)
1 shot: 273 yards to the left, 166 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 180 yards to the left, 59 feet, 10 inches to the hole
Shot 3: 58 feet, 8 inches to the right side of the green, 4 feet, 11 inches to the hole
Shot 4: In the hole

18th 480-yard par-4 (par)
Shot 1: 270 yards to the left side of the fairway, 210 yards to the hole
Shot 2: 221 yards to the right of the green, 54 feet, 9 inches to the hole
Shot 3: Putt 53 feet, 22 inches from the hole
Shot 4: In the hole

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for planning, writing and promoting news on the golf course. And when he’s not writing about how to hit the golf ball forward and straight, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash down his scores. You can contact him about any of these topics – his news, his game or his beer – at nick.piastowski@golf.com.