Here’s how a 71-year-old qualified for a PGA Tour event and here’s how he played in the first round

Having not played in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in 12 years and in a PGA Tour tournament in 17 years, Reed Hughes didn’t have much in the way of expectations Thursday in the opening round of the Sanderson Farms Championship. That and the fact that he is 71 years old relegated him to just enjoying the moment rather than trying to seize it.

Hughes qualified for the event via his victory in the 2023 Gulf States Section championship when a final-round 68 at Deerfield Golf Club in Canton, Miss., yielded a surprising four-stroke victory and an exemption into the PGA Tour event. His last start in any tour-affiliated event was the 2012 Senior PGA Championship.

The last of his eight career regular tour appearances came at the 2007 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. His first came in the 1984 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic. He never has made a cut in a PGA Tour tournament.

Though his section title occurred more than a year ago, Hughes held his own at the Country Club of Jackson by going out in one-under 35 with three birdies and two bogeys. A triple bogey at the par-5 11th and a double bogey at the par-3 13th sent him careening down the leaderboard, but he was far from out of his depth, ending with a four-over 76.

And he took his struggles in stride, granting Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis an interview as he played the 12th hole.

“I’ve got a lot of people pulling for me. That’s the biggest thing,” said Hughes, who lives in Senatobia, Miss., and works at Grenada Golf and Racquet Club. “They feel better than I can do. I’m trying hard. I won the [section] tournament last year to get in here, and I was playing a lot better than now. I’m kind of struggling with my game. I’ve done better than I figured I was going to do.”

Just a few weeks ago, Hughes defended his section title at Money Hill Golf & Country Club in Covington, La., and finished a respectable T-11.

Asked how he might inspire others with his play this week, Hughes said: “I hope I keep inspiring them to keep playing. Golf is something you play for your lifetime. It’s been fun, all my students I’ve had in the past, wishing me luck, that’s pretty good.”

Golf Channel gave Hughes plenty of airtime in the closing stretch of its first-round coverage. He was paired with Parker Coody and Kevin Dougherty, but Coody withdrew after a two-under 34 in the outward nine, citing a wrist injury.

England’s David Skinns leads after shooting a 12-under 60. His birdie putt from nine feet on the last hole missed just low of the cup for a 59.