Cappelen Soars in Sanderson Farms Championship


Sebastian Cappelen is setting the pace in the Sanderson Farms Championship. The 24-year-old from Denmark fired a 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead in the $4 million PGA Tour event at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi.

In his PGA Tour debut, Cappelen posted eight birdies and a bogey for a two-stroke lead over Americans Robert Streb and Scott Pinkney, and Canada's Nick Taylor.

Cappelen is playing on a sponsor's exemption this week. After wrapping up his collegiate career at Arkansas by winning the individual SEC title, he turned pro following the NCAA Championships this summer.

He won his Web.com Tour debut at the Air Capital Classic in Wichita, Kans. But Cappelen didn't earn his PGA Tour card, missing the cut in the Web.com's season-ending Portland Open and forfeiting the 25th and final spot to Kyle Reifers.

"I'm so happy, I couldn't be happier," Cappelen said during a TV interview about his round Thursday. "I came here just trying to get a new experience, trying to get a feel for how it feels to play on the real tour. I had a great time out there today and hit a lot of great shots. It was fun. I'll try to just keep that going, take that with me into tomorrow."

Even if he doesn't end up becoming the first player to win his PGA Tour debut since Jim Benepe at the 1988 Western Open, Cappelen said the competition will provide a boost to his budding career as a touring pro. "I just want to have the experience," he added.

"It's hard to make this one start count in the right way. So I'm going to take this as experience, hopefully for the future, because I would like to join (the PGA Tour) next year."

Three behind the leader following 68s are Americans John Rollins, Jason Bohn, Alex Prugh, William McGirt, Andres Gonzales, Ben Curtis, David Toms and David Duvall, along with South Korea's Charlie Wi.

Defending champion Woody Austin posted a 70. The 50-year-old, who spends most of his time now on Champions Tour, recorded four birdies and two bogeys Thursday. Last year at Annandale Golf Club in Madison, Miss., Austin - at age 49 - became the eighth-oldest winner in PGA Tour history.

Peter Uihlein of Massachusetts, a regular on the European Tour, also opened with a 70.

The tournament in Mississippi is being held opposite the PGA Tour's $8.5 million WGC-HSBC Champions in China, where most of the world's top-ranked players are competing.

For all the scores in the Sanderson Farms Championship, visit http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/sanderson-farms-championship/leaderboard.html.