Imagine this: A professional golfer who is a really bad putter -- like, really bad -- listens to a self-help audiobook about putting midway through a golf tournament. Suddenly, his putting improves dramatically and, amazingly, he wins the tournament!
It sounds like another one of those far-fetched, cheesy, feel-good sports movies.
Except it really happened.
PGA Tour rookie Steven Fisk birdied the final three holes, four of the last five and a whopping nine on the day to win the Sanderson Farms Championship on Sunday in Jackson, Miss., for his first PGA Tour victory. He shot an 8-under 64 to overtake Garrick Higgo, who shot a 68.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner 🐔 pic.twitter.com/TG8BXKLl4U
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 5, 2025
The 28-year-old from Georgia Southern qualified for the PGA Tour after finishing fourth on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024. Through 23 mostly unsuccessful starts this season, he ranked 160th in Strokes Gained: Putting, out of 165 golfers. Ouch.
At the Sanderson Farms Championship, Fisk's putting improved greatly every day. He ranked 129th in the field in SG: Putting in the first round. Okay, business as usual. But he ranked 36th in the second round and sixth in the third round. He was asked Saturday about the improved putting.
"Yeah, it was better," Fisk told reporters at the Country Club of Jackson. "I think it's been a bit of a long year on the greens specifically, but I'm starting to see a couple better things."
Fisk didn't quite tell the whole story there. After ranking third in the field in putting on Sunday and, cumulatively T13 for the week, he shared more in his victory news conference.
"I was thinking about this this morning," Fisk said, "but I've struggled on the greens this year a lot, and I've been talking to my sports psychologist for a long time about putting.
"He wanted me to read "Putting Out of Your Mind" by Dr. [Bob] Rotella, and I of course downloaded the audiobook Friday night this week and listened to a little bit of it.
"I don't know, it just kind of helped me focus on the right things. It was Chapter 2 or 3, just be really target-oriented and not worry about anything else and just believe that it's going to be a good putt and have a chance to go in."
See, it's like out of a movie.
Fisk really had been quite good in his first year on Tour in every way but putting. In all the other strokes-gained metrics he ranked top-50, which is excellent, including top-20 in SG: Tee-to-Green -- which is borderline elite.
Still, there were hardly any good results to show for it. He had had one top-10 -- in an opposite-field event -- and four top-25s. Two of those were in alternate events, one in the Zurich Classic team competition and one in a very weak Mexico Open.
Now, with the win, Fisk moved from 135th position in the FedExCup Standings -- far outside the top 100 needed to keep his PGA Tour card -- to 65th. He'd still like to get into the top 60 to qualify for the first two Signature Events next year at Pebble Beach and Riviera, but that would just be gravy.
As it is, the 2019 runner-up to Matthew Wolff in the 2019 NCAA Division I individual championship will get into the Sentry, THE PLAYERS and the PGA Championship. Unfortunately for him, the new Masters qualifying criteria won't get him into Augusta National in April. Not that he can't do more over the next six months to try to qualify. He's up to 91st in the OWGR and a getting into the top 50 by year's end would do the trick.
As nice as that would be, knowing where you'll be playing for the next two years is ultimately more important.
"I mean, it's job security," Fisk said. "I think I mentioned in another interview earlier that we all think we're good enough to compete out here and to win, and to come out here today and play like I did, and finally I truly know that I'm good enough to be a PGA Tour winner is really cool."
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Garrick Higgo
Higgo didn't do anything wrong; he just got beat by a hot golfer. The South African left-hander was bidding for his second win of the season -- he won the alternate event at Puntacana. Still, he moved from 88th in the standings to 62nd, and everyone finishing between 51st and 60th after the 2025 season will get into the first two Signature Events. So even though Higgo's card is safe, he still has something to play for. He will be heading to Japan for this week's Baycurrent Classic, formerly known as the ZOZO Championship.
Rasmus Hojgaard
A member of the winning European Ryder Cup team, Hojgaard tied for third. He moved from 87th in points to 75th. Even though he missed out on much of the debauchery on the plane ride home to Europe, it couldn't have been easy to regroup and play such a lesser golf tournament so quickly, much less play so well. He moved up to 43rd in the OWGR.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
After a bad season in which he missed the playoffs, Bezuidenhout tied for sixth. He moved from 76th to 72nd in points, so his card is safe. Like his South African countryman Higgo, Bezuidenhout is off to Japan for the Baycurrent Classic.
Frankie Capan III
Capan also shared sixth place. He moved from 157th in points to 137th. While that may not seem like much, finishing in the top 150 offers conditional status, which is not great but a whole lot better than not having it.
Taylor Montgomery
Once ranked 51st in the world, it's been a down period for Montgomery. He was lurking close to that No. 150 threshold (147th) but his tie for sixth moved him to 129th in the standings. Really, he hasn't been able to do anything but putt this season. He's ranked second. At the Sanderson, he needed only 94 putts across 72 holes. That's the fewest putts of anyone in a tournament this season.
Tom Kim
Kim tied for 11th, one of his better finishes this year. He moved from 99th to 92nd in points, but even though he missed the playoffs he's got his card through next year as a previous tournament winner.
Kevin Yu
The defending champion did well, tying for 11th. Yu made the playoffs, but he'd still like to get into the top 60. He's on the brink, moving from 65th in points to 61st.
Victor Perez
Perez continues a late-season push to try to keep his card. He tied for 11th, and that inched him up from 111th to 104th in points.
Max Homa
Homa continued to play better. He tied for 18th to notch his second top-20 in the first two fall-series events. It moved him from 107th to 99th in points. It means nothing from one standpoint because the multiple-time tournament winner is exempt for next season. But Homa has said it's important for him to finish inside the top 100 regardless. With that kind of drive, we can expect Homa to at least be better next season than he's been this season.
Luke Clanton
The 21-year-old who burst on the scene last year while still an amateur is struggling. Tying for 29th this week was actually one of his better showings in 14 starts. Clanton doesn't have to worry about his 2026 card because he finished on top of the PGA Tour University points race. But has missed five cuts in those 14 starts with only two top-25s -- and neither of them came after March.
FEDEXCUP STANDINGS
With only five more tournaments before PGA Tour cards are finalized for next season, Fisk led four golfers from outside the top 100 to inside. Not that it matters to Fisk -- his card is secure for two years with the win -- but he still takes the place of someone else who would desperately need that position.
Three others moved into the top 100: Vince Whaley, Danny Walker and Homa, who is already exempt. But Whaley moved to 84th and Walker to 86th, pretty much guaranteeing them their playing privileges for 2026. They both tied for third, and Walker had a putting week for the ages.
The second most this week is 298 feet 😳 pic.twitter.com/p1rLJCL3Ne
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 5, 2025
The four golfers to fall out were Austin Eckroat (MC) to 101st, Isaiah Salinda (MC) to 102nd, Joel Dahmen (MC) to 103rd and Lanto Griffin (MC) to 105th.
DP WORLD TOUR
If you saw the video of the plane ride back to Europe after the Ryder Cup, you'd wonder whether the winning European golfers could get out of bed for the next week, much less play a golf tournament four days later.
Well, some of them got out of bed and a whole lot more. Robert MacIntyre won the Alfred Duhill Links Championship on the Old Course at St. Andrews and Tyrrell Hatton finished second. Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick were among those tied for 21st.
MacIntyre is now ranked eighth in the OGWR and Hatton is up to 21st.
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, tournament participation and overall golfer performance, head to RotoWire's latest golf news or follow @RotoWireGolf on X.
