71-Year-Old Golf Legend, Who Made His Debut Five Years Before Rory McIlroy Was Born, Excitedly Returns to the PGA Tour .giang

At the ripe age of 71, Reed Hughes is taking on the challenge at the Sanderson Farms Championship this week.

Born in Mississippi, Hughes secured his spot at the Country Club of Jackson by clinching a win in last September’s Gulf States E-Z-GO Section Championship.

This win has allowed Hughes to stage an unexpected PGA Tour-sanctioned comeback since he last graced the greens in the 2012 Senior PGA Championship. His golfing history includes eight other PGA Tour starts, such as the 2007 Zurich Classic, yet making the cut has eluded him in all attempts.

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Dating back to his PGA Tour debut at the 1984 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic which happened five years before the birth of golf sensation Rory McIlroy Hughes’ current endeavor could etch his name into the record books at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

He aims to surpass Sam Snead who, as the oldest golfer to make a cut on the PGA Tour, set the bar in 1979 at the age of 67 years, 2 months, and 23 days during the Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic.

Despite experiencing some hitches at the onset of the tournament in Jackson, Texas, with an initial four-over-par round that included three birdies on the front nine and a single birdie on the back nine, Hughes quickly emerged as a crowd pleaser.

While navigating the course on Thursday, Hughes shared with the PGA Tour, “I’ve got a lot of people pulling for me, that’s the biggest thing. I think they feel that I can do better than I do. I’m trying hard.”

Hughes shared his honest thoughts about his game, saying: “I won the tournament last year to get in here and I was playing a lot better a year ago than I am now so I am kind of struggling with my game. I’ve done better so far than I figured I was going to do.”

Hughes, a PGA of America Member since 1983 and a Head Professional for over 30 years, has been flooded with supportive messages from his colleagues and students. He added: “I hope I inspire them to keep playing. Golf is something you can play for your lifetime so it’s been fun, all my students that I’ve had in the past (have been) wishing me luck. It’s pretty good.”