Sands blisters Southern Hills with opening 64 in Trans-Miss Amateur
By Ken MacLeod
Parker Sands of Edmond, two years into his collegiate career at the University of Florida, reintroduced himself to his home state in a resounding way Tuesday, firing a 7-under 64 at vaunted Southern Hills Country Club to take the first-round lead in the Trans-Miss Amateur.
His round, which began with a bogey but ended with a six-birdie flurry on the back nine for a 30, put him one shot ahead of Nebraska golfer Harry Crockett of England and China native Zihang (Mike) Qui of Notre Dame.
Sands is no stranger to low rounds. He shot 59 in 2023 in the Oklahoma Open at Oak Tree Country Club going into his senior year at Edmond North. Following his excellent junior career he signed with collegiate power Florida and this spring after a swing change took root he became a regular starter and helped lead the Gators to the match play final eight of the NCAA Championship, where they lost in the quarterfinals to Oklahoma State. He was the only Gator to win his match, taking down Felip Fahlberg-Johnsson.
After sticking his approach on the par-4 ninth hole to about 3 inches for birdie, Sands birdied holes 10, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17 on the back nine. Conditions were ideal for scoring, with little wind and greens softened by two significant rains since Saturday. Still a 64 is just one shot off the competitive record 63 shot by Raymond Floyd in the 1982 PGA Championship and matched by Tiger Woods in 2007 and Bubba Watson in 2022.
“I just played my game,” Sands said. “You know the center of the greens here is always good, they are not the biggest. You just feel like you’ll aways have a chance if you can do that and it was nice to see some putts fall.”
Actually Sands played more precisely than that. Starting with the tap-in on 9, he had birdie putts of 2 feet on 10, a foot on 12, a two-putt birdie on the par-5 13th, a 6-footer on 15, 5 feet on 16 and 10 feet on 17.
“The greens were soft and I was able to control my spin and get the ball to stop where I wanted it,” Sands said. “I imagine they will get a little firmer as the week goes on.”
Another of the talented crew from Edmond, University of Oklahoma rising senior Ryder Cowan, shot a 3-under 68 and is tied for sixth. Cowan competed Sunday in the Palmer Cup in Ireland and flew back in time for his early tee time.
Southern Hills member and University of Tulsa commit Coleman Sides shot 1-under 70 and is tied for 19th. C.J. Phillips of Edmond, who is transferring to TU, shot 1-over 72, as did Sooner Clark Van Gaalen. OU coach Jonathan Moore shot 76 playing in a group with OU commit Banks Cozby, who shot 81. Former Sooner Parker Foster, a frequent club champion at Southern Hills, shot 84.
There were 31 golfers in the field of 144 under par in the first round on a day when no wind, heat and the recent rains and high humidity combined to make even the greens with the cutting edge underground hydronics system receptive. Expect that number to dwindle. The field will be cut to the low 54 and ties following today’s second round. Follow live scoring here.