Eagle putt helps Ben Griffin take Sanderson Farms lead

Ben Griffin rang up an eagle and seven birdies to card the round of the day 63 and take the halfway lead at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Griffin's nine-under score at the Country Club of Jackson propelled him to 14 under. He leads by two over Luke List (66), Australia's Harrison Endycott (65), China's Carl Yuan (66) and Swede Henrik Norlander (67), who are tied at 12 under.

First-round leader Chesson Hadley posted a 69 and is tied at 11 under with Harry Higgs (64), Troy Merritt (65) and China's Zecheng Dou (66).

Griffin, 27, has yet to win on the PGA Tour and earned just one top-10 finish in all of 2022-23. But he ranked a respectable 66th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings entering the week and could crack the top 60 with a win.

That would qualify Griffin for two of the tour's signature events next winter:the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.

The highlight of Griffin's round was a 65 1/2-foot eagle putt from just off the green at the par-five 14th, more than 90 feet away. It moved him into a tie for the lead, and birdies at 15 and 17 gave him a good cushion entering the weekend.