Sanderson champ Luke List thinking of home hit hard by Helene

Luke List is in Jackson, Mississippi this week to defend his title at the Sanderson Farms Championship, but his mind is on his adopted hometown of Augusta, Georgia and the other parts of the Southeast hit by Hurricane Helene.

List planned to fly from Augusta to Jackson on Monday, but with the storm approaching late last week he opted to head to Mississippi sooner.

"On my level, I feel for all the people in Florida and South Carolina and North Carolina, but directly the people of the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area) in Augusta where I live," List said. "It's pretty devastating really to not only see it but experience it, a place you call home. It's really sad.

"My thoughts are directly with all the people I call friends and family at home and hoping everybody stays safe still."

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List said he and Swede Henrik Norlander, also an Augusta resident, are going to donate $500 per birdie they make this week to the Red Cross there.

"Henrik came over early, as well," List said. "He drove from Augusta to Jackson with his family. Obviously when you have young children, just keeping them safe and out of harm's way is the biggest priority, so we were kind of – I think we were on the same page as far as we need to give back in any way we can. Obviously, there's a lot of people that are in privileged positions to give back, and I feel like that's always kind of called upon in that, especially in hard times like that."

Before List left town, he joined his neighbours in cutting five downed trees to clear a street in their neighborhood. He "came to the clear conclusion" that his area is not going to have power or water for some time.

"That's humbling in its own right, just tugging trees," List said. "My neighbour had a Jeep, and we were pulling big logs from the trees off the road and just doing the best we could to band together, and getting a tree off a neighbour's yard, and that's everybody. Everyone is dealing with that in their own right. In a sense, it was great to see everybody come together, but in a sense it almost felt like that's what you have to do in that moment."

Last October, List made a birdie on the first extra hole to win a five-man sudden-death playoff against Ben Griffin, Scott Stallings, Norlander and another Swede, Ludvig Aberg, now one of the highest-ranked golfers in the world.

Winning that tournament, the second of his PGA Tour career, guaranteed List a two-year exemption on tour. That means he's not sweating out the FedEx Cup Fall worried about keeping his card, but at No 78, he does have something to play for. Players who finish the fall Nos. 51-60 qualify for the first two signature events of 2025, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.

"I've spoken on this, how important the fall is," List said. "Obviously, everyone watches the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and that's amazing for all the top guys, but for the majority of us out on tour having this opportunity to not only keep your card or to vie for a win to get in majors or try to get in those elevated events, it's just an opportunity to get some confidence and keep your career going. I think some of the best storylines have come from the fall, and I continue to believe that it's really important for the tour to have these events."