Mississippi News
Fulton’s Chad Ramey ends a long Mississippi drought on PGA Tour
Fulton's Chad Ramey ends a long Mississippi drought on PGA Tour
The call came Sunday afternoon shortly after news that Mississippian Chad Ramey, the former Mississippi State golfer from Fulton, had won the PGA Tour's Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic.
The caller had a question: “When was the last time before today that a native Mississippian won an official PGA Tour event? You're supposed to know those kinds of things.”
The most obvious answer would be Jim Gallagher Jr. of Greenwood, whose nine professional victories include five on the PGA Tour, including The Tour Championship in 1993.
One problem there: Gallagher was born in Pennsylvania, raised in Indiana and played his college golf at Tennessee. He once won the old Magnolia Classic in Hattiesburg, but he is not a native Mississippian. To which Gallagher, now a Golf Channel commentator, no doubt would tell you: “I'm better than that. I live here by choice.”
So, if not Gallagher, then whom?
My next guess would have been Glen Day, who grew up in Poplarville, and won the 1999 MCI Classic at Hilton Head, defeating Golf Hall of Famer Payne Stewart and Jeff Sluman in a sudden death playoff with a birdie on the first extra hole.
That happened 23 years ago last month, which would constitute a long PGA Tour victory drought for Mississippians, except for the fact that it turns out Day was born in Mobile, not Poplarville. He is not, technically, a native Mississippian.
Oh boy, I thought, this is going back a long, long ways. The last Mississippian to win on the Tour had to be either Pete Brown or Johnny Pott. Drivers were still wooden and golf balls were wound, not solid, when Pott and Brown won on the Tour.
Pott, one of golf's great gentlemen, now 86 and living in California, won five times on Tour, the last time in the 1968 Bing Crosby National Pro Am, beating the great Billy Casper and Bruce Devlin in a playoff. Pott grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and played collegiately at LSU. And this is something I did not know until I looked it up: Pott was born in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
So that leaves Pete Brown, the first African American to win a PGA Tour event. Brown, who died in 2015 at the age of 80, won two PGA events, the last being the Andy Williams San Diego Open in 1970. On Feb. 1, 1970, Brown, born in Port Gibson and raised in Jackson, shot a final round 65 and then defeated Englishman Tony Jacklin in a playoff and win the $30,000 first prize. Yes, over the last 52 years, PGA purses have soared.
Brown remains one of the greatest Mississippi sports stories of all time. The son of sharecroppers, he learned the game caddying at a golf course he was not allowed to play. What's more, he learned with a left-handed 3-wood and a right-handed 5-iron, both of which he retrieved from a lake. He did not own his first set of clubs until he was 20, by which time he had also overcome polio.
So, if my math is correct, when Chad Ramey clinched victory Sunday it had been 52 years, one month and 27 days since a native Mississippian won on tour.
Now, that's a drought.
Here's the good news: It won't be nearly that long until it happens again.
Hattiesburg's Davis Riley finished second at the Valspar Championship the previous week. He's going to win on the PGA Tour. He's too good not to.
Ramey, who was a picture of consistency the last two years on the Korn Ferry Tour, has the game to win multiple times. Hayden Buckley of Belden finished 13th in the same tournament Ramey won Sunday. Buckley — OK, so he was born in Chattanooga — has the game to win on Tour, as well. Ramey, Riley and Buckley give Mississippi three of the top 80 money winners on tour currently.
Recently, Jackson's Wilson Furr qualified for full privileges on the Canadian PGA Tour, known as the MacKenzie Tour. Former NCAA champ Braden Thornberry still plays the Korn Ferry Tour. All these young guys, in their 20s, have enormous potential. And there's an impressive crop of college and junior golfers behind them. Put it this way: It will not be 2074 before a Mississippian wins on the PGA Tour again.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi News
PERS bill awaits Mississippi governor’s signature
SUMMARY: Mississippi towns and cities are relieved after lawmakers reached a deal in the final days of the Legislative Session to address the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS). The bill, awaiting Governor Tate Reeves' signature, removes power from the PERS Board and requires any employer contribution increase to be recommended to the Legislature. The bill also stops an immediate 5% employer contribution increase, instead implementing a gradual half a percentage point increase over five years. Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker, president of the Mississippi Municipal League, sees this as the first step in an ongoing issue, with $110 million allocated to PERS by the Legislature.
The post PERS bill awaits Mississippi governor's signature appeared first on www.wjtv.com
Mississippi News
Former Noxubee County Sheriff pleads guilty
SUMMARY: Former Noxubee County Sheriff Terry Grassaree pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about his relationship with a female inmate in exchange for nude photos and videos. He used his position to provide her with special treatment, including access to a phone and other items not allowed for other inmates. Grassaree initially denied receiving these materials during an FBI interview. He was indicted in 2022, while one of his former deputies, Vance Phillips, pleaded guilty to using facilities in interstate commerce. Phillips faces up to five years in prison, while Grassaree is set to be sentenced in August with a similar maximum penalty.
The post Former Noxubee County Sheriff pleads guilty appeared first on www.wcbi.com
Mississippi News
Mississippi congressman accused of assaulting woman at U.S. Capitol
SUMMARY: A member of CODEPINK accused Mississippi Rep. Mike Ezell of assault during a confrontation at the U.S. Capitol. The incident occurred during a discussion about the conflict in Palestine, with Ezell allegedly slapping away the woman's phone. The group has filed assault charges against the congressman. CODEPINK believes the violence shown by Ezell and others supporting Israel's actions mirrors that of the Israeli government. Protests have erupted on college campuses across the country in response to the conflict. Ezell denied the allegations, stating that the protesters are backed by China and Hamas, and he will continue to support Israel.
The post Mississippi congressman accused of assaulting woman at U.S. Capitol appeared first on www.wjtv.com
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