Mark Hubbard has been consistent throughout at the Country Club of Jackson but he pulled out his best round yet to claim a one-stroke lead from Mackenzie Hughes at the Sanderson Farms Championship on Saturday.

Hubbard holed six birdies on the back nine, including five in a row, as he carded a seven-under 65, the second-best round of the day, to move into the lead at 15 under.

The 33-year-old American joined Hughes and Scott Stallings in the co-lead after a classy chip and putt on the par-four 15th hole for birdie, before an excellent 203-yard approach set him up for birdie on the 18th.

Hubbard, who carded rounds of 67 and 69 on the opening two days respectively, holds a one-shot lead from joint day two leader Hughes who shot at four-under 68 on Saturday.

Hughes also enjoyed the back nine with four birdies, including holing a 29-foot putt on the 18th after a bogey on the 17th to stay in touch with Hubbard.

The pair are well placed to contend for the title, with the next best being three players at 12 under after three rounds, in Garrick Higgo, Stallings and Sep Straka.

Stallings was firmly in contention before two bogeys on his final three holes blemished his day, having been bogey-free with six birdies to that point.

Keegan Bradley, who shot the best round of the day with an eight-under 64, and Nick Hardy are tied at 11 under, with Emiliano Grillo, Dean Burmester and Kim Seong-hyeon one further stroke behind.

Belgian Thomas Detry, who had shared the lead with Hughes after 36 holes, endured a tough day that included three bogeys to slip seven strokes behind the leader.

Davis Riley is looming at nine-under overall, while pre-tournament favourites Andrew Putnam and Christiaan Bezuidenhout are eight under after both carded rounds of 69, with reigning champion Sam Burns battling to make a charge, back at six under.

Mackenzie Hughes and Thomas Detry share the lead through two rounds at the Sanderson Farm Championships, making their way to 10 under in two very different ways.

Canada's Hughes got off to a disappointing start when he opened his tournament with a one-under 71 on Thursday, but followed it up with Friday's round of the day, shooting a nine-under 63 on his second trip around The Country Club of Jackson.

He birdied his first three holes of the day on his way to a bogey-free round, finishing up with birdies on 15, 17 and 18.

Meanwhile, while Hughes has been up and down, Belgium's Detry has been remarkably consistent through 36 holes, posting back-to-back 67s.

Detry was even par through his first five holes on Friday before rattling off five birdies from his next seven.

Alone in third place at nine under is Sepp Straka, who took advantage of a hot run where he birdied five out of six holes to follow up his opening 69 with a strong 66.

Scott Stallings, Garrick Higgo and Mark Hubbard are tied for fourth at eight under, with Davis Riley, Nick Hardy and Stephan Jaeger rounding out the top-10 in a tie for seventh at seven under.

The only two players to shoot better than 66 in their second round were Hughes, and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo, who posted a six-under 65 to salvage a one-over Thursday and jump up to a tie for 10th heading into the weekend.

Fresh off his debut Presidents Cup appearance, defending champion Sam Burns is five strokes off the pace at five under.

Davis Riley produced a bogey-free opening round to claim a share of the lead alongside Will Gordon after the opening day of the Sanderson Farms Championship on Thursday.

Mississippi-native Riley carded a six-under-par 66 including four birdies in his first seven holes to set the pace at the Country Club of Jackson.

Riley he also holed an 18-foot putt for birdie on the 17th, backing up his birdie on the 16th for a strong opening round.

Gordon, who was among the last to finish on the opening day, came in strong with three birdies in his final five holes. He sunk a 23-foot birdie putt on the ninth.

Seven players are tied at five-under, including tour rookie Brandon Matthews who finished his round with back-to-back birdies to card 67.

Matthews is tied with Andrew Putnam, Kevin Yu, Mark Hubbard, Thomas Detry, Trevor Cone and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, the latter fresh from his Presidents Cup debut.

Among the day's highlights were aces on the fourth hole to Brandon Wu, who is three-under-overall, and M.J. Daffue, who had just double bogeyed the par-five third hole.

Reigning champion Sam Burns carded a bogey-free two-under-par 70, while one of the pre-tournament favourites Denny McCarthy is a further stroke behind after birdieing his final two holes.

Sahith Theegala (one over), Russell Henley (two over) and J.T. Poston (four over) struggled on the opening day, with the latter carding four bogeys and one double bogey in the par-four 12th.

The PGA Tour has accused the LIV Golf Invitational Series of making "astronomical" offers to players in a bid to "sportswash" Saudi Arabia's global image in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday. 

The controversial LIV series – which counts the likes of Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Bryson DeChambeau among its ranks – launched an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour last month.

LIV accused the PGA of operating as a monopoly and alleged the Tour's decision to issue suspensions to players who joined the breakaway circuit was improper.

Eleven LIV golfers were originally named as plaintiffs in that claim, although eight – including Mickelson – have since withdrawn.

The PGA Tour has now hit back with legal action of its own, alleging: "A key component of LIV's strategy has been to intentionally induce Tour members to breach their Tour agreements and play in LIV events while seeking to maintain their Tour memberships and play in marquee Tour events, so LIV can free ride off the Tour and its platform."

The PGA's counterclaim goes on to accuse LIV of offering players "astronomical sums of money" in an attempt "to use the LIV Players and the game of golf to sportswash the recent history of Saudi atrocities."

In a widely publicised statement, LIV responded by saying: "The Tour has made these counterclaims in a transparent effort to divert attention from their anti-competitive conduct.

"We remain confident that the courts and the justice system will right these wrongs."

FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy – who has been a staunch critic of the LIV series – declared golf was "ripping itself apart" earlier on Thursday, as the bitter divide between the two circuits shows no signs of healing.

One day earlier, McIlroy called on LIV players to do more to foster a sense of reconciliation between the tours, declaring: "The ball is in their court".

Rory McIlroy believes "golf is ripping itself apart right now" as the battle between the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf Invitational Series rages on.

The introduction of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf has caused a huge divide in the sport, with big names such as Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau defecting from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.

The storm has also seen some defectors file lawsuits against the PGA Tour after it banned those who made the switch to LIV Golf from playing in its events.

And McIlroy, who has remained fiercely loyal to the PGA Tour, sees the dispute as harmful for players on both sides of the divide, telling reporters: "I don't want a fractured game. I never have.

"You look at some other sports and what's happened and the game of golf is ripping itself apart right now.

"It's no good for the guys on, you know, this side or the sort of traditional system and it's no good for the guys on the other side, either.

"It's no good for anyone. There is a time and a place for it. I just think right now, with where everything is, it's probably not the right time.

"I've always said I think there is a time and a place where everyone that's involved here should sit down and try to work together. It's very hard for that to happen right now when there's two lawsuits going on."

McIlroy already said on Wednesday that it fell upon LIV Golf players to take the lead on repairing relations between the two tours.

"I would just say the ball is in their court," McIlroy told the BBC.

"If they want to come to the table and try to play nicely within the sandbox that's already created, the opportunity is there."

Rory McIlroy has called for players from the LIV Golf Invitational Series to step up to fix the bitter divide impacting the sport, declaring: "The ball is in their court."

McIlroy has been a steadfast critic of the controversial Saudi Arabia-backed circuit, which counts the likes of Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Bryson DeChambeau among its ranks. 

The FedEx Cup champion declared his "hatred" for the breakaway circuit last month, and recently said LIV players should be excluded from next year's Ryder Cup.

Speaking to BBC Sport on Wednesday, McIlroy said it was up to LIV's players to assume a leading role in repairing relations with those who remained loyal to the PGA.

"I would just say the ball is in their court," McIlroy said. "If they want to come to the table and try to play nicely within the sandbox that's already created, the opportunity is there."

Eleven LIV players initially supported an antitrust lawsuit filed against the PGA Tour, accusing it of operating as a monopoly and alleging the suspension of players joining the new circuit was improper.

However, eight of those players have since withdrawn, with Mickelson doing so on Tuesday. 

While McIlroy believes a resolution to golf's bitter civil war is possible, he said those legal proceedings currently make reconciliation difficult.

"Right now with two lawsuits going on, and how heightened the rhetoric has been, I think we just need to let it cool off a little bit," McIlory added.

"I don't know what's going to happen with this lawsuit. No one's going to want to talk to anyone when it's hanging over the game, so I don't know what happens there.

"I've probably said a few things that are maybe too inflammatory at times, but it just comes from the heart and how much I hate what this is doing to the game.

"It has been an ugly year but there's a solution to everything. If we can send rockets to the moon and bring them back again and have them land on their own I'm sure we can figure out how to make professional golf cohesive again."

However, as LIV Golf continues to lobby the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) for the ability to grant rankings points, McIlroy said the circuit's players will only have themselves to blame if they miss out on qualifying for majors.

"The only ones that are prohibiting them from getting world rankings points are themselves," McIlroy said.

"It's not as if [the OWGR] created this criteria out of thin air a few months ago to try to prevent LIV from getting points.

"I think if they were to pivot, have cuts, have a minimum field of 75, have more of a merit-based system where there's a meritocracy for how to get on the tour...

"There's a bunch of stuff where they don't meet the criteria yet, but if they were to change and meet all those points then there's obviously no reason not to give them world ranking points.

"I'm certainly not for banning them from majors, but with the way the world rankings are now, if someone that hasn't won the Masters before can't garner enough world ranking points to be eligible, then I think that's entirely on them.

"They knew the risks going in, and actions have consequences. That was a risk that they were paid for, ultimately. 

"If some of these guys that don't have exemptions in the majors don't qualify for them, I have no problem with that because they knew that going in."

Phil Mickelson has asked a federal judge to withdraw his name from the lawsuit filed by LIV Golf Invitational Series players against the PGA Tour, along with three others.

Talor Gooch, Ian Poulter and Hudson Swafford also want to be dismissed from the antitrust lawsuit, leaving just three players from the original 11 who filed against the Tour.

Mickelson, one of the most prominent defectors from to LIV Golf this year, had been expected to remove his name after the breakaway series joined the suit as a plaintiff.

Only Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Uihlein and Matt Jones now remain as individuals.

The lawsuit accuses the PGA Tour of benefiting from operating as a monopoly and alleges it improperly suspended LIV Golf players from its events.

"Nothing has changed," LIV Golf spokesman Jonathan Grella said in a statement.

"The merits of the case – the PGA Tour's anticompetitive conduct – still stand and will be fully tested in court. And we look forward to that.

"LIV stands with the players whom the PGA Tour has treated so poorly, but we also recognise that to be successful, we no longer need a wide array of players to be on the suit.

"We have our players' backs and will press our case against the PGA Tour's anticompetitive behaviour."

Jordan Spieth and Max Homa capped off their excellent week's work with singles wins to help the United States secure the Presidents Cup by a final score of 17.5-12.5 at Quail Hollow.

Spieth was the only player to win in all five sessions, banking four victories while paired up with Justin Thomas before defeating Cam Davis 4 and 3 in Sunday's singles matchplay.

Despite the comfortable final score, it was Spieth who had to respond to early adversity after Davis won the first two holes, but after clawing back to even, the American rattled off four consecutive victorious holes on the back nine to pull away.

Thomas had a chance to equal Spieth with five wins for the week, but he ended up going down to Kim Si-woo as the South Korean won the 18th hole to finish 1up.

After Spieth, the only other American to finish the competition unbeaten was Homa, who played in three of the four pairs sessions before edging out Tom Kim for a 1up win in the singles.

Xander Schauffele finished 1up against Corey Conners to clinch overall victory for the US team at a time when five matches were still on the course.

In other results to tilt America's way, Tony Finau beat Taylor Pendrith 3 and 1, Patrick Cantlay had a 3 and 2 success over Adam Scott, and Collin Morikawa also won 3 and 2 against Mito Pereira.

However, it proved a highly competitive singles section of the event as the United States only narrowly edged it with six wins and a halved contest, as Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama fought out a stalemate.

The Internationals took five of the 12 matchups. Lee Kyoung-hoon was the most emphatic winner from his team, defeating Billy Horschel 3 and 1, while Sebastian Munoz upset world number one Scottie Scheffler 2 and 1 and Christiaan Bezuidenhout got the better of Kevin Kisner 2 and 1.

Im Sung-jae landed a 1up win versus Cameron Young after taking the lead on the 17th hole.

The United States have won nine consecutive editions of the Presidents Cup since a tie in 2003, with the International team's only triumph coming in 1998.

The Internationals have charged back into contention ahead of the final day of the Presidents Cup but still trail 11-7 at Quail Hollow in North Carolina.

USA had led 8-2 heading into Saturday's action that included four morning foursome matchups followed by four fourball contests, with Australia’s Cam Davis and South Korean Kim Joo-hyung starring for the under-dog International team.

The Internationals won two of the morning's foursome matchups and three of the fourball contests to make up major ground but will need win 8.5 points from the 12 on offer on the final day with singles to determine the winner.

If the International team win, it would be the greatest last day comeback in Presidents Cup history and their first victory since 1998 in Melbourne, the team's sole triumph.

"I'm almost in tears," Internationals captain Trevor Immelman said. "I'm so proud of these guys. We've fought so hard. We've had to be so patient."

"We’ve got a very long way to go. We know how tough the Americans are in singles. But today was a great day for us. This team has been through a lot."

Debutant Kim Joo-hyung had one of the moments of the day, sinking a 10-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole to clinch a 1up victory with Kim Si-woo against the previously unbeaten Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.

The South Korean emotionally reveled in victory after the putt, having holed a 54-foot eagle putt on the 11th hole. In a seesawing fourball contest, Schauffele also putted in from 37 feet on the 15th.

Davis, paired with compatriot Adam Scott, was crucial with late putts in their 1up fourball victory over Sam Burns and Billy Horschel.

On the par-five 16th, Davis sunk an 11-foot eagle putt to win the hole, before making a 14-foot birdie putt to claim the 17th. Davis backed that up with a nine-foot birdie putt to tie 18 and secure the win.

The unbeaten Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas defeated Hideki Matsuyama and Taylor Pendrith 4 and 3 for USA's only fourballs win, while Im Sung-jae and Sebastian Munoz never trailed as they got past Tony Finau and Kevin Kisner 3 and 2.

In the morning's foursomes, Lee Kyoung-hoon and Kim Joo-hyung defeated Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 2 and 1 and Adam Scott teamed up with Hideki Matsuyama to knock off Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa 3 and 2.

USA got victories as Spieth and Thomas won against Im and Corey Conners 4 and 3 and Finau and Max Homa beating Kim Si-woo and Davis 4 and 3. Spieth and Thomas are the third duo in Presidents Cup history to go undefeated in the first four rounds.

"We're in a good spot," USA captain Davis Love said. "We have a lot of guys hitting it good. They just made more putts than we did.

"We always feel like we're at an advantage in the singles. We've had some great singles days in the past."

Friday was the second day of The Presidents Cup, and the second day in a row the United States team came away with four of the five points on offer to lead 8-2 in the best-of-30 competition.

After foursomes was the format on Thursday, things moved to four-ball for the second trip around Quail Hollow, meaning all four golfers in their matchup play each hole, with only the best score from each duo counting towards their score.

Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele – the reigning champions from the PGA Tour's only team event during the season, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans – showed no signs of slowing down after their blistering 6 and 5 win in the opening round, again delivering the biggest margin of victory for the day.

They defeated the duo of Hideki Matsuyama and Tom Kim 3 and 2, and the International team needed to mount a comeback to even survive that long as the United States were 5up through eight holes.

Kim was responsible for all three winning holes for his duo, with birdies on the 12th, 14th and 15th, while Cantlay and Schauffele evenly split their six triumphant holes with three apiece.

The only other fixture to not go the full 18 was Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas' 2 and 1 win against Australian duo Cam Davis and Adam Scott.

It was another hot start for the United States, with back-to-back birdies from Thomas and one from Spieth putting them 3up through eight holes, and although Davis and Scott both won a hole each down the back-nine, they were never able to bring the margin to within one.

Things were much more competitive in Max Homa and Billy Horschel's 1up win against Canadians Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith, as the Americans picked up the lead with one hole to play.

Team United States took a 2up lead into the back-nine, which was quickly erased by Conners with two birdies on the 11th and 13th, leaving things tied until the 17th, where Homa delivered a clutch birdie to secure the win.

There were no wins for the Internationals on Friday, but they collected two half-points as the duos of Mito Pereira and Christiaan Bezuidenhout as well as Im Sung-jae and Sebastian Munoz held on to salvage something from the day.

Im and Munoz had a tough matchup against world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, but it was Burns doing most of the heavy lifting for the United States, winning three of his team's four holes.

Munoz won three of the Internationals' four holes, including a par on the 17th as both Americans bogeyed to even things up.

Lastly, Pereira and Bezuidenhout were leading through 13 holes, before Cameron Young tied it and collected another half-point for his duo with Kevin Kisner.

Saturday will see teams contest both foursomes and four-ball rounds, before the competition moves to singles play on Sunday.

The United States got off to a blistering start at the Presidents Cup to open lead 4-1 lead over the International Team on Thursday.

Setting the tone for the United States in the foursomes was the pairing of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele – who are the reigning champions at the only other team event on the PGA Tour calendar, winning at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans this past season.

Matched up against Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, the Americans were a well-oiled machine, going 4up through the first seven holes, including a string of three consecutive birdies.

While they were the authors of their own early success, the International duo fell apart on the back nine, with three consecutive bogeys handing the United States three more holes, ending the contest at 6 and 5.

The rest of the matches were far more competitive, with Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas edging the duo of Corey Conners and Sung-jae Im 2 and 1.

Once again, the Americans got off to a flyer to be 3up through six holes, before the Internationals took two of the next three to tighten things up down the stretch.

The 15th hole decided the contest, after it appeared a poor drive and a mediocre chip that rolled to the fringe of the green would cost the United States, but some poor putting from the Internationals opened the door, with Thomas sinking a difficult one to swing the hole in their favour.

Tom Kim and Lee Kyoung-hoon were the only International team to draw first blood, going 1up on the second hole, but they would finish the front nine trailing by two as Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa responded swiftly.

Back-to-back hole wins on the 11th and 12th for the Internationals tied things up, but again the United States were quick to snatch back the ascendancy on the very next hole, closing things out with a birdie on the 17th for a 2 and 1 triumph.

Max Homa and Tony Finau had to wait until the very last hole to secure their win against Taylor Pendrith and Mito Pereira after the Internationals levelled the contest with five to play.

After four consecutive shared holes, Pendrith's approach on the last found the bunker, and they were not able to salvage a par as the Americans kept it clean with a comfortable two-putt for the 1up win.

The Internationals' only win came from the duo of South Korea's Kim Si-woo and Australia's Cam Davis against world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, emerging as 2up victors.

It was a great fightback after the United States led most of the round – 3up after seven holes, and 2up through 14 – as the Internationals won the final four holes to snatch a point.

Friday will see the teams go head-to-head in the four-ball format.

Jay Monahan has ruled out the prospect of reconciliation between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf Invitational Series rebels.

The two competitions are locked in legal proceedings, with LIV Golf players submitting an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour after they were suspended following their moves.

LIV Golf argues that players have been treated unfairly and the decision suppresses competition, with the relationship between the two competitions growing increasingly sour.

That mood is unlikely to change any time soon, with Monahan saying ahead of the Presidents Cup in North Carolina that the prospect of a truce is "off the table".

"Listen, I think I've been pretty clear on this: I don't see this happening," he told the Golf Channel.

"When you look at where we are, and you think about words and actions, we're currently in a lawsuit, so coming together and having conversations, to me, that card is off the table, and it has been for a long period of time.

"When you look at the PGA Tour, and you look at where we are today, and you look at what it is that we try and accomplish every single day – what's our focus? To put the best competitive platform forward for the best players in the world to achieve at the highest level, to win the championships that have history, that have tradition, that create legacy.

"That is what we're going to continue to do, and we're going to continue to get better at it, we're going to continue to get stronger at it.

"You've heard me say before that we're going to focus on things that we control; we have more assets at our disposal, stronger partnerships and we have the best players in the world telling us that not only are they going to commit to play more, but they're really looking at the organisation to accomplish that.

"It's all about where we are and where we're going, and again, I couldn't be more excited about the possibilities here."

Justin Thomas has little sympathy for LIV Golf Invitational Series players' complaints over not receiving world ranking points, describing it as "their own fault".

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) does not currently recognise LIV Golf events, leading to arguments from defectors such as Open champion Cameron Smith, who says LIV Golf's roster "warrants" ranking points.

All 48 players who featured at the weekend's LIV Golf Chicago event sent a collaborative letter to OWGR chairman Peter Dawson to encourage the granting of ranking points to players on the controversial Saudi-backed tour.

But two-time major winner Thomas is unsympathetic to those requests, telling reporters: "I mean, I don't understand. It's very obvious and written there right in front of them.

"They just naturally want what's best for them. Just like the decision they made to go there [LIV Golf].

"I totally understand if I was [in] the same situation, I would want it, but that doesn't necessarily make it right.

"The governing bodies have created a system for a reason, and that's to try and create the best system possible to determine the best players in the world.

"Now, is it going to be skewed because some of the top players aren't in there? Yeah, but that's their own fault."

Smith closed with a three-under 69 for a three-shot victory in Chicago for his first title since switching to LIV Golf.

Cameron Smith told the media he feels LIV Golf's roster has become strong enough to "warrant" world ranking points after winning his maiden event on the controversial tour in Chicago on Sunday.

Smith won by three strokes at Rich Harvest Farms, finishing his 54 holes at 13 under, with Dustin Johnson tied for second with Peter Uhlein.

After stepping off the 18th green, the reigning Open and Players champion spoke about feeling like he needs to prove that he is still one of the best golfers in the world no matter where he is playing.

He is currently ranked third in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), but that will soon change as he continues playing the LIV Golf schedule, where none of the events are recognised by OWGR.

Speaking on the matter at his post-win press conference, Smith said he is hopeful of a resolution as soon as possible.

"[A resolution is] hopefully close – I think for all the guys on the tour it would mean a lot to get world ranking points," he said.

"I suppose there’s a lot on the line with the ranking points, getting into majors, stuff like that, so there needs to be [a resolution] quite soon, I think. 

"The field here is strong enough and deep enough to where it warrants that, and hopefully it’s soon."

Smith himself will be free to play in every major for the next five years as a perk of becoming a major champion.

Max Homa emerged victorious after a chaotic finish to the Fortinet Championship, chipping in for birdie on the last hole to win by one stroke from Danny Willett.

Homa and Willett came into the day tied for the lead, but heading into the last hole it was Willett leading by one stroke.

After Homa found the fairway bunker and was unable to reach the green, it appeared he had blown his chance to get the birdie he required, until a spectacular chip-in pulled him level with Willett.

The Englishman just needed to sink a four-foot birdie putt for the win, but it lipped out. On the return par putt to force a playoff, he incredibly lipped out again, gifting Homa the outright win at 16 under in an incredible turn of events.

It is the fifth PGA Tour win for Homa, who won multiple events last season for the first time in his career, after nabbing one win in 2018-19 and one in 2020-21. 

Homa collected a $1.44million cheque for his victory, with Willett earning $872,000 for second place.

Alone in third was American Taylor Montgomery, who shot Sunday's round of the day with an eight-under 64 to fly up the leaderboard and finish at 13 under.

Rounding out the top-five was round-one leader Justin Lower, and South Korea's An Byeong-hun, who was in the top-five for the entire week before finishing tied for fourth at 12 under.

Rickie Fowler only had one top-10 finish this past season, and he has already matched that figure as he finished tied for sixth at 11 under with Sahith Theegala and Canada's Nick Taylor.