How TOUR rookie Jimmy Stanger can 'three-peat' at inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — This week marks the inaugural edition of the Myrtle Beach Classic, contested at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, but PGA TOUR rookie Jimmy Stanger is no stranger here.

The 29-year-old Stanger, who earned his TOUR card by finishing in the top 30 of the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, won twice at The Dunes Club as a college junior at the University of Virginia.

“Yeah, it was special,” said Stanger on his win at the 2016 General Hackler Championship. “I've talked a lot to my family and my caddie about it this week. I don't know if I'd be a pro golfer if it wasn't for this golf course … It had been a couple of years since a junior golf win. That gave me a lot of confidence to know that I could continue coming forward.

“Then the (2016 Southern Amateur Championship) was my first big amateur win, which kind of started getting the wheels turning in my head that I could compete at the highest level of amateur golf ... From winning the Hackler to the end of that year, I went from 600th to 10th (in the World Amateur Golf Rankings).”

The Tampa, Florida native went on to capture the individual 2017 ACC Championship, and after turning pro played on the Korn Ferry Tour from 2018 through 2023, when he earned PGA TOUR status.

“I remember thinking at that time the college win would never happen,” he reminisced. “And then I was there and got the win … I don't know if I'd be here if it wasn't for (The Dunes Club).

Part of the game-changer around his two wins was a process change.

“My mindset went from I want to be a pro golfer to whatever God wants me to be I'll be that way," Stanger continued. "I started going from showing up to tournaments thinking, ‘Okay, when is this going to turn around, when is this going to turn around,’ to, ‘Every time I hit a bad shot I'm going to say it's a hard game and I'm just going to move on past it and I'm going to laugh at it because you have to laugh'.”

It’s a process that he’s still fine-tuning now, in his first year on the PGA TOUR.

“Anytime I start drifting from that and start thinking about how I want to make this much money or I want to make this cut or I want to go do this and that,” he said. “It really comes back to I just want to go out there and compete my heart out and see how my game stacks up against the best in the world.”

Eight years after his breakthrough wins in Myrtle Beach, he’s back at the same course that kick-started his career.

"I remember laughing so hard whenever they announced this event," he said. "How funny would it be if after winning here twice that I would be coming back for the third time for the three-peat in a sense for a PGA TOUR event ... I think that's a good advantage. We'll see what we can do with that."

An advantage indeed -- Stanger has a tried and true strategy here.

“I think the golf course has a lot of draw shapes off the tee,” he said. “That's my shot shape. If you can capitalize on the par 5s and just hang in there on the par 4s and par 3s, I think you can get after this golf course. I think that's part of what I like so much about this place.”