A caller asked a question: “When is the last time a native Mississippian won an officially sanctioned PGA Tour event?” These are things you’re supposed know.” The obvious answer is Jim Gallagher Jr. from Greenwood. He has nine professional wins, five of them on the PGA Tour. This includes The Tour Championship 1993. Gallagher was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He played college golf at Tennessee. Gallagher won the Magnolia Classic in Hattiesburg once, but he’s not a native Mississippian. Gallagher, a Golf Channel commentator now, would no doubt tell you that he is better than that. Gallagher is not the only one who chose to live here. Next, Glen Day, who was born in Poplarville and won the 1999 MCI Classic in Hilton Head, beating Jeff Sluman and Payne Stewart in a sudden-death playoff that included a birdie at the first hole. This was 23 years ago, and would have been a long PGA Tour win drought for Mississippians. However, Day was actually born in Mobile. Technically, Day is not a native Mississippian. This is a very long way back, and I was shocked. Johnny Pott or Pete Brown were the last Mississippians to win on this Tour. When Pott and Brown won the Tour, drivers were still wooden and golf balls weren’t solid. Pott, a golf legend, is now 86 years old and lives in California. He won five times on Tour. The last was in 1968 Bing Crosby National Pro Am. In that event, Pott beat Bruce Devlin and Billy Casper in a playoff. Pott was born on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and played college golf at LSU. This is something that I didn’t know until I researched it: Pott was born at Cape Girardeau in Missouri. Pete Brown is the first African American to win a PGA Tour tournament. Brown, who was 80 years old when he died, won two PGA events. The last one being the Andy Williams San Diego Open of 1970. Brown was born in Port Gibson, but was raised in Jackson. He shot a final round 65, then beat Tony Jacklin in playoff to win the $30,000 prize. Yes, PGA purses have risen over the past 52 years. Brown is still one of the most iconic Mississippi sports stories. He was the son of sharecroppers and learned to caddie at a course that he wasn’t allowed to play. He learned how to use a left-handed 3-wood, and a right-handed 5 iron, which he pulled from a lake. His first set of clubs didn’t arrive until he turned 20, when he had already overcome polio. If my calculations are correct, it was 52 years and one month and 27 day since Chad Ramey won the victory Sunday. That’s quite a drought. The good news is that it won’t take too long before it happens again. Davis Riley, Hattiesburg, finished second at Valspar Championship last week. He will win the PGA Tour. He is too good to not. Ramey was a shining example of consistency over the two previous years on the Korn Ferry Tour. He has the potential to win multiple times. Hayden Buckley from Belden placed 13th in Sunday’s same tournament Ramey won. Buckley — Ok, so he was born Chattanooga — also has the chance to win on Tour. Mississippi now has three of the top 80 prize money winners, Riley, and Buckley. Jackson’s Wilson Furr, a former NCAA champ, was recently granted full privileges on Canada’s PGA Tour, also known as the MacKenzie Tour. Braden Thornberry, a former NCAA champion, still plays on the Korn Ferry Tour. These young men, all in their 20s have tremendous potential. They have a strong group of junior and college golfers to back them. This is how it should be: It won’t take 2074 before a Mississippian wins again on the PGA Tour.