JACKSON, Miss. – Several of his peers are competing at First Stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School this week.

Jackson Suber is grateful he’s not among them.

The recent University of Mississippi grad finished No. 9 on this year’s PGA TOUR University Velocity Global Ranking, which gains him direct access to Second Stage of Q-School as he eyes 2023 Korn Ferry Tour membership.

That meant some free time in September for the Tampa-area native, and the chance to accept a sponsor exemption for this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship.

Suber, 22, is set to make his PGA TOUR debut as a professional this week at the Country Club of Jackson, less than three hours from his college stomping grounds in Oxford. (He also competed in his hometown Valspar Championship as an amateur earlier this year.)

He’s embracing the opportunity to catch up with collegiate rivals – like University of Georgia grad Davis Thompson, who finished No. 2 on the inaugural PGA TOUR University Ranking in 2021 and proceeded to earn TOUR status via the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour, including a victory at the REX Hospital Open.

Suber can play freely this week. At best, it’s a chance to begin a top-10 run in chase of Special Temporary Membership status on TOUR. Worst case? Still good preparation for the challenges to come.

“To be able to focus on this week, I wasn’t stressed out about First Stage,” Suber said Tuesday at the Sanderson Farms Championship. “This will be good prep for Second Stage in two weeks.

“For what Jay Monahan and the TOUR have done to reward college golfers for their playing, give them a place to start right away and some performance benefits like Q-School, it’s huge … (Q-School) is just another tournament. If you go in there and make it something it’s not, it’s probably not going to go the best, so just treat it like a normal tournament. If you play well, stuff works out.”

He’ll aim to channel that approach this week, as well. Suber is fresh off a summer on PGA TOUR Canada, on which he was fully exempt in 2022 via his position on the PGA TOUR University Ranking. He produced steady if not spectacular results, making six cuts in eight starts and recording four top-35 finishes.

This was on the strength of a stout collegiate career at the University of Mississippi, where he was named a PING Second Team All-American as a senior in 2021-22 and attained a season stroke average of 69.77, just two-tenths of a stroke shy of Braden Thornberry’s program record.

Suber played golf with his dad from an early age, began taking lessons with his friends at age 7 or 8, and his love for the game steadily grew. He long aspired to play college golf in the SEC; he fell in love with the Ole Miss practice facilities and shared a mutual belief with the coaching staff.

When asked whether he has any heroes in golf, Suber pointed to the game’s continued evolution. He’s excited about golf’s future, but also determined to make his mark on the present.

“To see so many people that I played college golf with a year ago, and they’re already on TOUR after one year playing on the Korn Ferry Tour, it’s really motivating,” Suber said. “To see how much the game is changing … there are not going to be as many people out here for 20-year careers, it’ll be more young kids that play for five, 10 years.

“There’s always new talent, and the kids that are younger than us, they’re going to hit it a lot farther and a lot straighter than us, probably.”

The game gets deeper and deeper, making Q-School advancement more difficult by the year. Several talented players miss at First Stage – Cameron Young and Justin Suh being examples in recent years. There are no guarantees in a 72-hole competition.

Propelled by PGA TOUR University, Suber has a leg up, and he’s set for a memorable week in the city that shares his name.

“It’s going to be really special,” Suber said, “to play my first event as a pro in Mississippi.”