MADISON — After making a 20-foot birdie putt at Annandale’s No. 2 hole, Parker Rutherford heard a comment from the gallery.

“He’s part of the Vicksburg Express.”

The Express in this case, consists of Rutherford, Chris Ingram and Nick Mekus, who are three of the top 36 juniors in Mississippi invited to play in Tuesday’s Viking Classic Junior Pro-Am at Annandale Golf Club. The players had to qualify for the junior pro-am during a series of summer tournaments. On Tuesday the event paired four juniors with a PGA Tour pro in a six-hole, best-ball playoff. It is the only such event on the PGA Tour.

This was the second time for Rutherford to play in the event. He felt he played pretty well, big putt included.

“When I made that putt, I heard someone say ‘Vicksburg Express.’ I guess they meant me, Nick and Chris,” said Rutherford, a student at Warren Central. “The putt was good, but my best shot was at No. 3. Jacob Ross hit one within three feet and I hit a ball inside of him.”

Rutherford was playing for the Glen Day team. Day is a Mississippi native from Poplarville. Mekus played on the Kirk Triplett while Ingram had the honor of playing with one of the Tour’s top short game specialists in Brad Faxon. Both Mekus and Ingram play for the St. Aloysius golf team.

“He liked the loop in my swing,” Ingram said of Faxon. “He said Jack Nicklaus was a looper.”

Ingram said he struggled in Tuesday’s last group, but he enjoyed hearing Faxon’s tips.

“He is one the best putters of all time. I was dinging it around the course like it was my first time out there,” Ingram said.

At least Ingram avoided the little creek on No. 2. Three of the juniors hit into the water. Ingram went left and then made a good chip to the green.

The best shot, though, was made by Faxon on No. 9, the group’s final hole. As Tour pros like Sean O’Hair and Chad Campbell worked on the putting green, Faxon stuck his second shot at No. 9 within three feet of the cup.

“Six iron, great shot,” Ingram said.

Faxon, a Rhode Island native, said he enjoyed spending extra time showing the Mississippi juniors the keys to putting and chipping.

“It was fantastic,” Faxon said. “It’s a great deal for these young players to learn from a Tour player. I wanted them to ask questions. The short game to me is the most important thing in golf. Whether you hit short or long, chipping and putting is what the game is still about.”

Rutherford said the juniors get to come to Annandale based on a point system taken from the summer’s junior events. This season, Rutherford had four top-five finishes on the Arrowhead Tour and then won tournaments at Black Bear, the Randy Watkins, Natchez and Warren County. He also won four high school tournaments this spring.

“I qualified for this in 2008 and this year, I got in the top 32 again based on points. There is an A group and a B group,” Rutherford said.

Mekus was ninth in points from his summer tournaments and qualified for last year’s event, which was rained out.

“It was great to play with a pro this time,” Mekus said. “I also got to see Henrik Stenson, but he was talking Swedish, so we left,” Mekus said of the 2008 Players Champion at Sawgrass.

“Yeah, he was a big guy,” Rutherford said. “I’m surprised he’s here.”

One of four junior girls in the event was Central Hinds’ Hope Biggs. She got to play for the winning team of Jim Gallagher, Jr.

The Greenwood resident’s group carded a 5-under for the round.

“It was a fun six holes,” said Biggs, who plays with the boys on Central Hinds’ golf team.

As for Faxon, the Viking Classic, which starts Thursday morning, is an important chance to get to play on the PGA’s fall circuit.

“I do about seven events for NBC as a golf analyst and then I get to play maybe 15 of 16 tournaments,” Faxon said. “I haven’t played much of late. I’m just seeing if I can resurrect my game.”