PGA Tour – Sanderson Farms Championship Preview

Hudson Swafford managed to stop the bleeding in those final nine holes at Corales Golf Club, barely hanging on in what was a nail-biting finish in the Dominican Republic. The PGA Tour heads to Mississippi this week for the Sanderson Farms Championship. This event actually dates back to 1968, where it was originally staged at the Hattiesburg Country Club. In 1994 it moved to Annandale and then settled on its current venue- The Country Club of Jackson- in 2000. This is one of those events that has largely existed in the strange limbo region that is the opposite event. It was once named- rather awesomely- the Viking Classic. It has been played opposite epic events as varied as the Masters, Ryder Cup and Open Championship. Last year was the first time in its history that it was the primary event on the tour. This year’s event has still struggled to attract an elite field, with many choosing to recharge ahead of the season’s epic finale. 

The Country Club of Jackson itself dates back over a hundred years, though this week’s course was only opened in 1962. It is a composite of two Dick Wilson-designed nines, named Dogwood and Azalea. John Fought redesigned the Championship Course in 2008/2009. What we have this week is a parkland-style layout with fairly tricky greens: the runoff areas are reminiscent of Augusta. Generally speaking, this should be a fairly straightforward test. The fairways are wide and conditions should be ideal. There seems to be a trend over the last few years for driving distance to take precedence over accuracy. But the real key is to hit greens and make putts. Perhaps that’s why this event has produced so many surprise winners: putting contests can prove hard to predict. 

Scottie Scheffler leads the markets after an extremely consistent season. King Louis returns after an excellent third-place finish at Winged Foot, cementing his reputation as one of Major Championship golf’s leading figures. Sungjae Im and Will Zalatoris are two of the younger stars that will be looking to shine this week. Defending champion Sebastian Munoz will be looking to regain some form while Adam Long looks to put last week’s disappointing final round behind him. 

Seeing as this event has a habit of crowning maiden PGA champs, I’m going to opt for a talented twenty-something still seeking his maiden title: Denny McCarthy. He tied for seventh here back in 2018 before a less captivating tie for 18th last year. Key to my selection is his fondness for these greens: he finished first for shots gained putting two years ago. Also, take a look at his one win on the Korn Ferry Tour. He won the 2018 Web.com Tour Championship with a score of 23 under par. McCarthy clearly thrives on these flat tracks. He has made seven of his last eight cuts on tour, including a tie for ninth at the Wyndham Championship.

Kristoffer Ventura is coming off a disappointing tie for 52nd at the under-strength Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship last week. I don’t mind. It only makes him more appealing in price. Last week was the 4th straight cut made by Ventura. He won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019 and just recently picked up a top 10 at the season-opening Safeway Open. Though his PGA Tour action was limited last year, he did end fourth in Strokes Gained: Putting, which will come in handy this week. 

Sam Burns arrives this week in excellent form. He has finishes of T28 and seventh in his two events of the new season. He closed last week’s event with an impressive 66 (hopefully a harbinger of things to come this week). This is a course which has started to favour the bigger hitters: Sam Burns currently ranks eighth on tour for Driving Distance. He also has a GIR percentage of 77% in his first two events, which pairs favourably with a putting average of 1.589. Perhaps Burns presents the most value of the more fancied players.