We preview the Sanderson Farms Open due to take place from 26 October – 29 October at the Jackson Country Club.
With all the world’s attention firmly fixed on the golfing elite in China, the PGA Tour offers the opportunity for various Web.Com Tour alumni to lay a firmer claim to full tour status. Generally speaking, a lower quality field is inversely proportional to predictive accuracy. Yet it does afford the attuned speculator the opportunity to spot some diamonds in the rough that would never conquer a field featuring the likes of Spieth and Thomas.
Sanderson Farms Open | 26 October – 29 October | Jackson Country Club, Mississippi
This event was permanently moved to Jackson Country Club in Jackson Mississippi as of 2014. Jackson Country Club is in many ways the ideal venue for an event that has the distinction of sharing airtime with a WGC event. It is a low-scoring paradise that should come as quite a comfort to many members of the field more accustomed to Web.Com courses. The Bermuda greens are slick and perhaps represent the trickiest aspect of this course.
Defending champion Cody Gribble is way down the field in the betting, but an event like this is never really subject to the same predictive scrutiny as a fully stocked tour event. Just look at previous winners Nick Taylor and Peter Malnati- like Gribble Web.Com graduates with little fanfare going into the event. Familiar faces such as Retief Goosen and Chris Kirk appear sporadically in a field that could offer brilliant value. My choices this week reflect a willingness to abandon conventional wisdom with a far wider field.
Past Winners
2016: Cody Gribble (20)
2015: Peter Malnati (-18)
2014: Nick Taylor (-16)
2013: Woody Austin (-20)
2012: Scott Stallings (-24)
To Win Outright
Chesson Hadley 18/1, Jason Kokrak 22/1, Bronson Burgoon 25/1, Chris Kirk 28/1, William McGirt 28/1
Value Bets
Cameron Triangale- To Win 66/1, To Place 14/1
Triangale started so promisingly on the PGA Tour, only to peter out over the course of the last year. He surely has enough talent to have secured his first PGA Tour victory by now. He has currently slipped outside the world’s top 200, but there have been some encouraging signs of late. He finished 5th in the Web.Com Tour Championship only a few weeks back, and that was his 4th top 10 finish in the last year. He has the capability to take full advantage of a decimated field.
Beau Hossler- To Win 140/1, To Place 30/1
I like to look at long shots in these kinds of scenarios, because invariably their status as a longshot is tempered by the company that they keep. The American Beau Hossler has had an incredible eight months, rising more than 900 places in the official golf world rankings. This has been propelled by two recent runner-up finishes on the Web.Com Tour. I’m far more comfortable backing a player at these odds with recent tournament form than a player at 50/1 who won a PGA Tour event once upon a time.
Stefan Jaegar- To Win 150/1, To Place 33/1
Another one to those searching for amazing value. Hailing from Eichenried, Germany, Jaegar is most famous for shooting a remarkable 58 en route to winning the first of his three Web.Com victories. Two of those victories came in easy scoring conditions such as the ones the players will encounter this week. Jaegar made his full PGA debut recently at the tricky Silverado course in the Safeway Open. He finished in a commendable 30th place amongst a field that was far more competitive than the one present this week. Only one man hit more greens than him at Silverado. Furthermore, Jaegar studied at Bayler Tennessee, so he should be well accustomed to the tricky Bermuda greens.
The Man to Beat- Steve Wheatcroft- To Win 80/1, To Place 17/1
Seeing that putting looks like it could be a determining factor this week- as it always is- look no further than Steve Wheatcroft. Nobody in this field putted better last season than Wheatcroft, including Aaron Baddeley. Wheatcroft is a multiple winner on the Web.Com Tour and has shown a proficiency for low scoring par 72’s: his first title resulted in a winning score of -29. He should have won the Canadian Open in 2016, blazing his bunker shot into the hazard at the last. He has a top three finish at both the Puerto Rico Open and Humana Challenge. And his best finish last season was the St Jude Classic- which is just a few hours north of Jackson. He looks great value at 80/1.
