PREVIEW: Depleted field for PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship

US PGA Tour 2021/2022
Sanderson Farms Championship
The Country Club of Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi
30th September- 3rd October

It’s pretty understandable that we have a severely depleted field this week. The tour is still reeling from a stacked season and simultaneously recovering from last week’s Ryder Cup festivities. The Sanderson Farms Championship was first staged at the Hattiesburg Country Club in 1968. It has gone through several iterations and moved to Jackson, Mississippi seven years back. This tournament has traditionally been played as an opposite event for much of its existence. It has played second fiddle to many events, most notably the Masters and the Ryder Cup. But this will be the 3rd consecutive year that this event will get top billing on the US PGA Tour.

The Country Club of Jackson is actually on the longer side, measuring 7,460 yards as a par 72. Originally designed by Dick Wilson and opened in 1914, John Fought redesigned the championship course in 2008/2009. The remodelled layout is a parkland-style course with tricky little Bermuda greens. Mastering the greens are crucial to success here. It’s little wonder that Sergio Garcia captured the title last year. Garcia is an Augusta champion with the capacity to handle lightning-fast greens (these greens are reported to run at a brisk 13 on the stimp). Finding greens this week will prove more vital than what you do from the tee. The small green complexes make surgical iron play essential: nobody hit more putting surfaces than Sergio Garcia last year.

Will Zalatoris and Sam Burns will be vying for favourites status this week. Zalatoris is a huge-driving phenom who has made some recent adjustments to his putting style. This coming season could be a breakthrough for the naturally smooth Zalatoris. Burns is coming off a brilliant breakthrough season and will be looking to prove that he’s not a flash in the pan success. Defending champion Sergio Garcia will be hoping to draw on some positive juju this week following the horror show at Whistling Straits.

Past Winners

2020: Sergio Garcia (-19)
2019: Sebastian Munoz (-18)
2018: Cameron Champ (-21)
2017: Ryan Armour (-19)
2016: Cody Gribble (-20)

To Win Outright:

Will Zalatoris 16/1 | Sam Burns 16/1 | Sungjae Im 18/1 | Sergio Garcia 20/1 | Corey Conners 20/1

Value Bets

Matthew Wolff- To Win 55/1 | To Place 12/1

Wolff is coming off of a poor season where he battled loss of form and various personal demons. He actually only played in 14 events this year. He missed the cut in three of them, withdrew from two of them and was disqualified from the Masters due to an incorrect scorecard. But there’s no denying the talent of former US Open runner-up. His inaccuracy off the tee shouldn’t be too much of an issue at the Country Club of Jackson. His massive length off the tee should give him a considerable advantage on this long layout. I don’t think you will get Wolff at these odds in a similar field for much longer.

Sepp Straka- To Win (140/1), To Place (30/1)

This is certainly one you can chalk under the speculative category (especially considering the fact that Straka is yet to win). However, if he were to win it would likely happen in a week like this (low scoring plus weak field). The Austrian’s only victory on the 2nd tier came with a 22-under score. He also ranked 26th on the entire tour last season for Par 5 Birdie or Better. He was also just outside the top 20% for Birdie Average. He fired a 63 during the opening round of the Olympics earlier this year before shooting a 64 at the Wyndham. He can go low.

The Man to Beat- Mito Pereira- To Win 33/1) | To Place 7/1

This 26-year-old Chilean could be one to watch on this season’s PGA Tour. He earned immediate promotion to the PGA Tour with three Korn Ferry victories last season. So, he’s already had a taste of life on the PGA Tour. He finished T5 at the Barbasol Championship and T6 at the 3M Open. He has also opened the new season in spectacular fashion, finishing in 3rd place at the Fortinet Championship. He was T3 for GIR at Silverado (that stat could prove crucial this week).