This article is part of our DraftKings PGA DFS Picks series.
SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP
Purse: $7.6M
Winner's Share: $1.368M
FedEx Cup Points: 500 to the Winner
Location: Jackson, Miss.
Course: The Country Club of Jackson
Yardage: 7,461
Par: 72
2023 champion: Luke List
Tournament Preview
The Presidents Cup is in the rearview mirror and now the PGA Tour begins its sprint to the finish line of the 2024 season. There will be tournaments in seven of the next eight weeks to wrap things up just before Thanksgiving.
Almost all of these FedExCup Fall events will be hit or miss with the quality of the field. Mostly miss. If you figured that the Sanderson Farms would be a miss, especially coming a week after a big event, of course you'd be correct.
There is just one player ranked top-50 in the world -- No. 34 Nick Dunlap, playing not to far from where he starred at Alabama before suddenly turning pro back in January.
But there are 27 of the next 50, highlighted by Rickie Fowler, who is making his first appearance since the Open Championship in July. Fowler is now a two-time dad after the birth of his second child in early August. He did not qualify for the playoffs, though he is secure for next year as a winner on Tour last season.
Former Sanderson winner Mackenzie Hughes (2022) has made his way across the border from Royal Montreal to central Mississippi as the lone Presidents Cup player in attendance, though U.S. assistant captain Brandt Snedeker is here, as well.
Other names of note joining the 132-man fray are defending champion Luke List, Maverick McNealy, Harris English, Matt Kuchar, Eric Cole, Lucas Glover, Keith Mitchell and fan favorite Joel Dahmen. And, because they are Mississippi natives, let's throw a shoutout to Davis Riley, Chad Ramey and young Hunter Logan, who played as a graduate student at Mississippi State during the 2023-24 season. He is in on a sponsor's invite.
As a reminder, Tour cards for next season are still up for grabs through The RSM Classic at the end of the 2024 schedule, with dozens of golfers still battling to stay or get inside the top-125 in the point standings. Players who finish from No. 51 to No. 60 in points get into two early 2025 signature events at Pebble Beach and Riviera.
This tournament, very likely the biggest professional sporting event of the year in the Magnolia State, has had a five-decade history unlike any other PGA Tour event. It has undergone incredible change through the years and faced enormous obstacles just to still be standing today. For instance, the past five years it has had to follow either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup.
The history of the Sanderson Farms is mind-boggling. It has been known by many names since its inception way back in 1968 as the Magnolia Classic. For almost half its existence, until 1994, it wasn't even considered an official PGA Tour event; it was embarrassingly called a "satellite" tournament -- the money was real but the results were "unofficial." Then it became an opposite-field event. Along the way, it has been moved around more than an army brat, having been played in seven different months: April, May, July, August, September, October and November. It has been an opposite-field event the same weeks as -- and how's this for a heavyweight lineup of opponents -- the Masters, the Open Championship, the TOUR Championship and multiple WGCs, plus the Ryder and Presidents Cups. Until 2018, the tourney was played the same week as the WGC-HSBC Champions but then was elevated to the top tier of tournaments.
Of course, tournament organizers likely are thankful just to be a full-status event, now for the fifth year, so life is good, even a week after the Presidents Cup and opposite the NFL and college football deep in the heart of SEC country.
This will be the 10th year at the Country Club of Jackson. The course is a 1962 Dick Wilson design, with a John Fought/Mike Gogel renovation in 2008. The course has occasionally showed some teeth but not often. It's a moderate length for a par-72. The tree-lined fairways are largely flat, wide and straight, allowing everyone to let fly. Even on narrower holes, there's little impediment to taking out driver.
The tournament likely will be decided from the second shot on in, notably on the greens. They are bermudagrass and average 6,200 square feet. The key is, they are set up super fast, 12-13 on the Stimpmeter. There are only 56 bunkers on the entire course and water comes into play on five holes. One of the five is the 479-yard 16th, which is considered the signature hole and normally plays as the hardest hole on the course. It is part of an odd closing stretch of four straight par-4s that begins with the drivable 330-yard 15th and ends with the 505-yard 18th, which often plays as the second- or third-hardest hole.
As for the weather, high temperatures will be in the upper-80s all week with little chance of rain and moderate wind.
Sanderson Farms factoids: Former NBC announcer Roger Maltbie won it back in 1980 when it was called the Magnolia Classic. He shot an opening 65 and then saw the final three rounds all rained out. He earned $4,500 and reportedly joked that it might not even cover his bar tab. ... For the second straight PGA Tour event, we've seem a dip in the purse. Last year, the Sanderson doled out $8.2 million and this year it's a mere $7.6 million.
Key Stats to Winning at the Country Club of Jackson
The most important indicators every week are current form and course history. "Key Stats" follow in importance.
• Strokes Gained: Approach/Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
• Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee/Driving Distance
• Approach from 125-150 yards
• Strokes Gained: Putting
• Birdie Average/Birdie or Better Percentage
Past Champions
2023 - Luke List
2022 - Mackenzie Hughes
2021 - Sam Burns
2020 - Sergio Garcia
2019 - Sebastian Munoz
2018 - Cameron Champ
2017 - Ryan Armour
2016 - Cody Gribble
2015 - Peter Malnati
2014 - Nick Taylor
Champion's Profile
Most years, a high finish is predicated on hitting the ball far, not necessarily straight, gaining strokes on approach and navigating the lightning-quick greens. Last year, List emerged from a five-way playoff that included Ludvig Aberg, Scott Stallings, Henrik Norlander and Ben Griffin. Four of the five ranked top-12 in driving distance (not Griffin). Only one of them, Norlander, was accurate. List was top-7 in greens in regulation and putting. That tracks that most years the winner will have to putt well, as Hughes and Straka did. But Burns and Garcia were so good tee to green they were able to win despite being 57th and 28th in putting, respectively. Both years, the runner-up led the field in SG: Putting. In the past nine years, the winning score has fallen between 17- and 22-under (last year it was 18-under). The over/under on this year's winning score is 269.5 per golfodds.com -- 18.5 under par.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS
Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap
$9,000-$9,900
J.J. Spaun - $9,900 (Winning odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook: +3000)
There are three guys priced at $10,000 or above -- Mitchell at $10,400, Seamus Power at $10,200 and Hughes right on the number. We don't feel comfortable backing any of them. So we turn to Spaun at just under $10,000. He had a brutal first half of the year. But since the end of June, he's made all seven of his cuts, three of them ending in top-10s, with another top-25. He just missed another at the Procore three weeks ago. That's why he lands at No. 1 in our model encompassing his last 24 rounds. Spaun didn't make the playoffs, but he's safely inside the top 125.
Nick Dunlap - $9,700 (+2500)
When we saw the field, our first though was: Dunlap is the best golfer in the tournament. Yes, his world ranking agrees, but he's played in big tournaments against top competition all year and most of these guys haven't. He had a top-5 in the playoff tournament in Memphis. Dunlap has been idle since the BMW in late August.
Ben Griffin - $9,500 (+3000)
Griffin sits at No. 61 in the point standings. He's therefore one of the best guys in the field but also looking to crack the top-60 by season's end. Griffin was in the five-man playoff here last year but lost to Luke List. He's been idle since the FedEx St. Jude. He's still ranked as one of the best approach players in the field.
Patrick Fishburn - $9,400 (+3000)
Fishburn has missed more than half his cuts this year -- but not lately. He's finished top-6 in three of his past four starts, including a T3 at the Procore three weeks ago. Fishburn is ranked seventh on Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee and is a top-60 putter.
$8,000-$8,900
Chan Kim - $8,900 (+3500)
We're thinking there are some golf fans out there who might not even know who Kim is -- and why is he $8,900? But it's a fair price for a guy playing well lately, to the point that he is ranked second in this field in SG: Tee-to-Green over his past 24 rounds. Kim tied for 12th at the Wyndham and for 26th at the Procore.
Matt Kuchar - $8,500 (+5000)
Kuchar has finished T3-T12-T13 in his past three starts, including at the Procore. He hasn't played the Sanderson in forever, but at No. 105 in points, Kuchar has designs on getting into next year's signature events. Even at age 46, he is among the best putters in this field, ranked 18th on Tour on the season. He is top-10 finisher in our model.
Mac Meissner - $8,000 (+4500)
Meissner is ranked in the top-25 of every key stat over his past 24 rounds but putting. On the season, he is ranked in the top-25 on Tour in SG: Tee-to-Green. He missed the cut last time out at the Procore, which could've simply been rust after being idle since the Wyndham, where he placed T12.
Rico Hoey - $8,000 (+4500)
Hoey is safely inside the top-125. Back in June, he was around 170th. Since then he's made his past seven cuts, including a runner-up at the ISCO, another top-10 and four total top-25s.
$7,000-$7,900
Andrew Novak - $7,800 (+5500)
Novak made six straight cuts culminating with the Wyndham, his most recent start. Most guys in this field missed the playoffs and have been off for a similarly long time, unless they played the Procore three weeks ago. Novak is ranked 19th on Tour in SG: Approach and 20th in SG: Total, raising the question: How the heck did he miss the playoffs?
C.T. Pan - $7,500 (+5000)
Pan has played here the past few years and done quite well, with top-12 showings in three of the past four years. He withdrew from the Procore three weeks ago and the Wyndham back in August with a neck injury, but feels good enough to tee it up this week.
Henrik Norlander - $7,500 (+6000)
Norlander is another guy who loves the Country Club of Jackson -- even more than Pan. He has three top-5s here in the past four years, including a shared runner-up last year as a playoff loser. He putted great here in 2023, and it's apparent he is dialed in on the greens. Norlander has a lot to play for, currently sitting at 131st in the point standings.
$6,000-$6,900
Chad Ramey - $6,900 (+11000)
Some guys don't do well when playing at home. But the Mississippi native tied for 16th here a year ago. He's made five straight cuts, including the Procore, and two of them were top-25s. Ramey is an excellent putter who is ranked 28th on Tour.
Sam Ryder - $6,700 (+11000)
Ryder's game has really fallen off this year. He's currently just outside the top-125 in points and has missed his past four cuts. But he's done well here, and by that we mean he's made the cut the past three years. This is a shorter course, and that helps the short-hitting Ryder a lot. He's ranked 26th on Tour in SG: Approach.
Troy Merritt - $6,500 (+20000)
Merritt hasn't played this tournament a lot -- just four times in the past 10 years. But after a tying for ninth a year ago, he decided to comeback soonest. Merritt missed the cut at the Procore, his fourth straight MC. That doesn't sound great, obviously. But there's slim pickings way down here.
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