The second PGA Tour event of the 2022 wraparound season is this week following a break for the Ryder Cup competition, won in record fashion by the United States by a score of 19-9.
The Sanderson Farms Championship, held this year at the Country Club of Jackson, dates back to 1968 as an alternate event on the PGA Tour until gaining full status in 2019, with its winner now receiving the same benefits as those of other tournaments.
Defending champion Garcia and Charley Hoffman have odds of +2000
With the upgrade in status has also come to a better field, with the 2020 edition won by former Masters champion Sergio Garcia, who birdied the final hole to beat charging 2016 winner Peter Malnati by a stroke at 19 under par 269.
The host course plays to a par 72 at 7,461 yards, and it generally takes a score somewhere around 20 under par to have a chance at winning the tournament, and the course record was set by Cameron Champ in 2018 at 21 under par 267,
There are eight former winners in the field, including Garcia, the only Ryder Cup player from either team to tee it up in Jackson. The Sanderson Farms is a popular spot for players to win their first PGA Tour event, with six of them breaking through in the tournament in the last eight seasons.
Betting Odds
Sam Burns, who broke through with his first win last season at the Valspar and ended up with an 18th place finish in the FedEx Cup, is the betting favorite with odds of +1400. Corey Conners, Sung-Jae Im, and Will Zalatoris, who finished tied for11th in the opening Tour event of 2022 at the Fortinet Championship, are at +1600.
Defending champion Garcia and Charley Hoffman, who also got off to a solid start with a tie for 22nd a couple of weeks ago, have odds of +2000. Other notables include Chilean Mito Pereira at +2800, who is coming off a third-place finish in the Fortinet, Matthew Wolff, who is looking to bounce back at +4000, and former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland has odds of +5000.
Underdog Picks
Wolff watched last week as two of his college contemporaries, Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland, competed in the Ryder Cup. The 22-year-old and teammate of Hovland’s at Oklahoma State had a tough 2021 season after opening with two runner-up finishes, including in the U.S. Open behind Bryson DeChambeau.
At +6000, the 2012 Sanderson Farms winner Scott Stallings played well in a sixth-place finish in the Fortinet Championship.
The 36-year-old three-time Tour winner had managed to make the playoffs the last five years, including last year when he squeaked in at number 124, and he could use a victory to secure his playing privileges for another couple of years.
Last year, Greyson Sigg won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour to finish second in the points standings, but he also made five consecutive cuts on the PGA Tour.
He finished 30th at the Fortinet and can post some low scores, fitting the profile at +6500 of former first-time winners at the Sanderson Famers Championship.
