The PGA Tour will tee off this week with the Sanderson Farms Championship at Country Club of Jackson. Many top golfers won’t be participating but there are still tons of ways to play the field. How will it all shake out? WagerTalk golf handicapper Andy Lang shares his thoughts on the field with betting tips, DFS recommendations and players to avoid.
Sanderson Farms Championship Course | Country Club of Jackson
The Country Club of Jackson course is a pretty easy course for pros. The winning score will be around -20. The course is flat with wide open fairways, and pretty straight forward greens. There are a couple difficult holes, but you can’t afford many bogeys and bet in contention. The Par 5s are actually a bit difficult as one of the Par 5s is well over 600 yards and nobody can reach it in two, but the Par 4s are pretty easy and straight with little punishment for wayward tee shots. Go low or go home is the name of the game on this course. I couldn’t find a lot of hole by hole flyovers, but I did see some videos on the front 9 from a few years ago. Here are three of my favorite holes on the front 9:
- Hole 3…551 Par 5-The first of the Par 5s that long players should be able to reach in two. It’s best to stay away from the left side of the fairway as the right side gives you the best direction to the pin. There will be a couple eagles on this hole for long players that hit the fairway, and a great way to get negative numbers early in the round.
- Hole 6…482 Par 4-This hole is one of the difficult ones because of a dogleg to the left, and trees are lining both sides of the fairway. I don’t think long players can drive it over the dogleg, and the approach ends up being around 200 yards from the fairway, but if you miss the fairway on the tee shot, bogey is absolutely in play.
- Hole 9…421 Par 4-I just love this one because there are power lines going over the tee shot and they had to make a rule to let players redo the shot. Other than that, just put it in the fair way and it’s a pretty easy approach shot. The pin location when it’s front left looks to be difficult, but all other pin locations are a green light special.
Sanderson Farms Championship Players to Avoid
Ludvig Aberg – I’m going to go out on a limb and say there was some celebrating and partying after the Ryder Cup win for Europe. I like fading guys after the biggest weekend of their career, and as well as Aberg has played this is an obvious letdown spot. I can’t argue his form and how well he drives the ball, but I can’t bet on him as the #1 favorite this week. He won’t be in DFS lineups or head to head bets for me.
Stephan Jaeger – Jaeger plays well, and he’s a great Draftkings Darling when there’s a solid field, but he just doesn’t have great upside as he finished 45th at the Fortinet in a week field, and he only has one Top 10 in his last 24 tournaments. He’s the second highest favorite this week, but until I see Top 10 upside, I can’t bet on him at this price. It’s his putting that isn’t great, and at an easy course you have to make birdie putts to move up the leaderboard.
Alex Smalley – What is Alex Smalley doing in the top 12 favorites? He has a couple decent finishes this season, but he’s finished 65th, MC, MC at his last three tournaments, and in the last three months he’s -0.73 strokes gained putting. Off the tee, he’s not that good, and he’s only 33rd in total strokes gained. I don’t get the price on him this wee, but I won’t be betting on him.
Sanderson Farms Championship DFS Darlings
Vincent Whaley ($7,100) – He’s made the cut four years in a row here, and while the finishes haven’t been good, it’s still weekend points. He finished 25th at the Fortinet, and he drives the ball far and that should help his approaches here.
Peter Malnati ($7,200) – He finished 11th at the Fortinet, and for whatever reason, he loves playing here. He’s played here 8 years in a row, missed the cut only once and has a win and runner up.
Nick Hardy ($7,400) – Hardy putts well and drives the ball a mile, which is a great recipe for success at this tournament. It explains why he’s finished 5th and 26th the last two years here and he should be a solid play this week.
Sanderson Farms Championship Betting Notes
- Dylan Wu is +1.12 strokes gained putting the last three months, best in the field by far.
- Cameron Champ has the longest driving distance in the field, but has the 6th worst putting stats in the field.
- No golfer has finished top 10 at this event two years in a row.