The Sanderson Farms Championship is the second of seven events in the FedEx Cup Fall, the new slate of tournaments that will determine final status for the 2024 PGA Tour season.
The event begins Thursday at The Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi, and our golf experts preview the tournament along with their favorite props and best bets to win this week.
SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP
Location: Jackson, Miss., Oct. 5-8
Course: The Country Club of Jackson (Par 72, 7,461 yards)
Purse: $8.2M (Winner: $1.476M)
Defending Champion: Mackenzie Hughes
FedEx Cup Champion: Viktor Hovland
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Sunday, 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m.
X: @Sanderson_Champ
PROP PICKS
–Adam Svensson to Finish Top 20 (+160 at BetMGM): We’re tempted to take a Top 10 finish at +333, but Svensson is streaky enough to leave hesitation. Ranked 63rd in the world, he should fare well against a modest field, to put it lightly. Svensson is teeing it up for the first time since a T15 at the BMW Championship in the second leg of the playoffs. He also posted a T7 at the Wyndham and a T21 at the John Deere among his past five events.
–Eric Cole to Beat Stephan Jaeger (+100 at DraftKings): Both are seeking their maiden PGA Tour victories and have posted a bushel of quality results this season. Jaeger has six top-20s among his 14 consecutive cuts made, while Cole has made the weekend in 11 consecutive starts. That includes a solo fourth in his most recent start at the Fortinet Championship after reaching the second leg of the playoffs.
–Ludvig Aberg & Emiliano Grillo Both Top 20 (+240 at BetMGM): Grillo is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 35 as he makes his first start since finishing 29th at the Tour Championship. He has a pair of top-10s among five consecutive cuts made and tied for fifth here last year. Aberg is making the trek from last week’s Ryder Cup in Rome, but the rookie should have plenty of momentum. While he hasn’t won on the PGA Tour, he did win the Omega European Masters just two starts ago as part of three consecutive top-10s on the DP World Tour.
2023 Prop Picks Record: 41-44-2
BEST BETS
–Aberg (+1200) is the heavy pre-tournament favorite. The cross-Atlantic travel following the dramatic Ryder Cup week is the primary concern, but the Swede is the book’s biggest liability this week as he leads the field with 31.5 percent of the money backing him to win — more than four times as much as any other player has attracted.
–Cole (+2000) was the only rookie to advance to the BWM Championship and he also finished second at the Honda, although he is still seeking his first PGA Tour win. He has been backed by the most total bets with 7.8 percent since opening at +2200, and is BetMGM’s second biggest liability.
–Grillo (+2200) is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 35 and the only player who qualified for the Tour Championship. He tied for fifth here last year.
–S.H. Kim (+3300) is coming off a runner-up finish at the Fortinet, where he finished two shots behind Sahith Theegala. He has been backed by the third most total bets at the book at 5.1 percent.
–Garrick Higgo (+4000) is extremely inconsistent, following three consecutive finishes of T21 or better with a pair of missed cuts. That includes at the Fortinet Championship in his most recent start. The young South African is the book’s third biggest liability this week as he has drawn the fifth most total bets at 4.9 percent since opening at +5000.
–Mackenzie Hughes (+6600) hasn’t finished higher than T30 in his past 10 starts, but the defending champ is one of the most accomplished players in the field and did qualify for the playoffs.
–Peter Kuest (+6600) was ranked 1,257th in the world just five months ago. He enters this week at No. 282 after taking advantage of several sponsors invites following a T4 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic as a Monday Qualifier. A Special Temporary Member of the tour for the rest of the season, Kuest hasn’t done better than T45 in his past five starts, but is second at the book with 7.2 percent of the money backing him to win.
NOTES
–Nos. 1-50 in the FedEx Cup standings after the Tour Championship are locked into their positions through the end of the year. Nos. 51-60 after the Fall series will qualify for two signature events next year: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. The top 125 will be exempt into full-field events and The Players Championship, while Nos. 126-150 will earn Korn Ferry Tour status and conditional status on the PGA Tour next year.
–Aberg, who went 2-2-0 in his debut for the winning European team, is the only player from last week’s Ryder Cup in the field.
–Hughes defeated Sepp Straka in a playoff last year for his second career win on Tour. He’s trying to join Dwight Nevil (1973-74) as the only players to successfully defend at this event.
–Field Level Media