Sanderson Farms Championship Betting Preview
Following an exciting finish to the Ryder Cup, the PGA Tour heads back to its typical individual stroke-play format for this week's Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. The second of seven events in the FedEx Cup Fall series includes four top-50 players in the OWGR and a lone Ryder Cup participant in Rasmus Hojgaard, and is headlined by Akshay Bhatia as the tournament favorite at 20-1 odds. Last year, Kevin Yu (80-1) secured his first Tour victory with a birdie on the first playoff hole over Beau Hossler.
All odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 12:30 PM ET Wednesday.
Course Overview
Par 72, 7,461 yards
These are the average rankings of the event champions across the last five years:
- SG: Off-the-Tee: 19.6
- SG: Approach: 16.6
- SG: Around-the-Green: 28.6
- SG: Putting: 21.6
- SG: Tee-to-Green: 7.8
- Driving Distance: 13.6
- Driving Accuracy: 33.2
This will be the 12th time the Country Club of Jackson is hosting the event, and the venue has been no stranger to birdies with the average winning score being roughly 20-under. Strategically, there's not a lot to give the players trouble as it's a mostly flat course with straight holes. Players are inclined to use driver as the fairways are surrounded by minimal rough and occasional trees that don't provide much penalty for wayward drives. Water is only in play on a few holes, and we don't see many bogeys around here. Even at close to 7,500 yards, only three of the par-4s play over 450 yards. Nothing jumps out from the stats above other than there clearly being a premium on distance over accuracy. The narrative was that Bethpage turned into a putting contest last week and we can expect much of the same around here. In addition to long hitters and good putters, I'll look to target precise wedge players as we'll see a lot of approaches in the 75-125 yard range.
Mississippi Masters
The following players have the lowest scoring average at the Country Club of Jackson since 2020:
- Henrik Norlander: 68.2
- Mackenzie Hughes: 68.3
- Alex Smalley: 68.7
- Kevin Yu: 68.8
- Garrick Higgo: 68.9
Norlander has saved some of his best golf for the Mississippi venue, where three of his seven career top-5 finishes have come. He's made five consecutive cuts at the event, finishing no worse than T28 and most notably lost in a five-man playoff to Luke List two years ago. Something will have to give between Norlander's course history and current form, with his best finish over his last 10 events being a T45 in May. He's an intriguing longshot at 120-1 odds. A bit up the odds board we find Higgo at 40-1, whose highlight in the event was a solo third in his debut in 2022. He followed it up with a T16 before missing the cut last year, and he'll look to continue the momentum after finishing T7 in Napa a couple weeks ago. Higgo has locked up his Tour card through 2027 after winning in Punta Cana in April.
Best Ball Strikers
These five golfers, on a per-round basis, have gained the most strokes from tee to green across their last 20 rounds:
- Rico Hoey: 1.97
- Ben Kohles: 1.67
- Akshay Bhatia: 1.10
- Thomas Rosenmueller: 1.09
- Doug Ghim: 1.05
Hoey continues to excel with his ball striking, having gained strokes on approach in six consecutive tournaments and off the tee in all but one tournament dating back to the beginning of May. He made a switch to a long putter to start the fall and had his best week on the greens since early June, helping lead to his third top-10 since May. He's tied for the seventh choice on the board at 30-1. Much farther down the board is the long-time grinder Kohles at 110-1, who ranks 10th in SG: Approach this season. He's coming off a solid share of 16th here last year in which he posted three rounds of 67 and was ninth in SG: Tee-to-Green. Kohles is a longshot to keep an eye on.
Sanderson Farms Championship Bets: Outright Picks
Michael Thorbjornsen (22-1)
As one of the longest drivers in the field -- with a good putter to boot -- Thorbjornsen is a great course fit which showed last year when he finished T8 in his event debut. The second-year Tour pro has been pushing for a win with three top-5s since April.
Mackenzie Hughes (40-1)
Hughes is no stranger to success at the event having won in 2022 while also finishing T8 last year. Although he's not that long off the tee, he's an excellent wedge player and one of the best putters on Tour. He's also coming off his fourth top-10 of the year.
Lee Hodges (75-1)
I like Hodges as a live longshot. He's only shot over-par once across 16 rounds in Jackson and never missed the cut. His three best putting weeks this year have all led to top-10s, and he was seventh in SG: Approach at the event last year.
Sanderson Farms Championship Bets: Top-10 Wagers
Pierceson Coody (5-1)
Coody has mostly played on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025, where he ranks third in scoring average and second in birdie average. He also sprinkled in a T3 in the Twin Cities at the upper level. Coody's strengths of driving distance and quality putting makes him well suited for the venue.
Thomas Rosenmueller (13-2)
We can see from the stats above that Rosenmueller has been in good form from tee to green while the putter has lagged behind. The rookie had a slow start to the year but looks to be getting more comfortable with five consecutive made cuts including a pair of top-25s.
Trevor Cone (9-1)
Cone's my under-the-radar play of the week as his strength is his driving, where he ranks ninth in distance this year. He's made five cuts in a row including both at this event and had a T14 at the ISCO Championship in July.
Sanderson Farms Championship Bets: Head-to-Head Matchups
Jesper Svensson (-110) over Byeong Hun An
This is mainly a fade against An, who has had a disappointing campaign with only two top-10s and a best finish of T57 across his last six starts. His ball-striking has dipped from last year and his putting isn't good enough to make up for it. An has also missed his last two cuts at the event. I'll side with Svensson in his debut as the rookie ranks third in driving distance and finished the regular season with a pair of top-20s over his last three starts.
Doug Ghim (-115) over Taylor Moore
Two players heading in opposite directions, I'm willing to lay a little more juice to take the in-form Ghim. Two of his four top-20s this year have come since the end of June, and he ranks 10th in SG: Tee-to-green this year. On the flip side, Moore has missed five of his last seven cuts including back-to-back.
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