This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Sanderson Farms Championship
Jackson, Mississippi
Country Club of Jackson - Par 72 - 7,461 yards
Field - 132 entrants
Purse - $7.6M
The Preview
Golf returns to Yahoo's DFS menu after the lobby was devoid of contests during the Presidents Cup this past week, while the United States Team bounced back from a Friday scare to control the action throughout the weekend in Montreal. The PGA Tour's FedExCup Fall resumes this week at the Country Club of Jackson with a 132-man field that lacks star power, though scoring opportunities won't be scarce in Mississippi as the average winning score sits right around 19-under-par throughout the past 10 years since this venue became the tournament's host site.
The C.C. of Jackson is a straightaway tree-lined course with narrow fairways and lightning-quick bermuda greens, but the surrounding rough isn't very penal. We should see plenty of wedges into these short par-4s and long par-5s, emphasizing proximity from 100-150 yards where 35.7 percent of the approach-shot distribution has fallen here. It's going to be hot and humid throughout the week, but tame winds should call for prime scoring conditions.
Recent 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
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Putting (Bermuda)
Birdie or Better Percentage
SG: Approach
Driving Distance
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Nick Dunlap - $39
Yahoo's extremely soft pricing throughout this weak field figures to inflate Dunlap's projected ownership as the tournament favorite, given he fits in both stars-and-scrubs and balanced builds at just $39 atop the salary board. Nonetheless, Dunlap harnesses proven win equity with two victories in 22 starts this year, and he's not far removed from a top-5 effort at the FedEx St. Jude Championship where he gained 4.9 strokes with his irons.
Mackenzie Hughes - $37
Hughes emerged victorious from a two-man playoff over Sepp Straka to win here at the Country Club of Jackson in 2022, when he ultimately paced the field in putting average as well. Hughes' short game carried him to five consecutive finishes of T46 or better from the Travelers Championship to the Wyndham Championship before placing 58th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but he rebounded by gaining 6.2 strokes on his approach shots en route to a fourth-place finish at the Procore Championship in mid-September. The highlight of his week at the recent Presidents Cup on native soil was a 6 & 5 win alongside fellow Canadian Corey Conners versus Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau in the Friday Foursomes session that saw the International Team go 5-0.
Glue Guys
Keith Mitchell - $34
Despite Mitchell's brutal course history at the C.C. of Jackson that includes missed cuts in all four of his previous appearances here, Mitchell is still underpriced at just $34 as the top dog in my custom model and the No. 2 player in the outright betting market this week, while he also ranks No. 1 in both Birdies or Better Gained and Opportunities Gained over his last 24 rounds. He's been stellar from tee to green all year, and he even gained four collective strokes with his putter across his past two outings at the Wyndham Championship and the Procore Championship, posting back-to-back 12th-place results.
J.J. Spaun - $33
Sitting one spot below Mitchell at No. 2 in my model this week, Spaun has gained at least 3.8 strokes from tee to green in five of six starts dating to a top-10 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, but he's also second in Birdies or Better Gained and 11th in SG: Putting over his last 24 rounds. He's been especially outstanding with his approach play from the 100-125 yard and 200-plus ranges, climbing to second in overall proximity within that 24-round sample.
Seamus Power - $32
The 37-year-old Irishman gained at least 1.3 strokes off the tee in six straight events from a T20 at the Travelers Championship through a T10 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship ahead of a T26 back home at the Amgen Irish Open last month. Power gained strokes on the greens at the C.C. of Jackson in all six of his prior trips to Mississippi, notching four top-30 finishes in the process.
Bargain Bin
Matthew McCarty - $20
A three-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour since the Price Cutter Charity Championship in July, McCarty has ascended to No. 74 in the Official World Golf Ranking before even making his PGA Tour debut, and he's coming off a T5 in his most recent start at the KFT's Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship. A $20 salary for one of the hottest players on the planet is far too low, as evidenced by his 40/1 outright odds and inflated price elsewhere in the DFS market.
Nick Hardy - $20
One of seven players in this week's field to rank top-20 in each of SG: OTT, SG: APP and Opps Gained, Hardy's ball-striking prowess lends him plenty of upside at the minimum salary, and he hasn't lost strokes with his irons since the Texas Children's Houston Open in late March. Additionally, Hardy placed T35-T5-T26 the past three years in Jackson, notably gaining a combined 15.2 strokes from tee to green across these 12 rounds to reach a cumulative 37-under-par.
Cameron Champ - $20
Much like Hardy, Champ also owns one of the better track records at the Sanderson with finishes of T9-T28 since a victory here at his C.C. of Jackson debut back in 2018 when he first became a champion on the PGA Tour. Champ gained at least 5.7 strokes off the tee in each of these three previous Sanderson Farms Championship appearances, and he's currently No. 1 in both SG: OTT and driving distance over his last 24 rounds.
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