Paulie’s Picks: 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship

This week the Tour heads to Mississippi for the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson. Previously this has been an opposite-field event, but now it has its own weekend. The course features four par 5s, and the winner each of the last five years was -16 or better. So we will see a lot of birdies.

What type of player has the best chance of winning? I’d say a bomber who plays super aggressive and hits driver on most holes. Last year, Cameron Champ showed how this course can be attacked in that way, and I expect many of the younger, more powerful players in the field to follow suit. For a long hitter, it just takes an accurate driving week and a hot putter to run away with the title.

Let’s consider three players who fit that mold for DraftKings:

Scottie Scheffler $9,900

Yes, I’m playing Scheffler again this week. He is a long hitter who has the upside to make a lot of birdies. Last week, he gained a massive 11.7 strokes off the tee and on approach combined—five strokes better than the winner of the event, Joaquín Niemann. If Scheffler brings any semblance of a putter to the Sanderson Farms, he will contend again.

Grayson Murray $7,600

Murray, one of the longest players on Tour, is finally back to full health and is currently undervalued. In the KFT Finals, he racked up finishes of 23rd, 11th, and seventh. He backed those up with a T-36 at The Greenbrier, even though he lost strokes on the greens. Murray should be able to unleash his driver, his biggest strength, on most holes at Country Club of Jackson. He finished eighth at this course in 2016, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get another top 10 this week.

Brandon Hagy $6,800

Another bomber who has returned to full health after battling injuries, Hagy played two KFT Finals events and finished fifth and second. In his three appearances at the Sanderson Farms, he has finished in the top 18 twice. When his game is on, he has the ability to make birdies in bunches and obliterate par 5s. At such a cheap price, he is a great option for large-field tournaments like this one.