The venue for this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship, the Country Club of Jackson, is a par 72 course that plays a little more than 7,400 yards. It will yield plenty of birdies. For each of the past five years, the winning score has been between -18 and -21.
The three most important ingredients for success here are driving distance, wedge play, and putting. Players will need to mash it off the tee in order to reach all four of the par 5s in two and leave themselves short wedges on par 4s. The fast Bermuda greens should allow good putters to make plenty of putts.
Here are a few players who could execute that formula:
DraftKings
Will Zalatoris $10,200
Zalatoris didn’t play his best last week yet still finished eighth. He now has placed 34th or better in all 18 of his events in 2020 and has broken into the top six 10 times, including at the U.S. Open. In my model, Zalatoris is the No. 1 overall player at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He scores very well on par 5s and has the best iron and wedge game in the field. Also, he has plenty of incentive to bring it this week: he needs to finish fifth or better to earn special temporary membership on the PGA Tour.
Cameron Davis $8,100
This is an egregiously low price for Davis. I have him ranked as the fourth best player in the Sanderson field. He has an ideal combination of putting, wedge game, and length to contend at the Country Club of Jackson. Specifically, he’s 10th in putting, ninth in wedge proximity, 13th in driving distance, fifth in birdies, and ninth in par-5 scoring. This year has been a good one for Davis; he has finished in the top 40 in 12 of his past 16 events, most of which had far stronger fields than this one.
One-and-Done
Sam Burns
Burns’s game has been trending upward recently, and his first PGA Tour victory can’t be far off. In seven of his past nine events, he has finished 32nd or better. He was in contention last week in the Dominican Republic until a poor Saturday round derailed his hopes. At the Country Club of Jackson, Burns has made the cut in all three of his previous appearances, and he placed third in 2018. He is the No. 2 overall player in my model this week, second in driving distance, and second in wedge proximity. As a bonus, he tends to putt well on Bermuda greens.
Sebastián Muñoz
The 2019 Sanderson champion, Muñoz has shown good form lately, finishing 18th or better in each of the three FedEx Cup Playoff events. Also, tactically speaking, he’s a solid choice for one-and-done leagues, as he obviously has a chance to win, but you most likely won’t use him for any other event.