By: @Ryan_Humphries on Twitter & LineStar Chat

Tournament & Field 🏆

Big shout out to the U.S. Ryder Cup team for a dominating winning performance over the Euros! The early season Fall swing continues as the PGA Tour travels down south to The Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi for the Sanderson Farms Championship. As we can typically expect in many early-season events, the field strength is going to be on the weaker side, with only 29 players inside the top 100 of the Official Golf World Rankings in attendance – Sam Burns (OWGR No. 25) being the highest ranked golfer in the field. Even without a ton of superstars on site, this is still a good time to get familiarized with some lesser known PGA talent. It can certainly help further down the road! This will be a full field event with 156 players on site and the 36-hole cut rule will, once again, come down to the top 65 (and ties) who will move on to play the weekend.

The Course Preview ⛳

The Country Club of Jackson is a traditional Par 72 set up which extends 7,460 yards and features four Par 3s, four Par 5s, and 12 Par 4s. This has been the host course for the Sanderson Farms Championship every year since 2014, so there is some strong, reliable course history to go off of with many of this week’s golfers. The course itself is not overly difficult; a winning score of 16 to 21-under has been achieved every year since 2014. However, in terms of difficulty over the last five years, the CC of Jackson has ranked 31st, 26th, 26th, 21st, and 34th, so it isn’t an outright cakewalk.

The mostly tree-lined fairways are about average in width but can feature tight landing zones which are protected by strategically placed bunkers on many holes. As a result, that will require reasonably solid accuracy off of the tee, as the rough here can be a bit penalizing. However, I will say those bombers can also find success here as well. If guys miss fairways but are able to routinely hit it 310+ yards and use a wedge out of the rough as they make their approach shots, then that “bomb and gouge” strategy can certainly work out. The green complexes are elevated and fairly wide open, but they do possess a bit of slope and undulation while being protected by bunkers and numerous water hazards. Missing the greens on approach shots could create difficult ‘up and downs.’ The greens themselves are made up of Bermuda grass and will run somewhat fast (around 12 on the stimpmeter) but they should also carry consistent putting lines. Overall, accurate ball strikers who don’t miss a ton of fairways (or bombers with solid wedges) will reign supreme so long as their putter doesn’t completely fail them. Being a Par 72, a little extra emphasis should go toward some Par 5 scoring metrics as well.

Weather & Tee Times ⛅

Temperature & Rain: Even though it’s late September, this is the deep south we’re talking about so temperatures are still going to venture into the mid-80s this time of year. Currently the only day where rain could be an issue is on Sunday, mostly during the A.M. hours. We’re a little too far off to worry about that and it isn’t as if it would affect your lineup building for the traditional four round DFS contests.

Winds: No issues here has sustained winds should never even crack 10 mph with gusts hardly reaching 12 mph.

Verdict: No tee time advantage this week.

Sanderson Farms Championship Tee Times

Top Stats to Consider 📊

1. Strokes Gained: Ball Striking (SG: App + SG: OTT) | 35%

2. Birdie or Better % | 25%

3. Par 4 Average | 20%

4. Par 5 BoB% | 10%

5. Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermuda) | 10%

High-Priced Targets

Key Stats Only Rank; Provides a golfer's overall rank (in relation to the field) in my key stats only model, which takes into account only the stats listed above with those specific weights allocated towards each metric.

Overall Model Rank (OMR); a golfer's ranking (within the current field) in my personal model which weighs all the key stats listed above as well as things like course history, recent form, recent average fantasy scoring outputs, and odds to win.

Will Zalatoris | DK: $10.8k, FD: $11.8k

Odds: 16/1 | GPP Preferred

Key Stats Only Rank: #7

Overall Model Rank: #14

Zalatoris is coming off of an excellent 2020-21 season which earned him PGA Rookie of the Year honors. His game stalled out in the summer months but he finished the season strong coming off of a T-8 (WGC-FedEx St. Jude) and T29 (Wyndham) and he opened his 2021-22 campaign up with a sharp T11 finish at the Fortinet Championship a couple of weeks ago. He exhibited some top-notch ball-striking for much of last year. If he can just find some consistency with the flat stick, he’ll compete for a top 10 result once again this week, potentially a victory.

Sergio Garcia | DK: $10.5k, FD: $11.6k

Odds: 18/1 | Cash & GPP

Key Stats Only Rank: #12

Overall Model Rank: #4

Sergio made his Sanderson Farms Championship debut in 2020 and found immediate success with an outright victory by shooting a winning score of 19-under. He enters this event in great form with just one finish worse than a T-26 in his last nine worldwide starts. The one poor outing in that span was a missed cut at The Northern Trust but he immediately bounced back with a T-6 at the BMW Championship the following week. Aside from his poor putting splits on Bermuda grass (ranks 97th in the field), Sergio checks off all the boxes I’m looking for this week. If he finds success with the putter, he should at least be in contention for making a bid for back-to-back wins here.

Mito Pereira | DK: $9.9k, FD: $10.9k

Odds: 33/1 | Cash & GPP

Key Stats Only Rank: #1

Overall Model Rank: #12

Pereira is definitely one of my favorite Rookie of the Year candidates entering the 2021-22 season. He already has three finishes of T-6 or better within his last four PGA starts along with a T-4 finish at the Men’s Olympic Competition in Tokyo. He doesn’t have as many measured PGA rounds as most golfers this week, but regardless he does check in ranking 1st in SG: BS, 1st in P5 BoB%, 2nd in P4 AVG, and 5th in overall BoB%. The guy can score! After opening the season with a solo 3rd place finish at the Fortinet Championship, I’ll fully expect Pereira to keep his momentum rolling down in Jackson, Mississippi.

Mid-Priced Targets

Seamus Power | DK: $8.8k, FD: $10.4k

Odds: 40/1 | Cash & GPP

Key Stats Only Rank: #20

Overall Model Rank: #8

Few golfers finished the 2020-21 regular season with more momentum than Seamus Power. He had a six-start stretch between mid-May and Mid-July where he finished T-9, T-19, T-19, T-8, T-8, and 1st (Barbasol Championship). You will also have to go back all the way to mid-February to find a missed PGA Tour cut for Power. This will be his 5th appearance in this event and he has previously made 3-of-4 cuts, highlighted by back-to-back top 20 finishes in 2017 & 2018. Power is an efficient ball-striker who excels on Par 4s (6th in P4 AVG). Given his standout long term form, Power will be a DFS target across the board.

Aaron Wise | DK: $8.3k, FD: $9.9k

Odds: 50/1 | GPP Preferred

Key Stats Only Rank: #28

Overall Model Rank: #13

Wise posted strong performances in the FedEx Cup Playoffs with T-21 (Northern Trust) and T-17 (BMW Champ.) results. He comes back to the Sanderson Farms Championship where he has landed T-17, T-39, and T-25 finishes in his last three trips. Like so many of these guys I’ve mentioned, the putter is really the only club in his bag that I’d be worried about (96th in SG: Putt - Bermuda). But if he can just stay even with the field, or possibly gain a couple of strokes on the greens, I believe we’ll see another top 20ish finish from Wise this week. He’s likely a cash-safe play, but I’ll be gaining my exposure to him more so in GPPs.

Mackenzie Hughes | $7.6k, FD: $9.4k

Odds: 60/1 | GPP Preferred

Key Stats Only Rank: #100

Overall Model Rank: #40

Hughes is not exactly known for his ball striking (115th in SG: BS) but he does shine with the putter (11th in SG: Putt - Bermuda) which has helped carry him to six straight made cuts, including a couple of top 15 finishes. He’s an efficient Par 5 scorer and in his lone previous appearance on this course in 2016, he came away with a respectable T-26. If he can show some consistency with his irons, Hughes is fully capable of making a solid run at a top 10 this week. He’ll be another appealing mid-range GPP target.

Low-Priced/Punt Targets

Rory Sabbatini | DK: $6.9k, FD: $8.7k

Odds: 125/1 | GPP Only

Key Stats Only Rank: #74

Overall Model Rank: #51

Sabs won himself a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics and notched a T-10 two weeks later at the Wyndham Championship. He’s played three EURO events since then, stringing together adequate results (T-33, T-60, T-50). He now returns to the Sanderson Farms Championship where he has most recently posted T-12 (2020) and T-20 (2018) finishes. Overall, Sabbatini’s 2020-21 season was a forgettable one without much consistency but he’ll look to get the new season started off on the right foot at a course that he is very familiar with.

Nick Hardy | DK: $6.9k, FD: $7.8k

Odds: 175/1 | GPP Preferred

Key Stats Only Rank: #36

Overall Model Rank: #31

Hardy is coming over from the Korn Ferry Tour but he did post a T-36 in the Fortinet Championship two weeks ago, as well as a T-42 and T-14 in his two previous PGA appearances which came early in the calendar year at the WMPO and Sony Open. In limited measured PGA rounds, Hardy has shown some enticing ball striking (ranks 8th in the field) and ranks 1st in Greens Hit in Regulation. On top of his overall inexperience in PGA-level fields, some more risk is included in the fact that this will be his course debut. But, he’s shown enough upside in previous PGA starts and recently on the Korn Ferry Tour to draw consideration as a value play this week.

Adam Schenk | DK: $6.7k, FD: $8.4k

Odds: 125/1 | Cash & GPP

Key Stats Only Rank: #66

Overall Model Rank: #28

Schenk brings plenty of cut equity to the table this week after missing only two cuts in his previous 12 starts. He has also gone 4-for-4 on made cuts at the Country Club of Jackson, including a T-7 back in 2018. Schenk is not likely to shoot multiple rounds in the low/mid-60s or push for a top 10 finish. But if you need a reliable cut maker, particularly in cash games, who should likely be able to finish inside the top 40 and provide some nice salary relief, Schenk may be your man.

Others to Consider

High-Priced:

Sungjae Im | DK: $10.3k, FD: $11.7k | GPP Preferred

Corey Conners | DK: $10.1k, FD: $11.5k | GPP Preferred

Cameron Tringale | DK: $9.4k, FD: $11k | Cash & GPP

Mid-Priced:

CT Pan | DK: $8.1k, FD: $9.3k | Cash & GPP

Taylor Pendrith | DK: $7.8k, FD: $9.7k | GPP Preferred

KH Lee | DK: $7.6k, FD: $9k | Cash & GPP

Low-Priced/Punts:

Kevin Tway | DK: $6.8k, FD: $8k | Cash & GPP

Camilo Villegas | DK: $6.7k, FD: $7.6k | GPP Preferred

Dawie van der Walt | DK: $6.5k, FD: $7.8k | GPP Preferred

Freeroll + LineStar Avatar

We host a weekly PGA freeroll on DraftKings. Remember to join!

Here is a link for this week’s LineStar PGA freeroll contest!

• 1st place: $10 via PayPal

• 2nd place: Your choice of one-month LineStar Premium subscription, t-shirt, or mug

• ⭐ BONUS ⭐ If you place 1st or 2nd in the LineStar Freeroll and you are using the LineStar avatar below, you will receive 2x that prize!

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That will do it for our PGA preview! Once again, hit me up in the LineStar chat or on Twitter @Ryan_Humphries for any questions. Good luck this week! Glad we are back!

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