Sanderson Farms Championship 2025 Picks, Best Bets and Golf Odds

Sanderson Farms Championship 2025 Picks, Best Bets and Golf Odds:

The PGA Tour returns after two weeks off, including last week’s Ryder Cup, where the Europeans emerged victorious yet again, 15-13, despite a late Sunday singles rally by the U.S. team. 

This week marks the second week of the FedExCup Fall as the tour heads to Jackson, Miss., for the Sanderson Farms Championship. 

The lone Ryder Cup player in this week’s field (there are several members of Team Europe playing in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour this week) is Europe’s Rasmus Højgaard (33-1), who went 0-2 in his matches as a Ryder Cup rookie last weekend. He is here with his twin brother, Nicolai (40-1). Both are trying to lock in their spots in the FedExCup Top 100 to secure full status for the PGA Tour in 2026, plus potentially move into the 51-60 range and earn spots in next year’s first two “signature” events — the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. 

Akshay Bhatia (20-1) has played solid golf of late with three top-15s in his last four events.

Min Woo Lee (25-1) and 2022 Sanderson Farms winner Mackenzie Hughes (35-1) are currently in those valuable 51-60 spots and are looking to lock in their status for those first two “signature” events. 

Davis Thompson (25-1), Michael Thorbjornsen (25-1), J.T. Poston (30-1), Emiliano Grillo (35-1) and Rico Hoey (35-1) comprise the next rung of the market.

Kevin Yu (28-1) is back to defend his title from last year. 

The Event

The Sanderson Farms Championship has been part of the PGA Tour schedule since 1968, when it began as the Magnolia State Classic. It has had a variety of names over the years, including the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic, Southern Farm Bureau Classic, Viking Classic and the True South Classic before Sanderson Farms, the third-largest poultry producer in the United States and based in Laurel, Miss., took over as the title sponsor in 2013. The tournament began as a satellite event (money earned counted, but wins were unofficial) but became an official tour event in 1994. After spending nearly a quarter-century as an alternate event, it became a full tour event in 2019. 

The Field

Only four of the OWGR Top 50 are in this week’s field of 132 players.

The Course

The Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Miss., has hosted the Sanderson Farms since 2014. CC of Jackson was designed in 1962 by Dick Wilson and redesigned by John Fought and Mike Gogel in 2008. The track plays as a par-72 of 7,461 yards and there are only 56 bunkers and seven water hazards (in play on five holes). The Bermuda fairways are flat and relatively narrow (seventh-narrowest on tour — 29 yards average fairway width). The Bermuda/Zoysia rough is not all that penal at just 2.5 inches. 

The Champion Bermuda Greens are 6,200 square feet on average and fast (12-13 stimpmeter). Fought was a longtime admirer of Donald Ross, so the greens are raised, slope from back to front, and have run-off areas, which are Ross trademarks. The green surfaces resemble TPC Southwind, Trinity Forest, Quail Hollow and Sedgefield. 

Along with fast greens, three of the four par-5s are quite lengthy at over 580 yards, so these will be three-shot holes for much of the field. 

The 72-hole tournament record is 263, set by Dan Halldorson (1986 at Hattiesburg GC). The record on this CC of Jackson track is 265, set by Kevin Yu and Beau Hossler (Yu won the playoff). 

The CC of Jackson course record is 61, set by Will Zalatoris in the second round of the 2021 tournament. 

Correlated courses to the Country Club of Jackson include Sedgefield, Memorial Park, Golf Club of Houston, Detroit Golf Club, Silverado and Congaree. 

The Sanderson Farms Championship YouTube page provides a hole-by-hole flyover playlist.

Sanderson Farms Championship Recent History

2024: Kevin Yu (-23/265); 80-1*

2023: Luke List (-18/270); 50-1**

2022: Mackenzie Hughes (-17/271); 130-1***

2021: Sam Burns (-22/266); 16-1

2020: Sergio Garcia (-19/269); 70-1

2019: Sebastian Munoz (-18/270); 66-1****

2018: Cameron Champ (-21/267); 66-1

2017: Ryan Armour (-19/269); 125-1

2016: Cody Gribble (-20/268); 125-1

2015: Peter Malnati (-18/270); 250-1

2014: Nick Taylor (-16/272); 400-1

Playoff win over Beau Hossler – *

Playoff win over Ludvig Åberg, Ben Griffin, Henrik Norlander, and Scott Stallings – **

Playoff win over Sepp Straka – ***

Playoff win over Sungjae Im – ****

Trends and Angles

• Four of the last seven winners (Burns, Garcia, Munoz and Champ) rated first, first, fourth and second for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee during their respective winning weeks.
• Seven of the last 11 winners have been first-time winners on the PGA Tour.

Statistical Analysis

Three of the last five winners here have ranked sixth or better for Strokes Gained: Approach during their respective winning weeks.

Strokes Gained: Approach — Average Per Round (2025 PGA Tour season)

1. Henrik Norlander 0.656
2. Nicolai Højgaard 0.621
3. Akshay Bhatia 0.605
4. Ben Kohles 0.605
5. Rico Hoey 0.580
6. Lee Hodges 0.551
7. Doug Ghim 0.533
8. Antoine Rozner 0.516
9. Sami Valimaki 0.491
10. Victor Perez 0.485
11. Kevin Yu 0.363
12. Andrew Putnam 0.348
13. Thomas Rosenmueller 0.316
14. Jackson Suber 0.315
15. Greyson Sigg 0.309
16. Emiliano Grillo 0.307

The average winning score here in the last decade has been close to 2 under par as the course ranks in the top 25th percentile of least difficulty on the PGA Tour.

Birdie Or Better Percentage (2025 PGA Tour season)

1. Jesper Svensson 24.73%
2. Keith Mitchell 24.68
3. Nicolai Højgaard 24.52
4. Akshay Bhatia 24.51
5. Michael Thorbjornsen 24.51
6. Taylor Montgomery 24.25
7. Hayden Springer 24.14
8. Kevin Yu 24.03
9. Alex Smalley 23.89
10. Danny Walker 23.58
11. Isaiah Salinda 23.43
12. Davis Thompson 23.40
13. Matti Schmid 23.38
14. Rasmus Højgaard 23.18
15. Kevin Roy 23.13
16. Erik van Rooyen 23.12
17. Rico Hoey 23.08
18. Sami Valimaki 23.05

The par-5s are more difficult here at CC of Jackson due to length and one of the holes (11th) having water down the entire right side of the fairway.

Strokes Gained Par-5s (Last 50 rounds)

1. Thorbjørn Olesen 24.2
2. Matt Wallace 19.6
3. Lee Hodges 19.1
4. Nicolai Højgaard 18.5
5. Hayden Springer 18.1
6. Keith Mitchell 18
7. Jesper Svensson 16.1
8. Cameron Champ 15.9
9. Akshay Bhatia 15.8
10. Norman Xiong 14.9
11. Max McGreevy 14.5
12. Chan Kim 14.1
13. Pierceson Coody 13.7
14. Victor Perez 13.1
15. Gordon Sargent 12.2 (32 Rounds)
16. Davis Riley 12.2

Seven of the last nine winners at CC of Jackson have finished in the top six in putting for their respective winning weeks.

Strokes Gained: Putting — Average Per Round — Bermuda Greens (Last 50 rounds)

1. Taylor Montgomery 0.99
2. Braden Thornberry 0.91 (27 rounds)
3. Beau Hossler 0.72
4. Gordon Sargent 0.71 (8 rounds)
5. Aaron Wise 0.62
6. Mackenzie Hughes 0.55
7. Jacob Bridgeman 0.54
8. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 0.54
9. Davis RIley 0.44
10. Michael Thorbjornsen 0.44 (29 rounds)
11. Andrew Putnam 0.43
12. Frankie Capan 0.41 (24 rounds)
13. Matthew Riedel 0.41 (16 rounds)
14. Matt Kuchar 0.39
15. Paul Peterson 0.38 (23 rounds)
16. Chad Ramey 0.37

Driving distance off the tee has increased from the previous year in five of the last six Sanderson Farms events largely due to non-penal rough and the fact that CC of Jackson is one of the straighter courses on the PGA Tour. 

Average Driving Distance (2025 PGA Tour season)

1. Jesper Svensson 320.2
2. Nicolai Højgaard 319.6
3. Michael Thorbjornsen 318.4
4. Rasmus Højgaard 318.0
5. Trevor Cone 316.1
6. Will Gordon 316.0
7. Matti Schmid 315.6
8. Keith Mitchell 315.1
9. Trey Mullinax 314.7
10. Isaiah Salinda 314.7
11. Min Woo Lee 314.4
12. Kris Ventura 313.3
13. Steven Fisk 313.2
14. Thomas Rosenmueller 312.7
15. Ricky Castillo 312.1
16. Luke List 312.0
17. David Skinns 312.0
18. Hayden Springer 310.8
19. William Mouw 310.3
20. Taylor Moore 310.1

In four of the last six years, the Sanderson Farms winner ranked top 4 in the field for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee during their respective winning weeks.

Strokes Gained: Off The Tee — Average Per Round (2025 PGA Tour season)

1. Rico Hoey 0.710
2. Kevin Yu 0.608
3. Isaiah Salinda 0.555
4. Keith Mitchell 0.514
5. Michael Thorbjornsen 0.503
6. Jesper Svensson 0.495
7. Davis Thompson 0.492
8. Thomas Rosenmueller 0.484
9. Alex Smalley 0.469
10. Steven Fisk 0.412
11. Luke List 0.410
12. Ricky Castillo 0.367
13. William Mouw 0.353
14. Byeong Hun An 0.347
15. Max McGreevy 0.332
16. Carson Young 0.319

A little over one-third of the approach shots will be wedges within the 100- to 150-yard range.

Average Proximity Gained — 100 to 125 Yards (Last 50 rounds)

1. Adam Hadwin 7.59
2. Adam Svensson 6.34
3. Quade Cummins 5.99
4. Lee Hodges 5.89
5. Jacob Bridgeman 5.62
6. Tom Hoge 5.49
7. Thomas Rosenmueller 5.39 (41 rounds)
8. Greyson Sigg 5.01
9. Ben Kohles 4.86
10. Seamus Power 4.84
11. Kevin Streelman 4.76
12. Paul Peterson 4.39 (43 rounds)
13. Matt Kuchar 4.34
14. Akshay Bhatia 4.13

Average Proximity Gained — 125 to 150 Yards (Last 50 rounds)

1. Seamus Power 9.51
2. Tom Kim 7.66
3. David Ford 7.66 (23 rounds)
4. Lee Hodges 6.92
5. Emiliano Grillo 5.98
6. Mac Meissner 5.84
7. Camilo Villegas 5.56
8. Greyson Sigg 5.55
9. Kevin Velo 5.49 (36 rounds)
10. Joel Dahmen 5.39
11. Davis Thompson 4.83
12. Matteo Manassero 4.52

Selections

Min Woo Lee (23-1, Circa Sports)

Lee cashed for us earlier in the season at the Houston Open. 

Since then, he had not done much of note, but a trip to Europe may prove to be just what the doctor ordered after finishes of 11th at the BMW PGA Championship and then a fifth at the Open de France. 

The Australian drove the ball perfectly in France, ranking first off-the-tee, first in driving distance and first in driving accuracy on a very tight course in Paris and will see another tight course this week with much less penal rough. Plus, he ranked top 10 in approach and greens in regulation last time out at Le Golf National. 

Nicolai Højgaard (36-1, Circa Sports)

While not in the best form, having missed two cuts after a runner-up at the British Masters, Nicolai was on site last week at Bethpage Black to see brother Rasmus accomplish what he accomplished in Rome two years earlier, which is to be part of a winning European Ryder Cup team. 

He is one of the top bombers in the field, and the three-time DP World Tour winner is a proven victor at birdie-fests like this week will be. 

Matt Wallace (45-1, Bet Rivers)

A tearful Wallace finished runner-up at the European Masters as he did all he could at the end to garner Ryder Cup consideration for Team Europe. Ultimately, he was not selected, but he said, “I’ll never give up on the Ryder Cup.” 

After seeing his fellow Europeans win the Cup again, he is certainly more motivated than ever, and what better way to start his campaign for 2027 at Adare Manor than to win the first event after Bethpage Black. 

Jacob Bridgeman (50-1, Bet Rivers)

Bridgeman had two near-wins at the Cognizant Classic and the Valspar earlier this year, plus two other top-5 finishes at the Truist and John Deere Classic. 

He made it to the final 30 at the Tour Championship, so he is in all the “signature” events for next season, but he is here to get that maiden PGA Tour victory. 

Mark Hubbard (60-1, Caesars Sportsbook)

Hubbard finished third at the Wyndham Championship two starts ago.

He has finished fifth and sixth in two of the last three years at this event.