Best Bets For The 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship

Before we get into my 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship Picks and Predictions, let’s go for a quick recap of last week at the Presidents Cup:

• Collin Morikawa top Points Scorer (+900; bet365) - Tied three-way, win at +300
• Russell Henley top USA Captain’s Pick / Rookie (+900 / +550; DraftKings) - loss; win
• Corey Conners Top International Points scorer / Top Canadian (+800 / +150) - Tied 6-way, win at +133; tied 2-way, win at -133
• International to win Fourballs, Day 1 (+200; bet365) Loss

All-in-all, a great week with Morikawa paying off his top points-getter bet at +300 after the three-way tie for first, and Henley winning top rookie at +500. We also won both bets with Conners, albeit at reduced payouts, which helped offset the Henley Top Captain’s pick loss, which was agonizingly close to cashing.

Four units wagered (with half a unit on each of Henley and Conners’ bets) equaled a 5.28u return. Since the creation of the weekly betting cards at the Travelers, we are +34.16u.

Sanderson Farms Betting History

The Sanderson Farms is the second fall swing event on the PGA TOUR for 2024 and officially kicks off a string of four straight weeks where we’ll have a PGA event on the betting schedule. While there are a couple of newer events during this run, the Sanderson Farms is one of the elder statesmen of the PGA’s fall swing and has been around since 1968.

In 2014 the event moved to Mississippi and has been hosted by the Country Club of Jackson ever since. With this event coming the week after the fall team play competition–this year the Presidents Cup–-it’s almost always going to have one of the weaker fields of the fall, and this season is no exception. Only one top-50 player is in the field (Nick Dunlop) and only one player who played at Royal Montreal last week (Mackenzie Hughes) is in the field.

Side note: If you’re in need of more bets with Golf in its offseason, be sure to follow our FREE NFL bet tracker which already has plenty of Week 5 bets up to consider. 

Here’s how the last three Sanderson Farms Championships have played out.

2021 – Sam Burns (+1600) -22

• Burns turned this putting contest on its head in 2021, winning by a stroke over Cameron Young and Nick Watney, despite losing 2.0 strokes on the greens.
• He gained an incredible 14.4 strokes ball-striking (OTT + APP) for the week, which was miles better than his top competitors.
• His performance should be taken as a bit of an anomaly, and with few big names in the field this week it’s unlikely we see this performance replicated in 2024. 

2022 – Mackenzie Hughes (+12500) -17

• Hughes won his second PGA event, the week after the Presidents Cup, an event where he was bypassed as a captain’s pick. 
• The Canadian outlasted Sepp Straka, who was far better off the tee than Hughes, and who is the only winner of the past five seasons to have lost strokes OTT and won this event. 
• Hughes did gain over 5.0 strokes on approach and 4.5 strokes ATG in the win.

2023 – Luke List (+5000) -18

• List gained over 6.0 strokes putting and also was very positive around the greens for the week. 
• He won in a five-man playoff after 54-hole leader Ben Griffin shot a Sunday 74 to choke away the win.
• Like many past winners at this venue, List was very positive off the tee (+2.2 strokes OTT) and also ranked out positive in par 5 efficiency.

Course Preview for the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship

The course for the 2024 version of the Sanderson Farms Championship will be the same venue that has hosted this event since 2014 in the Country Club of Jackson. The venue was renovated and redesigned in 2008 by John Fought w/Mike Gogel and plays as a relatively straightforward Par 72, that winds its way through a flat parkland setting and some older tree-lined fairways.

At 7,461 yards the venue does play longer than the par 72 the players took on in Napa three weeks ago, but it also has slightly more room off the tee than Silverado and is very much a take it as you see it course, with few bends or doglegs built into the routing. That’s allowed players who are adept with the driver to thrive here, with past names like Cameron Champ, Sam Burns and Sergio Garcia showcasing how you can pick apart this venue if you have even just a little controlled power off the tee and an agreeable flatstick (or in Burns case, everything but).

With such a straightforward venue, this week boils down to a bit of a putting contest, and power players or elite putters who can separate on the four par 5s (either due to putting or short games) have been solid bets in the long run.

I’ll be going over a few more trends to watch below (such as recent form), but before we get there, here are a few more notes about the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship to keep in mind.

• It’s a 150+ man field with a cut line (65 players and ties) after Friday
• The highest-ranked player in the field is Nick Dunlop (34th OWGR) but Dunlop is tied with Seamus Power and Keith Mitchell at +2200 for lowest price in the betting odds 
• Four of the past five winners played in some kind of PGA event after the FedEx Cup Playoffs, with Burns (2021) being the only past winner from the last five years to not make a start–after the Playoffs and before the Sanderson Farms
• This is the second start of the fall series, which makes this a big event for players who are 125-player bubble in the FedEx Cup points race (the top 125 players retain their card after the fall swing).

Betting Odds for the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship

2024 Sanderson Farms Championship Top 10 names in betting odds 

Odds via DraftKings

2024 Sanderson Farms Championship Best Bets

Below are my favorite betting targets for the week. I’ve created an entire card you can peruse at the end and also added unit sizing for each play. 

While I have a handful of outright plays I do like playing many of these names in the placing department, or as matchup plays as well. I’ve also included placing options for some names if you want exposure to both options (or only want to bet some players for a place).

For odds, I’ve also used the best options available at the time of writing so you know where to look and what to look for. 

Additionally, if you can to make each-way bets (win and place bets in one) then I’ve included that option for some players as well where the odds are relevant. 

For more information on how each-way bets work you can click here. 

Patrick Rodgers Each-Way 1/4 Top Five (+3300; bet365)

I haven’t bet Patrick Rodgers much this year (famous last words), but this does feel like a perfect time to take a shot with the 32-year-old who is still searching for that first breakthrough PGA win.

Rodgers has come close to winning on numerous occasions, with his latest brush with destiny being a playoff loss at the Barracuda in 2023, where his tee shot on the first playoff hole found a divot (and promptly helped seal the win for Akshay Bhatia). He also has a playoff loss in a fall series event from way back in 2018 and has performed well in the fall as a whole. Rodgers’ best finish at the Sanderson Farms in six attempts is a T14 from back in 2018, but I like the way this course suits his game and his performance on other more classic setups this year (T5 Hilton Head, T9 Torrey Pines) is encouraging.

He’s also been a lot better with his irons of late, gaining over a stroke on approach in three of his last four starts. Overall, he should be able to do a lot of the same things that last year’s winner, Luke List, did on this venue, which is gain off the tee, hold serve on approach and potentially get hot with his putter on these pure Bermuda greens–and unlike List, Rodgers’ putter is typically his best club. 

Coming off a solid opener in Napa, where he finished T37 but gained 3.0 strokes ball-striking, I think this is a nice spot to chase the American as an each-way bet at +3300 or bigger. 

Taylor Moore Outright (+4500; FanDuel)

• Top 10 (+450; FanDuel)

Unlike the rest of the field, Moore has been off since mid-August and comes in well-rested after he petered out in the first playoff event with an unconvincing T66 finish at TPC Southwind. Moore’s ball-striking was trending in the wrong direction back then, so the time off most certainly has done him some good. While there is always some risk with a player who has sat out of competition as long as he has, Moore also comes with a nice price discount that we wouldn’t have got had he played in the opening fall series, or made it further into the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Like Rodgers, Moore also sets up well for Jackson CC as he tends to gain most of strokes off the tee or on the greens, and has showcased a penchant for getting himself into contention when the putter is working. While he may not have finished the regular strong, he still managed a career best T12 finish at the PGA Championship this season, a runner-up at the Valero and a was T12 at the 3M Open just three starts ago.

He’ll also be playing this venue for the fourth time this season, and while he hasn’t been in contention in any of those starts, he has finished T17 (2021) and T24 (2022) and shot rounds of 66 and 67 on Jackson back in 2021.

Moore’s win at Copperhead back in 2023 also provides another solid link as it’s the same venue that 2021 Sanderson Farms winner Sam Burns has won at twice now, and also provides good links to 2020 Sanderson Farms winner Sergio Garcia and 2016 winner Cody Gribble, who have both competed well at that course.

Overall, Moore–-who made the FedEx Playoffs and has won before-–just seems like the sort of value we should be chasing in this kind of field, where the top players are potentially just a little over-hyped off of weaker field results. I’d play him down to +4000 and also love pairing his outright bet with a top 10 wager at anything bigger than +400.

Sanderson Farms Championship Longshots and Placing Bets

Pierceson Coody Each Way 1/5 Top-8 (+7500; bet365)

• Top 20 (+400; DraftKings)

I’m taking a few extra shots with players further back in the odds this week, and my first and favorite play is Pierceson Coody, who came ever so close to winning for me at similar odds back in the ISCO Championship in July.

Coody hasn’t done a ton since then but he’s made three cuts in a row and did gain 5.2 strokes balls-triking at the Procore Championship, on another par 72 three weeks ago.

The change to Bermuda should help Coody who grew up in the South and posted some monster putting weeks over the summer, gaining over 5.0 strokes three times in a four-event span. A three-time winner on the Korn Ferry, Coody has the sort of game that should flourish at a driver heavy venue where there are four par 5s in play and with long odds and a confidence-building fall opener under his belt, I see no reason not to jump on him his placement and outright odds again at very juicy levels. 

Garrick Higgo Each Way 1/5 Top-8 (+9000; bet365)

Higgo is the sort of enigmatic player who, if you time them right, can make you look like a genius; and if you time them wrong, can make you like a fool. With the South African coming in off his first good result (a T26 at the Procore Championship) in quite some time, I’m going roll the dice and take a shot with him this week.

On top of having a solid week with the driver in Napa (+1.8 strokes OTT), Higgo has also had lots of success at this week’s venue, having played here in 2022 and 2023, posting T3 and T16 results in both of those starts. What’s more, is that he’s destroyed these greens (+4.1 SG: PUTT, 2022; 7.1 SG: PUTT, 2023) and comes in having also heated up with the putter in Napa, where he gained 4.4 strokes putting on the field.

I’ll keep my wager to just an each-way bet on Higgo (outright and top eight) which will keep the risk smaller and reward big enough to make it worth my while at +9000.

Matthew NeSmith Each Way 1/5 Top-8 (+11000; bet365)

NeSmith is another name who outperformed over the summer in spots, with his best 2024 finish being a July playoff loss at the ISCO Championship, alongside Pierceson Coody and three others. The 31-year-old actually had two putts to win that event, and the sting of losing out that week did set him back a little. 

However, NeSmith has maintained his steadiness off the tee over his last three starts, gaining over a stroke OTT at the 3M, Wyndham, and Procore. While he’s struggled to find rhythm again with the rest of his game, a move into the Southeast USA could certainly provide the spark he needs to get going again, as he hails from nearby South Carolina. 

He’s had success at this week's venue and another close corollary in Copperhead (T3, 2022) in the past. With him being just a few starts removed from a playoff loss, a big bouncebcak could certainly be in the cards at this week’s start. 

Brandon Wu Outright (+17000; FanDuel)

• Top 10 (+1200; FanDuel)

I’ll make my last speculative play with Brandon Wu, who I maintain has the sort of skillset that eventually leads to a victory in this sort of field over the next season or two. The American enters this week off a very solid and surprising start at the Procore Championship, where he gained over 3.9 strokes ATG and 4.4 strokes putting.

Maybe that kind of performance is unsustainable every week but Wu has always been a streaky player and he finished 10th at the ISCO Championship just four starts ago, before the T13 at the Procore. His approach game was also starting to take form before the break and he’s notably gained strokes off the tee at Jackson in each of his last two starts.

At +1200 for a top 10 and +17000 for an outright, Wu makes sense to me as a longshot add this week given the field and his recent improvement in play.

Full Card: 

• Patrick Rodgers +3300 EW-5 0.5u/0.5u  
• Taylor Moore +4500 0.35u | Top 10 +450 0.65u
• Pierceson Coody +7500 EW-8 0.25/0.25u | Top 20 +330 .5u
• Garrick Higgo +9000 EW-8 0.15/0.15u | Top 20 +375 0.7u
• Matthew NeSmith +11000 EW-8 0.15/0.15u 
• Brandon Wu +17000 .10 | Top 10 +1200 0.6u