Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship

2024 Sanderson Farms Championship Fantasy Sleeper Report

The Presidents Cup is exciting and all that, but for golf bettors does it get any better than a tournament that has been won by a handful of 500/1 plays in recent memory?

Team America did what the sportsbooks expected them to do at the Presidents Cup, and while it’s a fun watch – seeing the likes of genteel, ever-smiling Tom Kim turn into a golfing Genghis Khan in the rarefied air of team play is always a win – it remains something of a dud from a betting perspective.

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So all hail the return of the PGA TOUR’s Fall Swing, which kicks into gear with seven events over the next eight weeks; starting with the Sanderson Farms Championship this week.

The 2014 and 2015 champions of this event, Nick Taylor and Peter Malnati, could both be backed at 500/1 before the off, while defending champion Luke List (60/1), 2022 winner Mackenzie Hughes (150/1), and 2016 victor Cody Gribble (250/1) have also done the business for longshot backers.

The Sanderson Farms Championship is, if nothing else, unpredictable. That’s because this event typically attracts a weak field not blessed with obvious winners, while the host venue – the Country Club of Jackson – is such that the players who simply have a good week on the greens are the most likely to contend.

And if you can predict who will putt well from one week to the next, good luck to you.

Predicting the winner of the Sanderson Farms Championship is no easy feat, but given the odds of some of the most champions of the event, it will certainly be fun trying. And it’s not as if we don’t have anything to go on….

What you do off the tee at the Country Club of Jackson doesn’t seem to matter too much – the winner’s circle here is blessed with short hitters and bombers alike. But getting your ball onto the greens in efficient fashion is important, as is a strong week with the flat stick: last year, five of the top eight players on the leaderboard ranked top-10 for SG: Putting.

So those that have shown plenty of skill on Bermuda greens in recent months have to be under consideration, as do – uniquely – players that have some connection to the South.

Be it by birth, college, or residence in later life, seven of the last nine winners of the Sanderson Farms Championship have a connection to a state bordering, or near to, Mississippi. 

Whether that is happenstance or a trend to follow in remains to be seen, but clearly backing those with a Southern vibe that putt well has to be the plan of attack given that, otherwise, there’s very little for bettors to work with.

Of course, there’s not a huge number of candidates for that particular profile in the field, but even so we can kick on with our Sanderson Farms Championship sleeper shortlist: each of the players listed here has a viable chance of contending for the trophy.

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Mac Meissner – 50/1 – Most of Mac Meissner’s best putting performances in his rookie year on the PGA TOUR have come on Bermuda greens, which hints at a much improved showing this week compared to his flatstick disaster at the Procore Championship.

Otherwise, Meissner fits the profile of a winner on the PGA TOUR – especially at a venue like the Country Club of Jackson, where his occasionally below-par driving won’t be penalized as readily. He is also excellent on approach and around the greens, so you suspect he will set up plenty of birdie looks this week.

Meissner has racked up four top-20 finishes in his last six PGA TOUR starts, which is an outstanding formline when taken in the context of the rest of this field.

Ryan Fox – 66/1 – Ryan Fox could easily have played in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour this week.

He won that event in 2022, and has an excellent bank of form on Links courses; including T25 in the British Open just a matter of weeks ago.

But the New Zealander has chosen to play here instead, which reaffirms his commitment to retaining his PGA TOUR card.

The challenge for Fox is that his putter is stone cold right now, but he is ‘streaky’ in that regard – this is a guy that has served up +1.21, +1.22, +1.26, and +1.54 SG: Putting at the British Open, U.S. Open, Myrtle Beach Classic, and Canadian Open respectively.

If he brings anything close to that flatstick form to Jackson, and combines it with his long, straight ball striking, Fox’s decision to leave the Links behind could well be vindicated.

Justin Suh – 100/1 – There’s a feeling that you don’t have to do anything special from tee-to-green to contend at the Country Club of Jackson. Just be tidy and efficient, and let your flatstick do the talking.

In that regard, there aren’t many better in the field than Justin Suh, whose remarkable touch on the greens sees him rank third on the PGA TOUR for SG: Putting this season.

Of course, his progress is undermined by weaknesses in other areas, but there’s a couple of disclaimers to be made on that front. The first is that this week’s host venue is so shy of hazards and trouble that even Suh should feel comfortable.

The second is that his form has been steadily improving. Suh has made the cut in each of his last four starts, posting T11 at the Barracuda Championship and T19 at the 3M Open in that span.

If his flatstick is on fire as per usual, Suh could well be a contender this week.

Garrick Higgo – 125/1 – When we model these PGA TOUR events, we plug all manner of data points in for consideration.

Sometimes, it throws up an unexpected outlier. Yes, Garrick Higgo’s formline reads 3-16 at the Country Club of Jackson, but a run that has seen him miss five cuts in his last seven starts does not scream future contender.

But the South African stacks up statistically – his numbers for approach play from the rough, driving distance, and SG: Putting, are captivating, while his form at correlating events like the Memorial Tournament and The American Express are also noteworthy.

There’s a reason that Higgo seems to love it in Jackson, and the fact that his best approach play performance in months came at the Procore Championship last time out does not harm his chances either.

Matthew NeSmith – 150/1 – What a confusing sort of fellow Matthew NeSmith is.

In July, he finished T2 at the ISCO Championship and T9 at the 3M Open. He then proceeded to miss the cut at the Wyndham Championship, before delivering – statistically – one of the worst PGA TOUR performances you’re likely to see at the Procore Championship.

Even NeSmith’s record at the Country Club of Jackson – MC-17-MC-9-25 – reveals a player with a stack of upside, albeit with the possibility that it could all go pear-shaped for him at any time.

Still, 150/1 in this field for a player with two top-10s in his last four starts, and with a top-10 to his name at the host venue too? We simply have to give NeSmith another try.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the Sanderson Farms Championship here.

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