RADIO
Hello PGA DFS family and welcome back to Horse For The Course! I'm sure many of us are still basking in the glow of the U.S. team's blowout victory in the Ryder Cup over the weekend, but it is time to resume the PGA Tour Swing Season grind, as we head down to Jackson, Mississippi for the Sanderson Farms Championship!
The last month or so has had a real stop-start feel to it thanks to the Tour Championship, the beginning of the new 2021-22 season in Silverado, and then the Ryder Cup. However, this week kicks off an almost two-month-solid stretch of PGA Tour events. With many DFS players choosing to focus on the NFL, this is a tremendous time of year to really double down on your research and get a leg up on the competition!
Horse For The Course is an article that highlights players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For my favorite DFS plays of the week check out my Core Four article here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our amazing PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using Promo Code: NICE for an extra discount at checkout!
2021 Sanderson Farms Championship
It's inevitable that there will always be a hangover after the Ryder Cup. Unfortunately, that's only amplified by the fact that it will be the Sanderson Farms Championship following the huge event this year. No disrespect to the Sanderson, but this is a fall season event that's played on a rather forgettable Country Club of Jackson layout. So while I understand that it may be tough to get "up" for this week, let me remind you that the Swing Season presents us with a great opportunity to get a leg up on our DFS competition!
The Sanderson has become a staple of the fall schedule and this will be the eighth time CCofJ has hosted the event. While we definitely won't see the star power that was on display at Whistling Straits last week - only one Ryder Cupper will be in action this week - this is by no means an "unplayable" type of slate, as there are plenty of names we know slated to tee it up.
Defending Sanderson champion Sergio Garcia will be back to defend his title off a tough week in Wisconsin and the Spaniard will be joined by a field that has a little pop to it. Young sensation Will Zalatoris will be in attendance as he continues his quest for that elusive first PGA Tour win. He'll be joined by another rising star in Mito Pereira, as well as some rock-solid PGA Tour mainstays like Sungjae Im, Corey Conners, Matthew Wolff, and Sam Burns. The veteran contingent is also represented this week, with Gary Woodland, Kevin Streelman, Keegan Bradley, and Cameron Tringale all ready to grind out paychecks.
You can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week. And be sure to read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS articles to help you win big!
The Course: Country Club of Jackson
Par 72 - 7,461 Yards, Greens: Bermuda, Architect: John Fought
The PGA Tour - rightly - catches a lot of heat for the golf courses that it elects to play. While I'm sure the Country Club of Jackson is a fine place with wonderful people, it could well serve as Exhibit A for the Tour's detractors, as it is unexceptional in almost every way. A standard Par 72 with four Par-5s, players will need to take advantage of those scoring opportunities. There's very little penalty for being wayward off the tee which will give a bump to the longer hitters. With six Par-4s between 400-450 yards, I'll target golfers that historically succeed on these types of holes. A combined 54% of approach shots fall inside the 100-175 yard bucket on this layout. If Sergio Garcia's win here last year wasn't enough evidence, "bad" putters can certainly succeed on these straightforward Bermuda greens.
Check out RotoBaller's PGA Premium Course Breakdown by Josh Bennett for an in-depth breakdown of this week's golf course!
Recent Sanderson Winners
- Sergio Garcia (-19)
- Sebastian Munoz (-18)
- Cameron Champ (-21)
- Ryan Armour (-19)
- Cody Gribble (-20)
The Horse
Corey Conners
Notable Course History: T17 (2021 Season), MC ('20), 2nd ('19)
DraftKings Price: $10,100 FanDuel Price: $11,500
The Canadian ball-striking extraordinaire checks a lot of boxes for us this week. Conners finished the 2020-21 season ranked inside the PGA Tour’s top-10 in SG: Off The Tee, SG: Approach, and Ball Striking. Unfortunately, his glaring weakness on the greens led him to finish the season in a tie for 112th in SG: Putting and likely kept him out of the winner’s circle.
However, this Sanderson event has been something of a haven for “bad” putters historically, as Sergio Garcia won last year’s edition literally putting with his eyes closed. That trend has even held true for Conners himself, as he scored a runner-up finish to Cameron Champ (another bad putter) here in the 2019 version and managed a solid T17 here last year.
At the end of the day, Conners gives us a consistently elite T2G skill set, Sanderson experience, a successful track record, and a nice overall course fit.
The Ponies
Kevin Streelman
Notable Course History: T4 ('20), MC ('19), T10 ('18), T18 ('17)
DraftKings Price: $8,900 FanDuel Price: $10,500
An otherwise wonderful summer ended with a thud for Kevin Streelman. The veteran posted some truly impressive major championship finishes last summer, going T8 (PGA), T15 (U.S.Open), and T18 (Open Championship) over the year’s final three majors. However, Streels wasn’t able to stick the landing and failed to crack the top-50 in either of his FedEx Cup Playoff starts.
He gets to kick off the new season in a friendly environment. Streelman has been uber-excellent in this event over the years, making the cut in three of his last four Sanderson starts, with high finishes every time he’s played the weekend and a SG: Total mark of +21.52 over his career in this event. His familiarity with this layout should provide an environment conducive to starting his season out in strong fashion.
Aaron Wise
Notable Course History: T17 ('21), T29 ('20), T25 ('18)
DraftKings Price: $8,300 FanDuel Price: $9,900
Aaron Wise appeared to be on the verge of stardom after a win at the 2018 Byron Nelson, but his game has remained frustratingly inconsistent in the subsequent years. The still-just-25-years-old’s volatility can easily be attributed to his struggles on the greens. Wise finished the ‘21 season ranked an abysmal 174th on the PGA Tour in SG: Putting. It’s tough to find any level of consistency when you’re putting that bad.
However, Wise did pop up on a few leaderboards last season thanks to his sterling T2G ability, nabbing a runner-up finish at Mayakoba, as well as top-10 results at the Wells Fargo and Memorial. The South African also closed out the summer in solid form by posting top-25 results in both of his FedEx Cup Playoff starts and he leads this week’s field in Birdies or Better gained over the last 24 rounds.
A common thread in this week’s HFTC is how this CC of J layout can be kind to those that struggle on the greens. That’s certainly been the case with Wise in this event, as he’s made the cut in his last three Sanderson starts with a pair of top-25s among those outings.
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Scott Stallings
Notable Course History: T6 ('21), T28 ('20), T39 ('19), T43 ('18)
DraftKings Price: $7,700 FanDuel Price: $9,500
I’m an admitted Stallings “homer”, but I think pulling the trigger on my fellow East Tennessean is completely justified this week. He heads to the Sanderson fresh off an impressive T6 showing at the Fortinet. His track record at CC of J is a solid one, Stallings notched a T6 in his most recent visit and has made the cut in each of his last four Sanderson starts. Perhaps his success at this golf course can be attributed to his mastery of Par 4s measuring 400-450 yards - of which there are six of on this layout. His volatility can be frustrating, but he brings a nice measure of upside to the table at $7.7k on DraftKings.
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