Daily Fantasy Golf Course Primer: Sanderson Farms Championship
After Hudson Swafford kicked off the Fall Swing by taking down the Corales Puntacana Club & Resort Championship, the PGA Tour heads back to the mainland for the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi.
The Country Club of Jackson plays 7,461 yards to its par 72, a fairly wide open track that technically shows oak trees on most fairways without being too penal for missing the fairway. It has been the host since 2014, the first five years as an alternate event opposite the WGC-HSBC Champions and the past two years as a standalone event in the early part of the season.
Last year's winner, Sebastian Munoz, was third in strokes gained: off the tee but below average in accuracy for the week, and the year before Cameron Champ was second off the tee and lost 5.7 fairways to the field, according to stats from Fantasy National Golf Club.
It's not always the bombers, with the 2017-18 season won by Ryan Armour one of the shortest hitters on Tour. But the great equalizer at CC of Jackson is the putter, with each of those winners posting a top-five week on the greens.
The weather looks perfect this week, topping out in the 70s though with some wind in store on Thursday and Friday. Something to keep an eye on as we get closer to the first tee.
Let's dig into the course and see what stats we can use to build our daily fantasy lineups this week.
Course and Tournament Info
Course: CC of Jackson
Par: 72
Distance: 7,461 yards
Fairways/Rough: Bermudagrass
Greens: Bermudagrass
Champ set the course record at 21-under par two years ago, and the winner has reached 18-under or better in each of the past five years. Both he and Armour won in runaways by four and five strokes, respectively, but it took a birdie on the 72nd hole by Munoz to force a playoff in last year's event.
We see some overlap with last week's event in Puntacana, another alternate field with a course that can be had in a variety of strategies from tee to green but absolutely requires a strong performance on the greens to take the title. The Seaside and Plantation Courses at Sea Island (RSM Classic) also feature Bermuda greens and saw both Champ and Munoz post a top 10 a few weeks after their win.
Key Stats
These stats will be key to success in the Sanderson Farms Championship at CC of Jackson.
| Key Stats for the Sanderson Farms Championship at CC of Jackson |
|---|
| Strokes Gained: Tee to Green |
| Strokes Gained: Approach |
| Birdies or Better Gained |
| Strokes Gained: Par 5s |
| Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass) |
Off the tee looks like a stronger indicator given the past two winners, but we can't dismiss Armour's five-stroke victory where he basically played to the field average off the tee. The key here is that without a major penalty for missing the fairway it is hard for golfers to gain too much on the field with the driver. Everyone is gripping and ripping, so unless it is an elite level skill like Champ we don't need to worry about anyone lapping the field.
And so, we go with the tried and true tee to green with an emphasis on approach, scoring, and par 5s. Two of the par 5s, the 5th, and the 14th, are no gimme birdies and are almost never eagled. Bogey and double bogey are in play on both, and while many Tour players would consider par on one of the scoring holes to be giving up a stroke to the field, it's actually quite all right on these two 585-600 yard beasts.
And then, there is putting. We are looking not so much at consistency on the greens as upside. None of the past few winners ranked inside the top 100 in putting last season, but they all managed a top-five week at CC of Jackson. At some tracks, we can see the ballstriking dominance carry a winner past the field, but the greens are "easy" enough here that a few in the field are going to roll it pure all week and you simply have to be one of them to hoist the trophy come Sunday evening.
Course History Studs
Recent winners Munoz and Armour have failed to make much of an impact in their non-winning years, with the former finishing T50 and T35 in two prior appearances and the latter missing two cuts and a measly T54 in his three other visits the past four years. The more consistent finisher has been Carlos Ortiz, who was T4 last year and T3 the year prior.
It's a pretty missed bag given the field strength, but golfers with multiple top 25s in the past five years include Lucas Glover, Cameron Percy, Vaughn Taylor, William McGirt, Bronson Burgoon, Patton Kizzire, D.J. Trahan, and Nick Taylor.
Mike Rodden is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mike Rodden also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mike_rodden. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
