Following an exciting week at Quail Hollow, the PGA Tour returns with a routine stop at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi for the Sanderson Farms Championship odds.
Sam Burns is returning to defend his 2021 title, but while the field is otherwise on the lighter side, there are a handful of names looking to get ahead in the FedEx Cup Playoffs before the meat of the calender begins in 2023.
We target some of those names in our Sanderson Farms Championship betting picks below — including a Tour winner looking to get back in the saddle and a youngster desperate to break out.
Sanderson Farms Championship picks
- Theegala (-120) over McCarthy
- Straka (-108) over Steele
- Harris English Top 20 (+230)
- Thomas Detry Top 20 (+250)
Picks made on 9/27/2022 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Sanderson Farms Championship matchup predictions
Sahith Theegala over Denny McCarthy (-120 at DraftKings)
While 2021 put Sahith Theegala on the map, 2022 should be the year he truly breaks out. He's in good form, having posted Top-15 finishes in three of his last four starts, including each of the first two FedEx Cup Playoff events.
McCarthy has great course history here at Country Club of Jackson and finished T25 in the season-opener two weeks ago but has lost some of the form he held during a run of Top-10 finishes — including a T7 at the U.S. Open — back in the summer.
His putter runs hot but his average-at-best ball-striking doesn't compare with Theegala. Sahith gained more than a shot between his off-the-tee and approach play in his Fortinet T6 two weeks ago, while Denny lost strokes in both categories.
Theegala also held at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds a year ago. I'm laying some juice here but he won this matchup a year ago and has only gotten better in the 12 months since.
Sepp Straka over Brendan Steele (-108 at FanDuel)
This line has Steele favored due to the fact Straka has never made a cut here in four tries, but let's bet on that to change.
Steele finished T17 here a year ago but has missed three of the last five cuts going back to the end of last season. He also shot 77-72 to miss the cut at Silverado two weeks ago, losing nearly three shots on the greens (-2.67) and half a shot more around them (-0.59).
Straka, on the other hand, just came off a late-season push at the FedEx Cup, including a runner-up finish at the FedEx St. Jude (playoff loss to Willy Z) and a T7 finish at East Lake where he posted the fifth-best 72-hole score. Despite missing six straight cuts ahead of the playoffs, his game found a new gear, manifesting in strong putting and iron-play performances to close the season.
The crappy course history gives some reason for hesitation here but Straka should use that playoff momentum to buck that trend — and best a vulnerable Brendan Steele in the process.
Sanderson Farms Championship top finisher predictions
Harris English Top 20 (+230)
Since last year's Ryder Cup, Harris English has been seriously missing in action, but that appears to have come to an end.
The 33-year-old American was once one of the most underrated golfers on Tour and now looks to get back into form after a down season in 2022. He didn't make a start between January and June thanks to hip surgery and subsequent recovery, and returned to the tune of mostly missed cuts and so-so results.
Now, finally healthy, English is looking to get back in the saddle and did just that with a T9 season-opening finish at Silverado two weeks ago. His putter got hot again (+1.03 strokes gained) and he showed his class around the green (+0.80), giving us clues that his pre-Ryder Cup self could be returning.
This will be his first return to Country Club of Jackson since 2019 when he finished T6 during a career-reviving stretch of golf. The stars are aligning for something similar to happen again this week.
Thomas Detry Top 20 (+250)
With CC of Jackson playing nearly 7,500 yards this week, Thomas Detry and his length off the tee should be well-equipped for another strong week.
The Belgian has an uncanny ability to dominate a golf course with his driver and proved just that by leading the field in strokes gained off-the-tee at the Fortinet two weeks ago. He also ranks 10th on the DP World Tour in driving distance, and while the rest of his game can come and go, he appears to at least be putting those pieces together of late.
With that, the Sanderson Farms debutant is bringing with him a handful of encouraging performances: T12 at the Fortinet, T5 and T12 finishes at his two previous DP World Tour stops, and a T10 at the heavy-fielded Scottish Open back in July. Desperate for more action on the PGA Tour, you can expect Detry to bring his best stuff with him.
FanDuel has him in line for a Top-20 finish at +250, a price well worth your bankroll given his string of results.
