South Korea’s Park sets early pace in bid for Singapore treble

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Drive for show, putt for dough. We’ve all heard it before but the numbers suggest you better do both well this week at the Sanderson Farms Championship. With the Country Club of Jackson hosting for the ninth consecutive season we have the luxury of a dive deep into the numbers of previous winners in our quest to maximize our fantasy or betting goals this week. John Fought’s late 2000’s redesign melded the two nines into a par-72 that can stretch to 7,461 yards. One of the longer courses on the schedule, it still gives up plenty of low scores to the players on song. Bermudagrass returns to the menu this week. Champion is on the 6,200 square feet (on average) putting surfaces and will push 13 slick feet on the Stimpmeter. The rough is a combination of 419 Bermuda and Zoysiagrass at two inches so recovery shots are playable, but not maybe ideally controllable. The average winning total over the previous eight editions hovers at 19 under and the tournament scoring record was established on 22 under last year by Sam Burns. Will Zalatoris also set the course record (61) last year and there were 47 bogey free rounds. Seven players were 20-under or better. The streak of six consecutive first time winners was broken in the 2020-21 season and extended last year with Burns. The only playoff was in the 2019-20 season. Of the eight champions, six were aged 20-29 and two were 40 and 41. Key Statistics Only players listed are competing this week; click stat headline for additional players; Stats from 2021-22 completed season. SG: Off the Tee With some of the tighter fairways on TOUR (just 28 acres total) being able to play from the short grass to control approach shots is paramount. The last four winners have ranked first, first, fourth and second in this category and that sets the table for scoring chances. Those of you who are curious for KFT graduates stats please click here and navigate. SG: Putting Bermuda greens pushing 13 feet on the Stimpmeter will keep the players attention until the putt disappears into the hole. Before last season the previous seven winners gained 49% of their strokes on the greens. The last two winners were T1 GIR so they didn’t fall into the upper end of this category. The previous six winners all registered in the top seven. Country Club of Jackson ranks in the top 10 annually for most three putts and putting inside five feet. Par-5 Scoring Different angle this week as it relates to the field. Of the four par-5 holes, three play 584 yards or deeper including both on the front nine. More power rather than precision needed this time around. Of the eight winners, seven registered in the top nine and the worst of the bunch was T12. Putting: Birdie or Better Conversion Percentage As shown above, putting is a key stat in a shootout. Time to take advantage of those GIR and get circles on the card! There aren’t many rounds above par annually from the top players this week so go ahead and get all the birdies you can handle. The last three years the cut has been 5-under, 3-under and 3-under. Better get low! The Bottom Line Tournament favorite Sam Burns (Win: +1000; Top 5: +225; Top 10: +100; Top 20: -190; Top 40: -350) comes up on three of the four lists above and is defending his title. While some caution may be needed given his Presidents Cup participation and possible fatigue, he can’t be ignored as a player in all formats this week. You’ll also notice Trey Mullinax (Win: +4000; Top 5: +750; Top 10: +350; Top 20: +170; Top 40: -125) pops up three times and might represent value in your line ups as a point of difference. Interestingly blast from the past veteran Rory Sabbatini (Win: +15000; Top 5: +2500; Top 10: +1200; Top 20: +550; Top 40: +200) pops up twice. Feeling lucky this early in the season? Might provide some value in DFS or top 40 markets. As always don’t forget to also look at Horses for Courses, and Rob Bolton’s Sleepers for extra value and the Power Rankings for the top of the board considerations. Responsible sports betting starts with a game plan. Set a budget. Keep it social. Play with friends. Learn the game and know the odds. Play with trusted, licensed operators. CLICK HERE to learn more at HaveAGamePlan.org

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Pick any year and Sergio Garcia is an automatic call at THE PLAYERS where he’s a former champion and the tournament’s all-time earnings leader. However, when he poured in the putt in the playoff to win the Masters, it was immediately fair to ponder if you’d be picking up the phone this week at TPC Sawgrass. One & Doners are famously – infamously? – prone to overthink and overreact with the first ripple or success or failure. At times, it’s absolutely warranted, but this isn’t one of those times. The Spaniard checks all of the boxes. Possibly overlooked in the accomplishment of his coronation in a major is that it was also the culmination of phenomenal form going back to as long as you’d like. With that victory, you can’t argue that he’s in the best form of his life. And then there’s the obvious fact that he’s not an upstart in whom we might expect regression. The Masters also wasn’t last week. It was a month ago. He celebrated, basked and separated. In the process, he was able to turn the page normally. A man in complete control. Within the context of our game, THE PLAYERS is also the most likely event at which we’re comfortable burning Garcia, well, it and The Open Championship. This is due in part to his success in both events, but equally so as defense to the crapshoot that often unravels in each. The risk managers among you might say that we’re OK in losing Garcia in a tournament where he’s most likely to prosper. Among the other short-listers in Future Possibilities below, Martin Kaymer and Francesco Molinari capture my attention the most. I’ve already burned both, so even though I’m settling with a push with our league leader, my decision to plug in Garcia was as easy as it gets. However, with no other attractive sites at which to consider the other two internationals, both have my blessing this week. Justin Thomas and Lee Westwood are the other two without a no-brainer kind of joint to line up later. Thomas’ limited expectations are in direct correlation to his limited experience. He’s in just his third season with a PGA TOUR card. Meanwhile, the veteran Englishman is a non-member well into the back half of his career. As a result, he presents perfectly as a secondary pick in a two-man game. If you’re in a two-man format and can’t or choose not to manufacture a team consisting of any of the aforementioned, also consider Jason Dufner, Kyle Stanley and Graham DeLaet, all of whom are among my Sleepers. Rory McIlroy’s signing with TaylorMade is worth pause in every fantasy format, but One & Doners were unaffected. While he’s atop my Power Rankings, the risk of burning him at TPC Sawgrass isn’t worth it even though the tournament distributes FedExCup points equivalent to every major. There’s also the obvious factor that he’s the kind of juggernaut who is worth reserving for the Playoffs when points are quadrupled. (I’m reserving McIlroy for the Dell Technologies Championship.) FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2016-17. All are pending golfer commitment. Daniel Berger … St. Jude (defending) Jason Bohn … Greenbrier Keegan Bradley … Byron Nelson; Memorial; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies Paul Casey … Travelers; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Kevin Chappell … Dell Technologies Jason Day … PLAYERS (defending); U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Luke Donald … Wyndham; TOUR Championship Jason Dufner … Byron Nelson; DEAN & DELUCA; U.S. Open; TOUR Championship Harris English … DEAN & DELUCA Jim Furyk … Memorial; U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Sergio Garcia … PLAYERS; Byron Nelson (defending); Open Championship; TOUR Championship Branden Grace … U.S. Open; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship Bill Haas … Wyndham Charley Hoffman … Byron Nelson; DEAN & DELUCA; Travelers; Canadian Billy Horschel … St. Jude; TOUR Championship Dustin Johnson … Byron Nelson; Memorial; St. Jude; U.S. Open (defending); Canadian; TOUR Championship Zach Johnson … PLAYERS; DEAN & DELUCA; John Deere; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Martin Kaymer … PLAYERS Chris Kirk … DEAN & DELUCA Kevin Kisner … PLAYERS; DEAN & DELUCA; Wyndham Russell Knox … Travelers (defending); Dell Technologies Brooks Koepka … Byron Nelson; St. Jude; U.S. Open; PGA Championship Matt Kuchar … PLAYERS; Byron Nelson; DEAN & DELUCA; Memorial; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone Martin Laird … Barracuda Marc Leishman … DEAN & DELUCA; Memorial; Travelers; Open Championship Hideki Matsuyama … PLAYERS; Memorial; PGA Championship; BMW Graeme McDowell … Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; Wyndham William McGirt … Memorial (defending); Wyndham Rory McIlroy … PLAYERS; Memorial; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies (defending); TOUR Championship (defending) Phil Mickelson … St. Jude; Open Championship; PGA Championship Francesco Molinari … PLAYERS Ryan Moore … Travelers; John Deere (defending); TOUR Championship Kevin Na … Memorial; John Deere; Wyndham Louis Oosthuizen … Dell Technologies Ryan Palmer … Byron Nelson; DEAN & DELUCA; St. Jude Scott Piercy … John Deere; BMW Ian Poulter … Arnold Palmer; Puerto Rico Patrick Reed … Wyndham; Dell Technologies Justin Rose … PLAYERS; Memorial; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Charl Schwartzel … Memorial; U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone Adam Scott … Memorial; U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Webb Simpson … Greenbrier; Wyndham Jordan Spieth … DEAN & DELUCA (defending); John Deere; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Brendan Steele … Travelers; Barracuda (already eligible for concurrent WGC-Bridgestone) Henrik Stenson … Open Championship (defending); WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Kevin Streelman … Memorial Justin Thomas … PLAYERS David Toms … PLAYERS; DEAN & DELUCA; Barbasol; Barracuda Jimmy Walker … Greenbrier; PGA Championship (defending); Dell Technologies Bubba Watson … Travelers; Greenbrier; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Boo Weekley … St. Jude; Barbasol Lee Westwood … PLAYERS Gary Woodland … Byron Nelson; Barracuda; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship

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