Steve Palmer's Sanderson Farms Championship first-round preview & best bets

Golf tips, first-round analysis and tournament match betting advice for the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson on the PGA Tour.

When to watch

Sky Sports Golf red button, 1pm Thursday

Best bets

Mito Pereira to beat Si Woo Kim
3pts 19-20 Coral, Ladbrokes

Keith Mitchell to win threeball
2pts 13-8 general

Taylor Pendrith top Canadian
1pt 9-2 bet365

First-round preview

Sergio Garcia is the only Ryder Cup competitor teeing up in the Sanderson Farms Championship this week - the Spaniard honourably defending the title he won last year - but it must be doubtful as to whether he can conjure sufficient energy and enthusiasm for the low-grade PGA Tour event.

Garcia was one of only two Europeans to emerge from last week's Ryder Cup with any credit - his new partnership with Jon Rahm was successful - but Garcia suffered a beating at the hands of Bryson DeChambeau on Sunday as America romped to a 19-9 Cup triumph.

Garcia tees off at 7.06pm UK and Ireland time in the first round of the Sanderson Farms, while the marquee threeball of Sam Burns, Sungjae Im and Corey Conners is out at 2pm. Pick of the threeball prices, though, may be the 13-8 about Keith Mitchell defeating C.T Pan and Andrew Landry in the low-key 1.38pm contest.

Mitchell, third in the Wells Fargo Championship in May and more recently fifth in the 3M Open and eighth in The Northern Trust, will enjoy a significant length advantage over Pan and Landry. That edge should prove decisive on a long track which is being softened under stormy skies.

Best offer on the 72-hole matches card appears to be the 19-20 available about rising star Mito Pereira outscoring Si Woo Kim. Pereira, a two-time champion on the Korn Ferry Tour in June, has followed up with four excellent efforts in higher-grade action.

Fifth place in the Barbasol Championship was followed by sixth in the 3M Open, fourth in the Olympics and third in the Fortinet Championship last time out. The injury-plagued Kim has struggled for consistency since blowing his chance of avoiding Korean national service with a poor Olympics performance.

Another appealing price is the 9-2 about Taylor Pendrith for top Canadian. The powerhouse, a great driver and decent putter, should take a liking to the Country Club of Jackson.

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