Steve Palmer's Sanderson Farms Championship predictions, best bets, free tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the Sanderson Farms Championship at Country Club of Jackson on the PGA Tour.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Golf red button from 1pm on Thursday

Best bets

Robby Shelton
2pts each-way 90-1 Hills
Scott Stallings
2pts each-way 28-1 Betfair, Paddy Power
Davis Thompson
1.5pts each-way 90-1 bet365
Justin Suh
1.5pts each-way 60-1 Betfred
Davis Riley
1.5pts each-way 33-1general

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Sam Burns headlines the Sanderson Farms Championship on his title defence, having just arrived at Country Club of Jackson from the Presidents Cup in North Carolina.

Burns won the Sanderson Farms Championship last year thanks to a brilliant tee-to-green performance. His ball-striking was less secure on his Presidents Cup debut last week and he won only one point from five matches.

Favourite backers this week must consider how much the Presidents Cup may have taken out of Burns. He played in every session and had a tense, tight tussle with Hideki Matsuyama on Sunday. With his swing shaky at times, the market leader can be left alone for Jackson, even though this is an assignment he clearly loves.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Robby Shelton 90-1

A best-price 10-1 about Burns should be ignored in favour of the vastly superior value represented by Robby Shelton.

Shelton is a four-time Korn Ferry Tour champion who appears to be grossly underrated in the Sanderson Farms market. He won on the Korn Ferry Tour in June and August, and finished second in a KFT event in July, propelling himself on to the PGA Tour with a spectacular burst of summer form.

Last time out, starting his second spell on the PGA Tour at the age of 27, Shelton carded three good rounds and one bad one on his way to 21st place in the Fortinet Championship, a solid effort which has settled the Alabama man nicely back on to the circuit.

This week, Shelton tees up close to home in the Sanderson Farms, as Mississippi is across the Alabama border. His first two Korn Ferry Tour wins came in Tennessee, another state which borders Mississippi, and this is the region of the States where Shelton feels most comfortable.

Seven years ago, Shelton finished third in the Barbasol Championship when still an amateur – the best amateur performance since Phil Mickelson won the 1991 Tucson Open – and superstardom seemed inevitable. PGA Tour glory has not arrived yet, but Shelton remains full of big-time potential and can thrive in Jackson, where he finished 28th in the 2019 Sanderson Farms.

Next best bet

Scott Stallings 28-1

The champion when this tournament was called the TrueSouth Classic in 2012, staged at a different Mississippi course, was Scott Stallings. He likes Jackson CC, too, finishing sixth there in 2020, and the 37-year-old will see the Sanderson Farms as a great opportunity to end a victory drought stretching back to the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open.

As a three-time PGA Tour champion, Stallings is one of the most successful players in this line-up, and his form from the BMW Championship just over a month ago deserves enormous respect. That was a FedEx Cup playoffs event boasting a world-class field, but Stallings finished runner-up, beaten by just a shot and sandwiched between Patrick Cantlay and Scottie Scheffler.

The BMW performance did not come out of the blue. Stallings was eighth in the Travelers Championship in June, then fourth in the John Deere Classic, tenth in the Rocket Mortgage and 13th in the Wyndham. He lives across the Mississippi border in Tennessee.

Other selections

Davis Thompson 90-1

Justin Suh 60-1

Davis Riley 33-1

Davis Thompson is another youngster who loves this part of the world. Like Shelton, Thompson was born in Alabama, before going on to become a superstar at the University of Georgia. The former world number-one amateur led the 2020 US Open through 12 holes, then played in eight PGA Tour events last year, making the cut in five of them.

Thompson was 35th in last year's Sanderson Farms, carding four solid rounds, and he won on the Korn Ferry Tour in June. With a PGA Tour card in his pocket, Thompson finished ninth in the Fortinet Championship last time out.

Justin Suh is another former world number-one amateur who seems dangerous this week. At the age of 25, Suh has finally got a PGA Tour card in his pocket and has the potential to become a superstar. A super-consistent Korn Ferry Tour campaign culminated in victory in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship and this magnificent iron-player should establish himself on the PGA Tour soon enough.

Complete a five-pronged attack with Davis Riley, who should be forgiven for his Fortinet flop last time out. Riley is a Mississippi native who knows this week's layout well. He has won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour and silverware in the higher grade seems almost inevitable given how impressive he was last season.

Players to note

Taylor Montgomery
Third place in the Fortinet Championship suggested that Monty should make an easy transition from Korn Ferry Tour contender to PGA Tour threat.

Nick Hardy
The 26-year-old settled on the PGA Tour last summer and finished 14th in the US Open. A promising maiden.

Country Club of Jackson course guide

Course Country Club of Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi
Prize money $7.9m ($1.26m to the winner)
Length 7,461 yards
Par 72 – four par-fives, ten par-fours, four par-threes
Field 144 The cut Top 65 and ties qualify for round three
Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Sam Burns (12), Sepp Straka (36), Seamus Power (40), Harris English (45), Keegan Bradley (48)
Course records– 72 holes 266 Sam Burns (2021) 18 holes 62 Roberto Castro (2015)

Course winners taking part Nick Taylor, Peter Malnati, Cody Gribble, Ryan Armour, Sam Burns

When to bet By 12.45pm on Thursday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf red button from 1pm on Thursday

Time difference Mississippi is six hours behind the UK and Ireland

Course type Parkland

Course overview Dick Wilson designed this course in 1962 and it was revamped by John Fought in 2008. It made its PGA Tour debut in 2014. The most prestigious events held previously were the Mississippi State Amateur and the Southern Junior. Country Club of Jackson, tree-lined and traditional, has one par-five which is comfortably reachable in two shots (the third), but the other three (the fifth, 11th and 14th) are long and relatively difficult. The 181-yard par-three fourth, the 482-yard par-four sixth, the 214-yard par-three seventh, the 479-yard par-four 16th and the 505-yard par-four 18th are the toughest assignments. Slick greens are a strength of Jackson, with Champions UltraDwarf Bermuda grass making for immaculate putting surfaces, with tight lies around them. Scoring has been low, though, with the winning score between 16 and 22 under par every year.

Story of last year Sam Burns edged Cameron Young and Nick Watney by a shot, breaking the 72-hole course record in the process

Weather forecast Sunny with gentle breezes, getting warmer every day, peaking at a Sunday 29C

Type of player suited to the challenge Scoring is always low and great weather is forecast, so there will be a premium on hot putting. There is clearly more than one way to skin this cat given that Ryan Armour and Cameron Champ, two hugely contrasting players, are on the Jackson honours board.

Key attribute Touch

Spotlight insight Six of the last nine Sanderson Farms champions were PGA Tour maidens

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