This Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $250K Sand Trap [$50K to 1st]
The Field
After a wild Ryder Cup where Europe prevailed — but nearly blew their massive lead on Sunday — the PGA TOUR marches onward this week to its second official event FedExCup Fall. The Sanderson Farms Championship has been a mainstay on the Fall schedule for some time now and has been a great jumping-off point for many young or up-and-coming players. Sebastian Munoz won his first PGA TOUR event here in 2019, while Cameron Champ did the same the year before in 2018. In 2023, American Luke List picked up his second career PGA win in a thrilling 5-man playoff, while last season saw Kevin Yu get his first PGA win in a playoff over Beau Hossler.
It’s the week after the Ryder Cup, so, as you would expect, the field does not have a lot of big names. At 34th in the OWGR, Akshay Bhatia is the favorite this week in the betting odds (+2000), but there are seven players between +2000 and +3000 as of writing with no heavy favorite. The only player teeing it up at the Sanderson who also played in the Ryder Cup last week is Rasmus Hojgaard, who is likely there to support his brother Nicolai, who is also in the field. Other names to watch near the top of the odds include Min Woo Lee, Davis Thompson, and Michael Thorbjornsen.
This week is also a return to regular, full-field event rules and will feature the regular PGA cutline, which sees the top 65 players (and ties) go on to play the weekend.
The Course
Country Club of Jackson • Jackson, Mississippi
Par 72, 7,460 yards
The Country Club of Jackson has hosted this event since 2014. The venue isn’t overly difficult as it has seen winners reach between 17 and 23-under-par over the last five seasons. The course features some of the purest greens on the PGA and has multiple scoring holes where birdies or better will be expected. In a lot of ways, it sets up very similarly to the first Fall venue we saw in Silverado, where players with strong driving metrics would be expected to have an advantage with four par 5s in play. But the venue is still easy enough overall to allow elite putters to have a chance.
Jackson is a typical flat, parkland venue with older trees lining many of the fairways. Playing from out of the rough here can be somewhat problematic in terms of sight lines to the pin on your second shot, and in that way, the routing also mimics that of venues like Colonial and Hilton Head — where placement can sometimes be more important than power. Not every hole is claustrophobic off the tee, however, and players can still opt for driver on plenty of tee boxes.
The pros at Jackson only average about 54% in the Driving Accuracy department — which is six to eight percent lower than the PGA TOUR average — but you only have to look at the list of recent winners to realize that you don’t have to be arrow straight to win at Jackson (Champ, Burns, Munoz). The greens are a decent size and relatively easy to hit, with GIR percentages at Jackson tending to be 2-4% higher than the seasonal average for the pros. It’s also worth noting that the last five winners all ranked outside the top 30 in driving accuracy for the week of their win — but four of the last six winners have also gained +3.5 strokes or more off-the-tee for the week (Burns gained over +6.0 strokes OTT in 2021, while List gained 2.2 strokes off the tee in 2023).
The Bermuda greens at CC of Jackson almost always run pure this time of year, and that’s been reflected in the stats. Past winners have tended to putt the proverbial lights out, with five of the last nine winners here ranking fifth or better in SG: Putting for the week of their win. Sam Burns certainly bucked this trend three years ago when he shockingly got to 22-under par despite losing strokes putting, but Burns more than made up for it by gaining an ungodly 14.1 strokes ball-striking. In 2023, Luke List gained 6.0 strokes putting (7th best for the week), which more than made up for his average iron play (+0.1 strokes), and in 2024 Kevin Yu gained 8.6 strokes with his putter, ranking 2nd in SG: Putting for the week.
While Burns’ week could certainly be repeated by another elite ball-striker, in general, players will need to roll it well on the greens to have any shot at going low enough to win.
Finally, as a parting note, it’s worth remembering that the course carries four very scorable par 5s, three of which play between 550-600 yards. The 2018 winner, Cameron Champ, played those holes at 12-under-par the week he won, so efficiency on these holes will be a huge benefit.
2025 Weather Outlook: The weather this week should be hot with highs on the weekend stretching into the mid-to-high 80°F range. A tiny bit of rain is expected on Wednesday, which could help soften the course for Round 1. However, any moisture will likely be gone by Saturday, given the expected temperatures. Winds aren’t expected to be severe either, with gusts staying below 10mph most of the week. Expect the course to potentially play a little tougher than last season, given the warmer temperatures should firm the greens, but don’t expect the weather to play a huge factor either. Potentially, the early starters on Thursday will get a crack at the most receptive greens of the week, so if I were leaning towards one wave, it would be the TH-AM/FRI-PM crowd.
Last 5 winners
(2024)—Kevin Yu -23 (playoff over Beau Hossler)
(2023)—Luke List -18 (playoff over 4 players)
(2022)—Mackenzie Hughes -17 (playoff over Sepp Straka)
(2021)—Sam Burns -22 (over Cameron Young -21)
(2020)—Sergio Garcia -19 (over Peter Malnati -18)
Winning Trends
– Seven of the last 11 winners have all been first-time winners on the PGA TOUR.
– Four of the last 10 winners were not full-time PGA TOUR members in the previous season.
– Four of the last six winners of the Sanderson Farms played in the first fall series event in Napa (Burns ’21 and Yu ’24 the exceptions)
Winners Stats and Course Overview
Kevin Yu (2024 at -23)
Incoming Form: Last 5 events (MC – T52 – T73 – MC – MC)
SG: OTT—+2.0
SG: APP—+2.6
SG: Total—+12.5
SG: ATG—-0.8
SG: PUTT—+8.6
· The Country Club of Jackson has hosted this event since 2014; before Garcia and Burns won in 2021 and 2020, each of the past five winners from 2016 to 2020 had gained +6.2 strokes or more putting for the week of their win. The last two winners (List and Yu) have each gained over 6.0 strokes putting for the week.
· Driving distance for this event has about matched the PGA TOUR average over time, but hitting fairways at this venue has been tough, with players averaging around 54% Driving Accuracy.
· Strong off-the-tee play has been beneficial, as four of the last six winners here have all gained +3.8 strokes or more off-the-tee; List gained 2.2 strokes OTT in 2023, and Yu gained over 2.0 strokes OTT in his win.
· The course blends a lot of longer approaches with short ones, as 125-150 yards and less than 200 yards are the two most popular approach distances here from past events.
· Burns torched the course in 2022 with elite ball-striking that saw him gain over 14.0 strokes OTT and on APP combined. Most winners at this venue will have to be positive with the flat stick, as Luke List was in 2023, who relied more on his around-the-green play and putting than ball-striking (a rarity for him).
Finding Values (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Odds to win are one factor to think about when picking players (but not the only thing, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value comparative to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.
Mackenzie Hughes +3500 and $8,700
Comparables:
- Alex Smalley +3500 and $8,900
- Cameron Champ +4000 and $8,800
- Jacob Bridgeman +3500 and $9,200
Sam Stevens +4000 and $8,300
Comparables:
- Max Homa +4000 and $8,400
- Keith Mitchell +4000 and $8,500
- Luke Clanton +4000 and $8,600
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
HORSES FOR COURSES
1. Henrik Norlander ($6,900; best finishes: T4-2021; T2 2023): Whenever a guy finishes top five at the same event two years in a row, he deserves a shout-out. Norlander is far from a consistent player but has proven himself to be a good target at Jackson on multiple occasions. He’s putted extremely well on these greens and has finished top 30 here five years in a row.
2. Kevin Streelman ($6,300; best finishes: T4-2020, T10-2018): Streelman is worth a look this week as the field is mostly devoid of top-end talent. He’s grabbed top-10 finishes at Jackson in two of his last six starts, and at just $6,300, carries a bit of upside. He’s coming in off a long injury layof, but played in the first fall event (Fortinet) and finished T57.
3. Emiliano Grillo ($9,300; best finishes T5-2023; T11-2024): Grillo has been a constant at this event, having made the trek out to Jackson in each of the past six seasons. Grillo’s made the cut at Jackson in 5/6 of those starts and showed off with a T5 at this event in 2022, gaining 3.4 strokes putting for the week. He finished T4 at the Procore a couple of weeks back.
4. Cameron Champ ($8,800; best finishes: win-2019; T9-2023): Champ will be starting at Jackson for the third year in a row. The American grabbed the first win of his career at this event in 2019 and also finished T9 at this venue in 2023. He missed the cut in Napa two weeks ago but is a good rebound candidate in his second fall start.
Recent Form
1. Min Woo Lee ($9,800; T5/T11): Min Woo played a couple of events in Europe over the break and looked like he found his game, posting a T5 in France in his last start, an event where he was up in the top five all weekend. He’ll look to keep the roll going in Jackson this week.
2. Mark Hubbard ($8,000; T38/T3): Hubbard is coming in on a seven-event made cut streak and finished T3 in his second-to-last start at the Wyndham. The American would fit the mold of players who have found their first win at Jackson CC, and is certainly an interesting name for DFS given his consistency.
3. Michael Thorbjornsen ($9,500; T13/T38): Thorbjornsen had a great start in Napa at the Procore, where he finished T11 and gained over 3.5 strokes OTT and on Approach. He also finished T8 at this event last season and gained over 5.0 strokes putting, so expect him to be popular for DFS.
4. Emiliano Grillo ($9,300; T4/T50): Grillo had a great start at the Procore, where he finished T4 and gained over 5.5 strokes putting and on approach. He finished T5 at this venue back in 2022 and is another name in the 9k range who should be popular this week.
5. Matt Wallace ($8,100 – T46/T2): Wallace finished T2 at the Omega Masters in Switzerland last month and brings some good form at Jackson this week. Overall, he’s made 10 cuts in a row and has two five finishes (3M Open and Omega Masters) over that span.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Cash Games: Hossler and Bezuidenhout, decent value
If you were looking to create a core lineup, certainly names like Thorbjornsen and Grillo from the recent form section would work as good starters. Below them, however, I would also take a hard look in the low 8k range where Beau Hossler ($8,000) and the aforementioned Mark Hubbard are sitting. I mentioned Hubbard’s consistency above, but Hossler has been solid of late, too. He’s made nine of his last 10 cuts and posted a T4 at the Barracuda Championships back in July. While his ball-striking can be up and down, the elite upside he brings with the putter has served him well at this venue where he finished 2nd last year (playoff loss). Below Hossler, Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($7,600) is another name I like using in core lineups. He’s relatively too cheap given the quality of the field this week and has the sort of elite upside on the greens to excel around Jackson CC. He’s finished T39 and T6 at Jackson in his last two starts here and gained over 4.0 strokes putting back in 2023 (T6).
Tournaments: Homa worth a chance?
Max Homa ($8,400) has had a tough season, but he’s the sort of player who should come in motivated after watching the Ryder Cup drama from last week. A member of the USA team in Italy back in 2023, he’d love nothing more than to get off to a good start this fall and back into the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings at some point in 2026. While he hasn’t played here since 2018, his last start at the Procore (T19) was encouraging enough to warrant using him in larger fields. I’d likely take the same approach with Byeong Hun An ($7,600) this week, a player who hasn’t played well of late, but is capable of turning up at these weaker events and putting in a huge effort. He won in Asia last fall and finished 3rd here back in 2019. Some other players to think about as boom or bust targets in GPP lineups this week include Sami Valimaki ($7,400), Erik van Rooyen ($7,200), Adam Schenk ($6,700 – see below), and Trey Mullinax ($6,600).
MY PICK: Davis Thompson ($9,700)
Thompson is quite the talent and a player I’m certainly willing to keep chasing into the fall, given his form at the end of the season. After a solid close at the Wyndham, where he finished T11, he landed another top 20 at the Procore Championship, finishing T19 while gaining 4.1 strokes off the tee. From a style perspective, his ability to set himself up with long straight drives on the par 5s and longer par 4s fits with the sort of game used by past champions like Luke List, Cameron Champ, and Sam Burns.
Further, while he’s struggled a bit on the greens at Jackson, this season will be his fourth time playing the course, and he’s gained strokes off the tee and on Approach in each of his first three visits, with his T16 from last season marking a career best at this event. We have a very weak top of the board to choose from but certainly from a DFS perspective, Thompson has as much ability and talent as anyone in this field and is capable of putting in the same sort of monster week that carried recent winners like Yu, List, and Burns to massive fantasy scores. He’s a solid GPP target and player I like targeting in the outright market at +2500 or better on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
MY SLEEPER: Adam Schenk ($6,700)
Schenk is the sort of player I don’t mind targeting in these weaker field events, where putting variance can play a huge factor in who wins. The American was on a brutal four-event missed cut streak before finishing T30 at the Procore Championship two weeks ago, an event where he gained over 2.0 strokes off the tee and 5.8 strokes putting. While he’ll need to have a better effort with his irons this week, Schenk is generally strong off the tee and a solid spike putter on the greens, so he does fit the sort of profile of a player who typically excels around Sanderson Farms. Given that he lost in a playoff at Copperhead Golf Club in 2023 to Taylor Moore, a venue where 2022 Sanderson Farms winner Sam Burns has won twice, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Schenk follow up his made cut at the Procore with another solid effort this week.
Overall, Schenk fits the sort of boom or bust type of player you want to target in GPPs in events like this. While his missed cut rate is high, he does have 10 top 10s on the PGA TOUR since the start of 2023 and is capable of returning some massive value given his sub-7k price tag. After gaining some momentum in his last start, I wouldn’t hesitate to target him on a very suitable course that he finished T7 on back in 2018.
His upside also looks worth targeting in the betting markets, given his good start to the fall, and his oversized placement odds of +500 for a top 20 and +1200 for a top 10 on DraftKings Sportsbook.
