Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Presidents Cup (United States)
THIS WEEK: Sanderson Farms Championship, Jackson, Miss., Sept. 29-Oct. 2
Course: The Country Club of Jackson (Par 72, 7,461 yards)
Purse: $7.9M (Winner: 1.422M)
Defending Champion: Sam Burns
FedEx Cup leader: Max Homa
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 3:30-6:30 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 4-7 p.m. (All times Golf Channel)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Twitter: @Sanderson_Champ
NOTES: Burns made his professional debut at Sanderson Farms in 2017, finishing T43. … Burns and Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa are the two players in the field who also competed in the Presidents Cup. … Six of the past eight Sanderson Farms winners have also been first-time PGA Tour winners. … 2019 U.S. Open winner Gary Woodland is one of six major champions in the field. … Louisiana Tech’s Sam Murphy and Southern Miss’ Brice Wilkinson are among the sponsors exemptions, while Ole Miss graduate Jackson Suber will make his first PGA Tour start as a professional. … Mississippi native Davis Riley is in the field after finishing 33rd in the FedEx Cup as a rookie.
BEST BETS: Burns (+1000 at BetMGM) set the tournament scoring record of 22-under par for the first of his three victories last season. … Sahith Theegala (+1800) held the 54-hole lead last year before finishing T8. He is seeking his first PGA Tour victory and is coming off a T6 two weeks ago. … J.T. Poston (+2200) has a best finish of third in 2020 in six previous appearance. … Scott Stallings (+2800) is one of seven past champions (2012) in the field and is making his eight consecutive start in the event after reaching the Tour Championship last season. … Bezuidenhout (+4000) posted a 1-0-1 record at the Presidents Cup. … Harris English (+5000) won twice in 2021 and competed in the Ryder Cup last year but was able to make only 12 starts last year due to hip surgery.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Shriners Children’s Open, Las Vegas, Oct. 6-9
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: NW Arkansas Championship (Atthaya Thitikul)
THIS WEEK: The Ascendant LPGA Benefitting Volunteers of America, The Colony, Texas, Sept. 29-Oct. 2
Course: Old American Golf Club (Par 71, 6,438 yards)
Purse: $1.7M ($255,000)
Defending Champion: Jin Young Ko
Race to the CME Globe leader: Minjee Lee
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV/Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 12:30-3:30 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (All times Golf Channel and NBC Sports App)
Twitter: @AscendantLPGA
NOTES: The 132-player field will be cut to the top 70 and ties after 36 holes. … Ko will not defend her title as she continues to recover from a wrist injury, but the field does include six of the top 10 players in the Rolex Rankings, led by No. 2 Nelly Korda. … The Ascendant is the new title sponsor of the event and there is a $200,000 purse increase as part of a joint contribution with the Volunteers of America. … Cheyenne Knight set the tournament scoring record of 18-under 266 in 2019. … Lee leads the tour in official money ($3.7M) while Lydia Ko has taken over as the scoring average leader at 69.3. … The 19-year-old Thitikul’s second win of the season brought the average age of winners this year down to 26.11. She also vaulted to No. 3 in the Rolex Rankings.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: LPGA Mediheal Championship, Somis, Calif., Oct. 6-9)
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Pure Insurance Championship (Steve Flesch)
THIS WEEK: OFF
Schwab Cup leader: Steven Alker
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Constellation Furyk & Friends, Jacksonville, Fla., Oct. 7-9
–Field Level Media
