Ben Coley is hoping Min Woo Lee can win for Sporting Life followers for the second time this year, making him the best bet for the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Golf betting tips: Sanderson Farms Championship

3pts win Min Woo Lee at 25/1 (General)

3pts win Michael Thorbjornsen at 25/1 (StarSports, BetMGM)

2pts e.w. Max Homa at 40/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)

1pt e.w. Mac Meissner at 60/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)

1pt e.w. Ben Kohles at 90/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

It was a bit of a strange start to the FedExCup Fall, as the US Ryder Cup side used the Procore Championship to prepare for Bethpage. Predictably, one of them won it. Extremely predictably, that man was Scottie Scheffler, who had been sent off as short a price as I can remember for a full-field PGA Tour event since a certain Tiger Woods was the one doing all the winning.

With Scheffler now able to take a proper break, the next couple of months represent opportunity for those who either need or want it. In the case of Akshay Bhatia, favourite for the Sanderson Farms, it’s the latter: he made the TOUR Championship thus has everything in place for 2026. Others though are here on a mission, whether it’s to earn starts in Signature Events or simply to retain status altogether.

Country Club of Jackson has been on the schedule for over a decade now and it’s clearly a course which plays into the hands of longer hitters. Four par-fives, a driveable par-four and a meaty finish make that conclusion straightforward, but being a low-grade event there are always going to be things that aren’t so easy to comprehend, like wins for Peter Malnati and Ryan Armour.

Perhaps even more befuddling have been the events of the last two years, when first Luke List and then Kevin Yu rode to victory on the backs of their putters. In the season of List’s win, these two actually came to the Sanderson Farms as statistically the very worst putters in the field. Yu managed to climb a few spots in the 12 months that followed, but only to 159th.

I’m not sure that means we should go searching for someone of the same profile and I’ll keep this pretty simple as far as the main selections go. As soon as I saw the entry list, I was extremely keen on MIN WOO LEE, and after much consideration I’ve elected to split stakes with MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN rather than back the Australian each-way.

This is just a fantastic course for both of them and while we’ve evidence of that where Thorbjornsen is concerned after he was eighth last year, I’m equally sure Min Woo will love it. He’ll get to come here and open his shoulders just as he did in Houston for his first PGA Tour win, just as he did in Detroit for his closest call before that.

First in strokes-gained off-the-tee when fifth in the Open de France last time, the Aussie has also found a timely return to form, having previously closed well for 11th at Wentworth. The former was an excellent field, the latter much weaker but still a welcome opportunity to test his mettle in a final group which featured five-time major champion, Brooks Koepka.

But for a rare off day with the putter it might well have been Lee rather than Michael Kim who won the title, but he’ll have taken so much from his performance. That off-the-tee ranking was courtesy of his best figures of the season; better yet, his approach play was also the best we’ve seen all year, meaning a typical short-game display could’ve robbed us of that dramatic finish.

Back in the USA, it’s possible to argue that he’s a bit less comfortable and it’s a lot more competitive, but remember he’s been playing on a top-class schedule since beating Scheffler at Memorial Park. Outside of Signature Events, majors and the FedExCup Playoffs events this year, his form reads as follows: 17-12-11-1-13-11-5.

This is the weakest PGA Tour event he’s played for a long time. When 13th in the Rocket Mortgage, Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Patrick Cantlay, Ben Griffin, Cam Young, Hideki Matsuyama and Harry Hall all featured, each of them a potential favourite in the betting had they entered the Sanderson Farms, and as mentioned he had Scheffler to deal with in Houston.

There’s also the fact that he’s 57th in the FedExCup Fall standings to consider. Securing a place in that 51st-60th window will earn some vital playing privileges for the beginning of next season, and if he can do it here he could also go back to the DP World Tour where, after two improved results, he can still qualify for the big-money events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai before heading home for Christmas.

At 43rd in the world, one more big performance should seal an all-important top 50 spot too and while he’s young and somewhat volatile, this really does look the perfect opportunity to take care of a lot of things in one go. I’m really keen on his chances.

As for Thorbjornsen, 13th in the Procore was a lovely way to begin this portion of the campaign. He managed that in a high-class field without putting well, again displaying his world-class driving skills and combining them with some quality approach play, and it was at a course where he’d previously struggled.

The former amateur star is up and down on the greens but ranked seventh in this event last year, opening with a round of 63 on his first look at the place and hanging around inside the top 10 all week. He’s improved since via two near-misses and his turn looks to be very close now. Returning to a course which is so suited to his game and taking an effective drop in grade, he looks the main danger.

For me these are the two most compelling options in an open betting heat. Favourite Bhatia has played poorly in two previous visits, Davis Thompson likewise for the most part in three, each of them undermined by poor putting, and the Hojgaard twins arrive after celebrating hard at Bethpage on Sunday night, both of them in questionable form.

Thorbjornsen’s price has just started to shorten ahead of publication so while the information at the top is valid at the time of writing, bets will be settled at the general 22/1. Both can be backed at a shade bigger than 25s via the exchanges.

Return of the Max

The biggest potential danger as I see it comes in the form of MAX HOMA and I have to have him on-side.

It’s undoubtedly been a miserable 18 months for the player who shone for the US in Rome, the type of character they could’ve done with last week, but there have been some hugely positive signs since the middle of summer and he’ll put four rounds together again soon.

Homa did that for fifth place in the John Deere, the first time we saw him produce a quality ball-striking display really all year, and what’s most encouraging is he’s backed it up. In three measured starts since then he’s always gained strokes both off-the-tee and with his approaches, a surefire sign that things are looking up.

Some would argue that 19th in the Procore rates an uninspiring piece of form given that he’s a two-time champion there, but Homa closed with a round of 66 which only one player bettered and remember, this was a tournament overshadowed by the Ryder Cup, with 11 members of Team USA taking part including the world number one.

Despite that, Homa was a 40/1 shot so it’s surprising to me that we can take 40s here, too. By way of comparison, Rico Hoey opened 100/1 and while yes, he did finish a few shots ahead of Homa, it’s quite the turnaround to now be shorter in the betting for the Sanderson Farms, where he was 68th last year and not only because of the putter.

The reason for this is presumably that Homa’s record here reads an equally unimpressive 43-MC-MC, but it’s far less relevant. In 2014 he’d just earned his PGA Tour card and will have presumably been quite pleased to collect a decent cheque. In 2016 he returned to the PGA Tour with a run of three missed cuts to end the year, the middle one here. Then, another two years on in 2018, history repeated and he went 60-MC-MC-MC-MC.

All this happened before his breakout win on bermuda greens at Quail Hollow, before he first became a US team player and then a major contender, and it would be a mistake to assume this pretty straightforward golf course isn’t for him. I’d even suggest that while at his best he’d prefer tougher scoring, right now something easier could help as it did at Deere Run.

There’s still a risk that he will undo good work with one bad round off the tee or something along those lines, but Homa has been progressing and, a new dad who knows he belongs at the Ryder Cup not fighting for FedExCup Fall points, I can see him coming out firing in Mississippi. He’s a very good price to do so.

Return of the… Mac

Next up is MAC MEISSNER and I’m hoping this is a classic example of an east-coast player who benefits enormously from the return back to where he’s comfortable, having been mid-pack in the Procore.

That was also Meissner’s first start since he’d chased home Cam Young in the Wyndham so some rust was always likely, but it was the greens that were his undoing one way or another. Born in South Carolina and having produced his best PGA Tour performance in North Carolina, he’ll be far more comfortable out here instead.

We saw something similar last year, when he missed the cut putting horribly in California then finished 37th putting better here, and so far his very best putting displays have been on bermuda at the Wyndham. That club was the difference versus 14th at the 3M Open, where he hit it just as well, and 47th last time out where again he was strong from tee-to-green.

Meissner actually puts his recent improvement down to a new caddie taking the bag at the 3M Open and after they finished second together on just their second start as a pair, he secured his playing rights for next year. When doing so he said he’d be selective about where to play over the coming months, so turning up here could be a clue in itself.

He’s an ex-Walker Cup player with potential, he has some correlating form via fifth place at Colonial, and without being a big-hitter he’s long enough to handle a course with some similarities to Sedgefield. Young in fact first announced himself in this event and having been thrilled with the way he pursued him in North Carolina, Meissner looks a fun each-way bet.

Whatever happens this week, he looks like a young player ready to take the next step up in his career at some stage before next year’s Signature Events begin. Hopefully, he’s played his way into them by then.

DP World Tour duo Antoine Rozner and Sami Valimaki made some appeal, the former putting much better and the latter producing some of the best iron play around. Of the two, the Finn’s more reliable driving would earn him a narrow vote but I can’t say I’m mad about the price so he’s left alone.

Maybe Ricky Castillo’s Florida education will make these conditions less alien than they otherwise might’ve been and he’s a promising player who could go well, while Davis Riley is a local enigma with all the ability required. He’s won at Colonial, which correlates well with this place, but his long-game has been a big problem again lately.

By contrast, BEN KOHLES has been striping it for months so while he’s a short hitter, maybe he can emulate the likes of Armour, Malnati and Henrik Norlander and plot his way to a competitive total.

Kohles is up to 10th on Tour in strokes-gained approach with about 0.6 strokes per round, but he’s been averaging more than 1.5 since June. To put that into context, for the season only Scheffler is higher than a full stroke per round; right now, it’s possible to argue Kohles is second only to him.

The fact that he’s missed two cuts and has one top-10 finish during this run tells you very clearly that Kohles is suffering a bit of a putting crisis, but he was better at the Procore at least until the weekend. What I’m clinging to though is the fact that he’s gained strokes on these greens in both previous starts and while not amid the crisis he’s been experiencing, nor had he been putting well in the weeks before either of them.

Kohles was ninth in strokes-gained tee-to-green when finishing 16th here last year, his best result since May when he was runner-up in a low-scoring event which is meant to be better suited to big hitters. Hopefully he can again bridge that gap and gain the reward his ball-striking deserves, just like the last two champions here in Jackson.

Finally, a quick word on Jason Dufner. Yes, you read that correctly. It feels worth saying that he’s come through a Monday qualifier for the second time in succession and, after the first, he finished a respectable 30th in the Procore. He’ll be a huge price here because of his age and general decline, plus a run of missed cuts in the event, but his best tee-to-green stats over the past four years came the last time he played at Jackson.

Chances are he won’t replicate them and he’ll putt badly, so my temptation to back him was short-lived. However, if you play on the exchanges and want someone on-side at the maximum price who actually seems to have their game in good working order, who went to college in Alabama and finished runner-up in a major in Georgia, watch for him being added to the market at some stage. He might give you a run.

Posted at 1200 BST on 30/09/25

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