The First Look: Sanderson Farms Championship

With the Presidents Cup in the rearview mirror, the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Fall rolls on with the Sanderson Farms Championship.

This is the second of eight FedExCup Fall tournaments in which players will battle for trophies while also trying to improve their FedExCup rankings for the 2025 season. At stake is full status (top 125) for next year and entry into two early Signature Events via the Aon Next 10 (FedExCup Nos. 51-60): the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.

Here's everything else you need to know as the TOUR returns to The Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi.

FIELD NOTES: Matt McCarty, who earned a Three-Victory Promotion on the Korn Ferry Tour, locked up the No. 1 spot in the Points List and will skip this week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing in favor of Sanderson Farms. He won three times in six Korn Ferry Tour starts over the summer… Michael Thornbjornsen, the reigning No. 1 player in PGA TOUR University, is No. 134 in the FedExCup Fall (T50 at the Procore Championship) and returns to action this week … Rickie Fowler returns to the PGA TOUR for the first time since the birth of his second child, daughter Nellie, in August. This is Fowler’s Sanderson Farms Championship debut. He last played at The Open Championship in July … Eric Cole and Nick Dunlap each finished in the top 50 in the FedExCup standings and are exempt for the Signature Events in 2025… Mackenzie Hughes is the lone golfer from the Presidents Cup in the Sanderson Farms field. He won the event in 2022… Camilo Villegas, an assistant captain for the International Team, is also in the field… Matti Schmid, who is No. 125 in the FedExCup Fall standings, is hoping to get off the bubble this week but he’ll have to turn the tide at The Country Club of Jackson. He’s had two missed cuts in a row at the course… Patton Kizzire, who won the Procore Championship (the first event of the FedExCup Fall) will try to keep it going in Mississippi. Kizzire has played The Country Club of Jackson eight times in his career with two top-10s… Defending champion Luke List, who won a five-man playoff last season, aims to become the first back-to-back winner in 50 years. A playoff has determined the Sanderson Farms winner two years in a row and three of the last five seasons.

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Henrik Norlander, who lost in the five-man playoff here last year, returns to action. Norlander is 131st in the FedExCup standings and has not recorded a top-10 finish yet this season … Hunter Logan, who just wrapped up his career at Mississippi State University, will make his PGA TOUR debut. He recorded his first collegiate victory last September … Cody Gribble, the 2016 Sanderson Farms winner, plus Ryan Armour and a pair of former FedExCup champs in Bill Haas and Brandt Snedeker – the latter fresh off his victorious assistant captain effort at the Presidents Cup – round out the sponsor invites.

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: As part of the Aon Next 10, players ranked Nos. 51-60 through the FedExCup Fall will earn their way into two early season 2025 Signature Events – the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational… Min Woo Lee remains at No. 60 in the standings and is not playing in Mississippi. Ben Griffin, at No. 61, is teeing it up and hopes to write a happier ending. Griffin brought a three-shot lead into the final round last year but faltered at the finish to slip into the playoff.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

The Sanderson Farms is the second event of the FedExCup Fall, at the end of which, those who rank in the top 125 will earn full PGA TOUR status for next season. Nos. 126-150 on the final FedExCup Fall Points List will have conditional status for the 2024 PGA TOUR season.

All players outside the top 125 can improve or regain TOUR status via PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.

COURSE: The Country Club of Jackson, par 72, 7,461 yards. The course, whose origin dates back to 1914, was redesigned in 2008 (the tournament routing includes the Azalea and Dogwood nines) by John Fought and incorporates some Donald Ross signatures around the greens.

72-HOLE RECORD: 263, Dan Halldorson (1986 at Hattiesburg GC). The CC of Jackson record: 266, Sam Burns (2021)

18-HOLE RECORD: 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Keith Clearwater (2nd round, 1996 at Annandale GC). The CC of Jackson record: 61, Will Zalatoris (1st round, 2021).

LAST TIME: Luke List won a five-man playoff, converting a 43-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to beat Ben Griffin, Ludvig Åberg, Scott Stallings, and Henrik Norlander. List got a read off of Åberg’s birdie attempt in the playoff. Griffin didn’t get his putt to the hole, while Stallings and Norlander missed from off the green. Griffin had an 8-footer on the 72nd hole for the win outright but missed it right.

How to follow (all times ET)

Television:

• Thursday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Friday: 4-7:30 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Sunday: 3:30-6:30 p.m. (Golf Channel)

PGA TOUR LIVE (stream 1):

PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+

PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio:

• Thursday-Friday: 1-7 p.m.
• Saturday: 2-7 p.m.
• Sunday: 2-6:30 p.m.