First-time winners have been the norm at this week’s PGA Tour event, and the wide-open field could provide another in the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship, which tees off Thursday. Six of the past eight winners of the Sanderson Farms Championship lifted a PGA Tour trophy for the first time. There are eight past Sanderson Farms winners in the field, including Sergio Garcia, who played in last weekend’s Ryder Cup and got his 11th tour win at the Country Club of Jackson last year. The 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship field in Jackson, Miss. will also include PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Will Zalatoris and Matthew Wolff, who is making his season debut.
Caesars Sportsbook lists Zalatoris and Sam Burns as the 16-1 co-favorites in its latest 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship golf odds, with Sungjae Im at 18-1 and Garcia at 20-1 behind them. Other likely contenders from the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship field include Corey Conners (22-1) and Si-Woo Kim (30-1). Before you lock in any bets on the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship or make any PGA Tour predictions, you have to see what proven golf insider Sal Johnson has to say.
The media legend and esteemed golf insider has a strong track record on picks, and he knows what it takes to win on the PGA Tour. He comes off a stellar season where he showed his uncanny knack for gauging momentum and how players fit the courses.
Before the U.S. Open in June, he pegged Jon Rahm among his best bets to win and touted Louis Oosthuizen at 45-1 as his top long-shot candidate. Rahm and Oosthuizen battled to the finish, with Rahm surging to his first major title.
And before the Tokyo Olympics, he had Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama among his top five golfers. Schauffele won the gold medal for Team USA, while the other three made the playoff for bronze.
He also was one of the few experts to say 55-1 long shot Kevin Kisner had a legitimate chance before he got his first stroke-play win in more than four years at the Wyndham Championship. Anyone who has followed Johnson’s advice has cashed in huge.
Now Johnson, the first producer of “Inside the PGA Tour,” a longtime ABC Sports golf producer who worked with Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, and founder of the world’s top golf stats database, has released his highly confident 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship golf picks, and they will surprise you. You can only see Johnson’s PGA Tour picks at SportsLine.
Top 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship golf predictions
Shockingly, the golf expert is fading Garcia, even though he is the defending champ and among the favorites. The former Masters winner has been playing at a high level recently, but he could be in line for a letdown after the Ryder Cup. The Spaniard won his three team matches at Whistling Straits but lost his singles matchup with Bryson DeChambeau 3 and 2. The emotion of the Ryder Cup week can drain the best of players, and Johnson doesn’t see Garcia defending his title in Jackson. The golf expert has several better options who are likely to be overlooked.
On the other hand, Johnson knows Zalatoris is on the brink of winning at any time. The 25-year-old was one of the most talked about players on tour last season as he sought a victory to secure his PGA Tour card. He never got the win but was named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year after a season where he finished second at the Masters and posted eight top-10 finishes. He was seventh in strokes gained approach, ninth in tee-to-green, and hit almost 70 percent of his greens in regulation (17th). He tied for 11th in the Fortinet Championship two weeks ago.
The golf expert also knows Conners has a chance to break out this season after finishing in the top-25 in 19 of his 29 tournaments in 2021. That included five in the last six weeks of the season, when he was T-8 at the Northern Trust and tied for 22nd at both the BMW and Tour Championship in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He has tremendous accuracy off the tee, ranking seventh in that statistic, and was eighth in strokes gained off the tee despite being 110th in driving distance (295.4 yards). He has one victory on the PGA Tour — at the 2019 Valero Texas Open.
How to make 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship golf picks
This week in Jackson, the golf expert is backing a massive long shot who comes in at close to 100-1. This grinder hits a lot of greens, putts well and makes a lot of birdies. Those are all critical traits for a course with small, tricky greens, and this is an event where the scores always go low. This veteran could easily pull off a shocking victory in Mississippi. Anyone who backs this underdog could cash in huge. You can only see this pick and the rest of Johnson’s Sanderson Farms Championship predictions at SportsLine.
Who wins the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship? Where do Will Zalatoris and Corey Conners finish? And which huge long shot is a must-back? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sal Johnson’s full leaderboard, picks and analysis for the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship, all from the insider who knows what it takes to win on the PGA Tour, and find out.
2021 Sanderson Farms Championship odds, field, top contenders (via Caesars)
Will Zalatoris 16-1
Sam Burns 16-1
Sergio Garcia 18-1
Sungjae Im 18-1
Corey Conners 22-1
Si-Woo Kim 30-1
Keegan Bradley 33-1
Harold Varner 33-1
Cameron Tringale 33-1
Cameron Davis 33-1
Mito Pereira 33-1
Charley Hoffman 35-1
Sebastian Munoz 40-1
Kevin Streelman 40-1
Talor Gooch 40-1
Seamus Power 40-1
Gary Woodland 45-1
Patton Kizzire 50-1
Aaron Wise 50-1
Carlos Ortiz 50-1
Emiliano Grillo 50-1
Chez Reavie 50-1
Mackenzie Hughes 55-1
Matthias Schwab 60-1
Taylor Pendrith 60-1
Matthew Wolff 60-1
Scott Stallings 66-1
Doug Ghim 66-1
Zach Johnson 66-1
C.T. Pan 66-1
Patrick Rodgers 66-1
Joel Dahmen 70-1
Joseph Bramlett 70-1
Keith Mitchell 70-1
Chad Ramey 70-1
Brendon Todd 70-1
Taylor Moore 80-1
Lucas Glover 80-1
Lucas Herbert 80-1
Scott Piercy 80-1
Aaron Rai 80-1
Chris Kirk 80-1
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 80-1
Lanto Griffin 90-1
Luke List 90-1
Brendan Steele 100-1
Stephan Jaeger 100-1
Adam Schenk 100-1
Hudson Swafford 100-1
Ryan Armour 100-1
Nick Taylor 100-1
Brandt Snedeker 100-1
Adam Hadwin 100-1
Henrik Norlander 100-1
Bronson Burgoon 100-1
Rory Sabbatini 100-1
Sahith Theegala 100-1
Matt Wallace 100-1
Andrew Putnam 100-1
Brian Stuard 125-1
John Augenstein 125-1
David Lipsky 125-1
Martin Laird 125-1
Kiradech Aphibarnrat 125-1
Adam Svensson 125-1
J.T. Poston 125-1
Greyson Sigg 125-1
Denny McCarthy 125-1
Sepp Straka 125-1
Dylan Frittelli 125-1
Russell Knox 125-1
Tom Hoge 125-1
Doc Redman 125-1
Roger Sloan 125-1
Kevin Tway 150-1
Nick Hardy 150-1
Alex Smalley 150-1
Vincent Whaley 150-1
Robert Streb 150-1
Richy Werenski 150-1
Peter Malnati 150-1
Sung-Hoon Kang 150-1
Dawie Van Der Walt 150-1
Ryan Moore 150-1
Brandon Hagy 150-1
Nate Lashley 150-1
Michael Thompson 150-1
Hayden Buckley 150-1
Brandon Wu 175-1
Jimmy Walker 175-1
Wyndham Clark 175-1
Camilo Villegas 175-1
Kevin Chappell 200-1
Chesson Hadley 200-1
Dylan Wu 200-1
Davis Riley 200-1
Davis Thompson 200-1
Austin Cook 200-1
Matthew NeSmith 200-1
Brice Garnett 200-1
Joshua Creel 200-1
Anirban Lahiri 200-1
Seth Reeves 200-1
Sam Ryder 200-1
Kramer Hickok 200-1
Tyler McCumber 200-1
John Huh 200-1
Lee Hodges 250-1
Trey Mullinax 250-1
Andrew Landry 250-1
Michael Gligic 250-1
David Skinns 250-1
Kurt Kitayama 250-1
Adam Long 250-1
Andy Ogletree 250-1
Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra 250-1
Paul Barjon 300-1
Nick Watney 300-1
Tyler Duncan 300-1
Bill Haas 300-1
Cameron Young 300-1
Andrew Novak 300-1
Scott Gutschewski 300-1
Callum Tarren 300-1
Ben Kohles 350-1
