Sanderson Farms Championship tips: Eric Cole shaping up for maiden USPGA Tour success

The tournament’s regular home is Jackson Country Club in Mississippi, a par 72 and 7,461 yards in length, this is a fairly bland course with a lack of penal rough. 

Its wide and sparsely tree-lined fairways are punctuated by five water hazards, protecting raised greens that are fast and true with run off areas lying in wait for errant approach shots. 

A relatively weak field sees European Ryder Cup hero Ludvig Aberg installed as the early 11/1 market leader, which is half the odds of the second-favourite.

That seems a bold statement for a youngster arriving fresh from his first Ryder Cup in Rome, and although the boy wonder might surprise us, it's hard to see much value at that price.

A much tastier proposition is Eric Cole, who sits alongside the equally capable Emiliano Grillo (twice a tour winner) at 22/1. 

Cole was the number one rookie during the recently completed season on tour, but is still awaiting his maiden win. His solid all-round game hits all the right marks in terms of metrics, and in this field that lacks many of the Tour’s A-list players, this represents a great chance for him to get off the mark. 

Joining those two at 22/1 we find the very promising German Stephan Jaeger. He has some good finishes on tour to his name already and will be much favoured this week. 

Others to consider:

Canadian Adam Svensson is a winner on tour, in good recent form and Bermuda grass is his preferred surface to play on, so the 33/1 available look solid enough for each-way purposes. 

Englishman Callum Tarren hits the ball a long way, and was seventh last timeout at the Fortinet Championship. He is often there or thereabouts and if on his game this week the 50/1 may prove good value.

Also perched on that tempting 50/1 mark is Davis Riley, who calls this tournament his hometown event and chalks this one up on his calendar each year. 

Riley has played this course many times, dating back to his college days, and that has to give him an edge over many similar-priced players.

At 60/1 Kevin Yu is a former college golf star who is making some impact on the main tour, and will be looking to progress further in 23-24. This might be his starting point.

Ashkay Bhatia is cut from the same cloth as Yu, but has already won on tour in his early years on the big stage. Both golfers look to be stars of the future, and 50/1 for Bhatia must look appetising for punters this week.

At bigger odds two previous tour winners catch the eye, but have slipped off the grid somewhat recently. 

Scott Stallings was on top form twelve months ago, but is now 80/1 in a weakened field, while multi-tournament winner Kevin Kisner is now a whopping 275/1 this week. How the mighty can fall quickly!

Selection summary:

• Eric Cole, 3 points each-way 
• Davis Riley, 2 points each-way
• Kevin Kisner, 0.5 points each-way

All prices provided by Planet Sport Bet were correct at the time of writing but could be subject to change.