Sleeper Picks: Sanderson Farms Championship

Dylan Frittelli … He’s like the age-old tactic in a job interview when you emphasize the absence of a negative. His greatest strength is that he doesn’t have a glaring weakness, but he doesn’t jump off the page in any category, either. Consistency in the middle of the pack multiplies chances to contend in the event all cylinders are firing at once, so there are worse things. In 10 starts post-hiatus, he recorded a top 10 and another three top 25s before shutting it down until his third consecutive appearance at the Country Club of Jackson. En route to a share of sixth place last year, he led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. He also co-led in par breakers.

Fabián Gómez … The two-time PGA TOUR winner was the first man on the outside looking into the FedExCup Playoff last season. It was made possible late with a T3 at the Barracuda Championship. He finished T41 at Corales on Sunday and should pad his total early this season striding in on the confidence of a 4-for-4 record at the CC of Jackson with top 20s in 2014 and 2019.

Cameron Percy … With the way the Aussie has been playing of late, it’s probably an insult to group him here, but he’s been a rarity on leaderboards throughout his career with just eight top 10s and no wins in 155 PGA TOUR starts. However, he finished T8 at Corales and inside the top 25 in two of his previous three starts. He’s also 4-for-4 with a pair of top 15s at the CC of Jackson since 2015. While he doesn’t comp to Ryan Armour in the context of how each gets the job done inside the ropes, like the 2017 champ who was 41 and winless on TOUR with over 100 starts to his record upon arrival that week, Percy also is a touring professional of a certain age (46).

Bronson Burgoon … Withdrew early from the first two non-majors of 2020-21 so that he could attend the birth of his second child, a girl, on Sept. 17. So, not only is he past the point of high anxiety awaiting the delivery, he’s also rested for six weeks. Now, after his son was born in December of 2018, he didn’t experience the baby bump upon return to competition after that holiday break, but he’s scattered his impressive performances widely over time, anyway. This week’s expectation rests solely in his success at the CC of Jackson where he finished T20 in 2015 and T6 last year, but the simplicity of his life immediately after the recent addition to his family doesn’t hurt.

Davis Riley … With Will Zalatoris in his own lane among Korn Ferry Tour members right now, Riley is part of the leading contingent in the next flight. The 23-year-old out of the University of Alabama has two wins on the KFT in its expanded season, so he would be rewarded with an automatic promotion to PGA TOUR member with a third. In the meantime, and short of victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship, non-member FedExCup points earned this week would contribute to his pursuit of Special Temporary Membership and contribute retroactively should he earn the promotion. (He’ll also get starts in all four additional events on the PGA TOUR during the 2021 portion of the current season.) He descends on his second start in the SFC (T39, 2019) having missed his last three cuts, including the U.S. Open, but he’s a scorer and he ranked third in greens hit here last year.

NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.