Sanderson Farms Championship 2014: Tee Times, Dates, TV Schedule, Prize Money
Some of the marquee names in the golf world may be at the HSBC Champions event in China, but there are 300 FedEx Cup points up for grabs in Mississippi’s only PGA Tour event of the season: the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship.
The event, which takes place from Thursday, Nov. 6 to Sunday, Nov. 9 at the Country Club of Jackson, represents an opportunity for a solid field to make an early move in the standings. Of course, the $4 million purse with a winning share of $720,000 will serve as a motivating factor as well.
Television coverage of every round will be available on Thursday-Sunday from 2-5 p.m. ET on the Golf Channel, with radio coverage available from 12 p.m.-5 p.m. on PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM and PGATour.com.
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Tee times were not set as of this writing, but they will be available closer to the start of play on Thursday on the tournament’s main page, PGATour.com, and the Sanderson Farms Championship’s website.
The top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings will not participate because of the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions event, but defending champion Woody Austin is back to defend his crown.
Austin actually became the oldest PGA Tour winner since 2007 when he won the 2013 Sanderson Farms Classic, and he did so in a three-man playoff with a clutch birdie on the first additional hole. Austin’s consistency jumps out entering this tournament considering he placed in sixth or better in six of his first seven starts on his Champions Tour rookie campaign.
Elsewhere, Ben Martin is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 57 and will be joined in Mississippi by notable names, such as Padraig Harrington, Nick Watney, John Daly, Robert Streb, Lee Janzen and David Duval.
Streb won the McGladrey Classic and tied for 10th place in the Shriners Open. He has as much momentum entering the Sanderson Farms Championship as anyone in the field. With the top-notch golfers participating in the HSBC Champions, Streb has a golden opportunity to pick up some early FedEx Cup points and make a move if he finds a way to win.
Considering this is Mississippi’s only PGA Tour event, the course layout and how it plays will be interesting subplots to follow during the tournament. Cameron Beckman, who won the tournament in 2001, commented on the course, via David Kenney of Mississippi News Now (via WNEM.com): "These greens are as pure as you can get. They're real fast and nice. The golf course is really nice, great shape. It's a nice switch. Sometimes it's nice to switch courses and play something different. Of course I like Annandale, but this is really nice."
One hole in particular that could ultimately determine the outcome of this tournament is No. 16. It seems like every golf course on the PGA Tour has a defining hole, and the one in the Country Club of Jackson happens to come right near the end of the course.
Fergus Bisset of Golf Courier discussed how important that hole will be during the tournament:
"16th – A very demanding par-4 of 469 yards. Swamp waits all down the left side of the hole and it cuts in across the fairway some 80 yards short of the green. The safe tee shot is played to the right side of the fairway but this will leave a long shot in. The approach is just as testing as the drive – water waits left and a large bunker guards the putting surface to the right. A par here is a very good score.
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It will be up to Streb, defending champion Austin and the rest of the players in this deeper-than-advertised field to manage hole No. 16 and the remainder of the Jackson course if they want to make some noise in the FedEx Cup standings while the top 50 is elsewhere.
This is an excellent opportunity.
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