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Inclement weather stayed at bay as thunderstorms were forecasted for the first-round of the Sanderson Farms Championship. With winds picking up at various points in the afternoon, those in the morning took advantage of the relatively calm conditions and soft golf course.
Sahith Theegala was the man to answer the morning bell. Possessing one of the most decorated collegiate careers, the former standout at Pepperdine made easy work of Country Club of Jackson Thursday morning. Carding eight birdies against 10 pars, Theegala put together a round of 8-under 64 to take the early lead.
A strong effort from tee-to-green, the eventual difference maker for the 23-year-old was the putter. Leading the field in Strokes Gained: Putting, the PGA Tour rookie will look to put an early stamp on his budding, professional career.
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Nearly matching Theegala in the afternoon was Harold Varner III. Starting on the back-nine, the North Carolina native coasted to a 3-under 33 on the easier half at CC of Jackson. Catching fire at the turn, Varner carded four consecutive birdies to begin his back half.
Totaling nine birdies and only a couple of mistakes on the day, Varner constructed a first round of 7-under 65. With six of the last eight winners of this tournament being first-timers, both Theegala and Varner will look to keep the pedal to the metal down in Mississippi.
The oddsmakers at PointsBet Sportsbook have Varner listed as the slight favorite with 54-holes to go. With plenty of golf left to be played, the likes of Corey Conners and Si Woo Kim are hot on his heels on the odds board.
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Updated Odds to Win (Odds Via PointsBet):
+1000: Harold Varner III
+1200: Corey Conners, Si Woo Kim
+1400: Sungjae Im, Sahith Theegla
+1600: Sam Burns
+2500: Sergio Garcia, Will Zalatoris
+2800: Patton Kizzire
+3000: Gary Woodland
+3300: Kevin Streelman, Taylor Moore
+3500: Roger Sloan
+4000: Aaron Wise, Charley Hoffman, Kurt Kitayama, Lucas Glover, Matthew Wolff
+5000: Doug Ghim, Joseph Bramlett, Stephan Jaeger, Taylor Pendrith
Round 2 Plays (Odds Via PointsBet):
Martin Laird (+198) over Cameron Davis and Zach Johnson
Twas a precarious start to Johnson’s Sanderson Farms Championship as the U.S. assistant captain made a triple-bogey on his first hole. Admittingly having not touched his clubs in nearly two weeks, rust was expected for the Iowa native. Eventually battling back to a 1-over 73, if not for a cooperative putter, Johnson’s return to Mississippi could have been much uglier.
Finishing the day 140th out of 144 in SG: Tee-to-Green, Johnson failed to gain strokes in any metric outside of putting. Outside of the top-110 in each tee-to-green statistical category, the 12-time PGA Tour winner relied heavily on his steady putting stroke.
In the same boat as Johnson was the big-hitting Davis. Possessing a nearly identical statistical profile in Round 1, Davis was able to get the better of Johnson by one, carding an even-par 72. With both players struggling, Laird came through in the first-round in this three-ball, something I see carrying over into the second round.
As the Scotsman was the lone player to perform competently from tee-to-green. Courtesy of a strong ball-striking performance – posting +0.98 SG: Off-the-Tee and +1.79 SG: Approach – Laird was able to turn in a round of 3-under 69. If not for a sloppy day on the greens, Laird could have found himself on the first page of the leaderboard.
While the putter is hardly his strength, he has had success on the greens of CC of Jackson before. Expecting a slight uptick with this club, Laird should be able to build on his first-round and card a score in the mid-60’s. With Johnson and Davis out of sorts, a round in that neighborhood should do the trick.
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