Sergio Garcia aims to defend his most recent PGA Tour title when the Sanderson Farms Championship tees off this week at the Country Club of Jackson. The Spaniard won by one stroke last season in Mississippi, and he is the only player from last week's Ryder Cup scheduled to tee it up this week. He will compete with the likes of PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Will Zalatoris, 22-year-old former NCAA champion Matthew Wolff and some other seasoned veterans. The 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship field also includes a handful of lesser-known major champions, including Zach Johnson, Keegan Bradley and Jimmy Walker.
Zalatoris is listed as the 16-1 co-favorite along with Sam Burns in Caesars Sportsbook's latest 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship golf odds. Other golfers in the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship field that oddsmakers expected to be in contention include Sungjae Im (18-1), Garcia (20-1) and Corey Conners (22-1). 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 flip side, Johnson is looking for Zalatoris to soon get the victory that eluded him last season. He played the year on a special exemption and became the first non-PGA Tour member in 20 years to win Rookie of the Year. He had 14 top-25 finishes in 25 events, with eight in the top 10. He was runner-up at the Masters and was in the top-10 at the PGA Championship and the 2020 U.S. Open. He ranked 17th in greens in regulation (69.54 percent) in 2021 and hit almost 82 percent as he finished T-11 in the season-opening Fortinet Championship.
The golf expert also is expecting Conners to have a strong season after closing out 2021 with a strong run in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He tied for 22nd at the BMW and Tour Championship after a T-8 at the Northern Trust, and he had 19 top-25 finishes in 29 events last season. His precision (seventh in driving accuracy, 13th greens in regulation) will be a big benefit in Jackson, and he finished second there in 2019 and T-17 last season. The 29-year-old, who won the Valero Texas Open in 2019 for his lone tour victory, was 19th in scoring average (70.067).
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