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Why is Rickie Fowler ending his PGA Tour hiatus to kick off his October in Mississippi?

It’s the quest for vital FedEx Cup points that the new fall schedule introduced last year has created. Fowler last played at the Open Championship in July. Having failed to qualify for the playoffs, he took an extended break to be at home in Florida with his wife and their newborn child.

Now Fowler is kicking off his fall schedule that will include at least two more events as he pursues status into next year’s signature and other marquee events. He’s in Jackson, Miss., for this week’s Sanderson Farm Championship along with a field chock full of players desperate to improve their status for 2025.

Our golf experts preview the event that begins Thursday at The Country Club of Jackson, and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.

SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP
Location: Jackson, Miss., Sept. 30-Oct. 6
Course: The Country Club of Jackson (Par 72, 7,461 Yards)
Purse: $7.6M (Winner: $1.368M)
Defending Champion: Luke List
FedEx Cup Champion: Scottie Scheffler

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday: 4-7 p.m.; Friday: 4-7:30 p.m.; Saturday: 4-7 p.m.; Sunday: 3:30-6:30 p.m. (All Times Golf Channel)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m. ET; Friday: 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
X: @ Sanderson_Champ

PROP PICKS
–Mackenzie Hughes to Beat Maverick McNealy (-110 at DraftKings): Hughes is coming off losing his Sunday singles match to Max Homa at the Presidents Cup, but he and fellow Canadian Corey Conners did dominate 6&5 in the Friday Foursomes. Oh, and Hughes won this event just two years ago. McNealy missed the cut at the Procore — the third time he has failed to make the weekend in his past six starts.

–Davis Riley Top 20 Finish (+400 at BetRivers): Riley comes in as a darkhorse despite being a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., less than two hours away. He hasn’t played since the Wyndham Championship, narrowly missing out on a playoff spot, and doesn’t have a top-30 finish since winning the Charles Schwab Challenge in May. But the two-time tour winner is among the most accomplished players in the field.

–Patrick Fishburn to Beat Eric Cole (-140 at DraftKings): Cole is the reigning Rookie of the Year, but he’s the +110 underdog in the matchup. He also enters coming off a missed cut at the Procore, where Fishburn finished solo third. That marked the 36-year-old PGA Tour rookie’s third top-10 in his past four starts, which included a missed cut at the Wyndham.

2024 Prop Picks Record: 45-51-1

BEST BETS
–Nick Dunlap (+2000 at DraftKings) is the only two-time winner 2024 in this week’s field. He is already exempt for next year’s signature events. Dunlap is the biggest liability this week at BetMGM, where he leads the field with 13.5 percent of the money backing him to win while his odds have shortened from +2800 to +2500.
–Seamus Power (+2500) is coming off a T26 at the Irish Open after a T10 in the first leg of the playoffs.
–Mackenzie Hughes (+2800) won the event two years ago and competed in last week’s Presidents Cup.
–Harris English (+5000) missed the cut at the Procore after qualifying for the first leg of the playoffs. The five-time PGA Tour winner is seeking his first title since 2021.
–Davis Riley (+9000) missed qualifying for the playoffs by two spots and won this year’s Charles Schwab Challenge.

NOTES
–This is the second of eight events on the FedEx Cup Fall schedule, which finalizes the top 125 players who will retain exempt status for 2025. Nos. 126-150 after the fall will retain conditional status. Players who finished Nos. 51-70 in the FedEx Cup have secured their tour cards, but are competing for spots in the first two signature events after the season-opening The Sentry.
–Korn Ferry points leader Matt McCarty will make his PGA Tour debut as a member, status he earned for the remainder of the season by winning three events.
–Fowler tees it up for the first time since finishing 71st at The 152nd Open. He is 110th in the FedEx Cup Fall, and also plans to play in the Shriners Children’s Open and the Zozo Championship after failing to qualify for the playoffs.
–List is attempting to become the first person to successfully defend at the Sanderson while joining Fred Funk (1998, 2004) and Brian Henninger (1994, 1999) as two-time winners.

–Field Level Media