After a wild Ryder Cup, the Europeans are flexing their muscles as the Americans are licking their wounds, but now it’s time for PGA TOUR membership to get back to biting its nails in the FedExCup Fall.

The Sanderson Farms Championship resumes the series in Jackson, Mississippi. It’s the second stop of the last seven to determine status in 2026. A field of 132 is assembled at The Country Club of Jackson. A reminder of where we are in the season, a brief history of the tournament, what’s different on the course and more are detailed below.

Every opportunity to perform is of the nth degree at this time of the season. For those on and under the top-100 bubble of the FedExCup standings, it likely feels even more important given that there are only two opens across this six-week stretch.

The Procore Championship launched the FedExCup Fall in mid-September and next week’s Baycurrent Classic is a limited-field invitational, and it’s followed by another dark week. The season will end with a busier cadence of four full-field contests in five weeks, but the objective is to get the heavy lifting out of the way now, not only to check the most important box but to eliminate another anxious waiting period before sliding the belt back on.

Because of the value of playing time right now, it probably wouldn’t matter to most who gain entry into the Sanderson Farms if they were forced to tackle a host course that they never have, but that is not a worry.

The Country Club of Jackson is in its 12th spin as the stage for the tournament. It’s a stock par 72 that has tipped at 7,461 yards since 2020. Not unlike Silverado Resort’s North Course that hosts the Procore, the par 5s on The Country Club of Jackson have some teeth relative to the other pars on the course. And yet, last year’s scoring average for the Sanderson Farms was a tournament-low 69.416. Kevin Yu’s 72-hole aggregate of 23-under 265 is also a record. Beau Hossler matched in regulation before succumbing in a playoff. In fact, each of the last three editions of the tournament has needed overtime to determine the champion.

Scoring is all but guaranteed to threaten last year’s. The tallest rough is up one-quarter of an inch to two-and-three-quarters inches, but it’s not as lush due to a dry summer, so that favors the field in theory because hitting fairways hasn’t been as critical as other courses despite its stingy yield overall. Its fairway-hit clip of 51.57 percent last year was second-lowest in tournament history and third-lowest among all courses in 2024.

Furthermore, while the Bermudagrass greens could race out to 13½ feet as measured by a Stimpmeter (reflective of an additional half-inch more than the historical norm at the Country Club of Jackson), this is the last time that the surfaces will be utilized. With a large project planned to revamp them in the coming months, they’ll need to be governed for similar play in the interim. With so much on the line for the competitors, the absence of surprise is paramount.

So, what you have here is a classic shootout that requires hitting greens that are average in size and converting the putts, especially on the par 5s.

Mother Nature will cooperate, albeit with a wrinkle. Primarily sunny skies will allow daytime temperatures to rise into the mid to upper 80s throughout, but winds will be pushing from easterly directions. That’s essentially opposite the prevailing, so any freshening could confuse returning competitors with club selection at times.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton previews and recaps every tournament. Refer to the timing of his contributions below. He’s also active as @RobBoltonGolf on X where you can connect with him.

• MONDAY: Power Rankings
• TUESDAY*: Sleepers; Top 100 Watch
• SUNDAY: Golfbet Recap; Qualifiers