Matteo Manassero and Francesco Molinari, who served as vice-captain for Team Europe's victorious Ryder Cup last week, return to the PGA Tour for one of the final events of the year, a particularly important one.
PGA Tour, schedule
The Sanderson Farms Championship (October 2-5) is the second of seven events in the FedExCup Fall series, in which only players ranked 51st and higher in the FedExCup earn points. After the RSM Classic (November 20-23), those finishing 125th or higher will earn a place on the 2026 PGA Tour, but some special playing opportunities will also be awarded. Manassero is currently ranked 154th and Molinari 202nd.
Two other Ryder Cup veterans will compete on the course at The Country Club of Jackson, in Jackson, Mississippi: Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard, one of the twelve Europeans, and Brandt Snedeker, one of the American vice-captains. The field includes Max Homa, Akshay Bhatia, Stephan Jaeger, Cameron Champ (who won in 2018), Patrick Rodgers, Australia's Min Woo Lee, the Philippines' Rico Hoey, Canada's Adam Hadwin, Korea's Tom Kim, Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard (Ramsus's twin brother), South Africa's Thriston Lawrence, and Chile's Cristobal Del Solar, who in 2024 on the Korn Ferry Tour shot a 57 (-13), an all-time record on a par-70 course, at the Astara Golf Championship in Bogota, Colombia.
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Defending his only title is Taiwanese Kevin Yu, a 27-year-old from Taoyuan, ranked 65th in the rankings. He has little chance of repeating his feat and becoming the fourth player to achieve a double in a season with a third- and fourth-place finish, but also has a few too many cuts. Last year, he defeated Beau Hossler in the playoff, who will also be teeing off.
The tournament, now in its 58th year, began in 1969 as the Magnolia Classic, later becoming the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic (1986), the Southern Farm Bureau Classic (1999), and its current name in 2007. In addition to Yu and Champ, there will be four other past winners: Luke List (2023), Ryan Armour (2017), Peter Malnati (2015), and Canadian Mackenzie Hughes (2022). As mentioned, only three Americans have won twice: Dwight Nevil (1973, 1974), Brian Henninger (1994, 1999), and Fred Funk (1998, 2004). The prize pool is $6,000,000, with first-place prize money of $1,080,000.
