Sergio Garcia, of Spain, will defend his Sanderson Farms Championship title against a field with several former major champs. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

In just its third year as a standalone PGA Tour event, Mississippi’s Sanderson Farms Championship apparently has hit the big-time, attracting a mix of established world champions and up-and-coming pro golfers.

Major champions Webb Simpson (2012 U.S. Open), Gary Woodland (2019 U.S. Open), Zach Johnson (2007 Masters, 2015 Open championship), Jimmy Walker (2016 PGA Championship), Lucas Glover (2009 U.S. Open) will join defending champion and 2017 Masters champ Sergio Garcia in the field for Mississippi’s lone PGA Tour event Sept. 27-Oct. 3 at County Club of Jackson.

Also expected to compete is 2021 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Will Zalatoris, who finished last season with eight top top 10 finishes, including runner-up at The Masters.

Several other notable “names” have indicated they will play at CCJ, including 2011 FedExCup champ Brandt Snedeker, 2017 Players champ Si Woo Kim and 2019 U.S. Amateur champion Andy Ogletree, the Mississipian who was low amateur at the 2020 Masters.

Past Sanderson champs in the field also include Sebastion Munoz (2019), Ryan Armour (2017), Cody Gribble (2016), Peter Malnati (2015), Nick Taylor (2014), Scott Stallings (2012), Chris Kirk (2011) and Bill Haas (2010). Haas won the 2011 Fed ExCup.

Ogletree will likely be one of five Mississippians in the field, joining LSU freshman Cohen Trolio (State Am champion from West Point) and Davis Riley (Hattiesburg), Hayden Buckley (Tupelo) and Chad Ramey (Fulton), recent graduates of the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour.

2010 U.S. Amateur champion Andy Ogletree of Little Rock has a sponsor’s exemption into the Sanderson Farms Championship. Credit: USGA/Chris Keane

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Rick Cleveland, a native of Hattiesburg and resident of Jackson, has been Mississippi Today’s sports columnist since 2016. A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor’s in journalism, Rick has worked for the Monroe (La.) News Star World, Jackson Daily News and Clarion Ledger. He was sports editor of Hattiesburg American, executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. His work as a syndicated columnist and celebrated sports writer has appeared in numerous magazines, periodicals and newspapers.
Rick has been recognized 13 times as Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year, and is recipient of multiple awards and honors for his reporting and writing.