A week ago, just one player from the top-50 in the World Golf Rankings teed it up in the Dominican Republic.

This week, there will be four golfers from the top-50 playing in the Sanderson Farms Championship.

First-time winners are commonplace since the PGA Tour moved this event to the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi, with all six champions making this tournament their maiden victory in each of the last six years, including Canadian Nick Taylor.

There are five Canadian hopefuls teeing it up this week including Taylor, who sports +10000 odds to pick up his second victory at this tournament.

The best chance in the eyes of oddsmakers is Corey Conners, who is the 12th choice on the board at +4100 to win outright.

The other three Canadians are all considered long shots and should they win they'd continue the trend of first-time tour winners at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

David Hearn is at +20000, Michael Gligic +25000 and Roger Sloan with +30000 odds to take home the title.

Reigning rookie of the year winner Scottie Scheffler is the betting favourite to emerge victorious at +1000.

Going low is required for victory at this track, with the winning scores varying between 16 under and 21-under par in the six years the tour has come to this venue.

Here is our first look at the field for the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Betting Odds To Win The Sanderson Farms Championship – Top-15

Scottie Scheffler +900

Sungjae Im +1200

Will Zalatoris +1800

Byeong Hun An +2500

Sam Burns +2500

Sebastian Munoz +2800

Zach Johnson +3300

Doc Redman +3300

Brian Harman +3300

Adam Long +3500

Luke List +3500

Corey Conners +4000

Sergio Garcia +4500

Dylan Frittelli +4500

Cameron Davis +4500

Scheffler searching for first trip to the winner's circle

Entering the week as the odds-on favourite to lift the trophy on Sunday is Scottie Scheffler and it’s not hard to figure out why.

The reigning rookie of the year has posted six top-five finishes, including three in the last four times he competed.

Those top-five finishes were at big-time tournaments as well, including the PGA Championship and two playoffs events – The Northern Trust and Tour Championship.

The 24-year-old has recorded six straight top-25 results overall.

 The two times he’s teed it up at this tournament, Scheffler finished T-45th two years ago and T-16th last year.

A big question mark will be his health and energy after testing positive for COVID-19, which caused him to miss the U.S. Open.

He's been off since the Tour Championship, so he hasn't played anywhere in four weeks.

Scheffler should obviously be on your radar this week but as the favourite at +1000, those are pretty short odds for a player who's yet to taste victory on the PGA Tour.

Sungjae Im nearly won this tournament last year

The second favourite on the board is Sungjae Im, the rookie of the year two years ago on tour.

Last year, he came close to notching his first title here, losing in a playoff to Sebastian Munoz.

The PGA Tour’s iron man surprisingly hasn’t been up to his usual standards, posting just one top-10 finish in his last 12 tournaments.

In those events, he uncharacteristically lost shots to the field on the greens in eight of them.

However, he has started to show signs of life with 11th and 22nd-place finishes the last two times he’s teed it up at the Tour Championship and the U.S. Open.

As the highest ranked player in the world at No. 24 overall, Im should be on your radar, in particular because of his runner-up finish here last year.

However, don't be totally surprised if he's not as strong as you'd typically expect out of him given his play since the PGA Tour resumed back in June.

Past Six Winners of Sanderson Farms Championship

2019: Sebastian Munoz -18 (playoff)

2018: Cameron Champ -21

2017: Ryan Armour -19

2016: Cody Gribble -20

2015: Peter Malnati -18

2014: Nick Taylor -16

*All were first time PGA Tour winners

FORE YOUR INFORMATION

Horse For This Course

Carlos Ortiz +6100

At first blush, Carlos Ortiz would not be a golfer you'd normally expect to grace a leaderboard in 2020, considering he has just three top-25 finishes in 17 events this calendar year.

That was fairly surprising because at the end of 2019 Ortiz was a man on a mission, posting three top-4 finishes in five starts, including a runner-up at the Mayakoba Classic.

Included in that fantastic play at the end of 2019 was this very tournament, where Ortiz wound up in a tie for fourth.

The year before that, Ortiz placed third here.

Even though his play in 2020 would normally portend a bad finish, Ortiz clearly loves this track and that makes him an intriguing option at long odds.

Trending Up

Xinjun Zhang +6100

We were high on Xinjun Zhang last week, and through three rounds he did not disappoint.

He closed with a 2-over 74, which dropped him down to a tie for 11th.

However, that’s his fourth top-15 result over his last seven starts.

Sandwiched in between those are three missed cuts.

He's not unfamiliar with posting victories either, albeit on the Korn Ferry circuit, where he won twice last year.

Should either Ortiz or Zhang win, they’ll continue the recent trend of first-time winners at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

After last week’s picks Mackenzie Hughes, James Hahn and Xinjun Zhang came close to winning outright finishing third, tied for sixth and 11th respectively at the Corales Puntacana Championship, I’m hoping for a little better luck with one of the golfers I’ve identified here ready to step up and win the Sanderson Farms Championship outright.