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Debate

Will the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship be a game-changer with these top sponsor exemptions?

The 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship already has some gripping storylines ahead of the showdown. Rickie Fowler returns, and Nick Dunlap will look to go all out to cement his position as the PGA Rookie of the Year title. With vital FedEx points at stake, the lower half of the standings will also be an interesting watch as pros look to secure their eligibility for the 2025 PGA Tour season.

The Country Club of Jackson will be the stage for many, including the likes of players who have gotten sponsor exemption for the event. Let us take a look at the top three players who received the notable invite to the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship.

1 Henrik Norlander

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The Swede turned pro in 2011 and has played in 177 events thus far on the PGA Tour. He is currently ranked 221 in the OWGR. He’s had 7 top-5 finishes in that time. He has finished second three times in his career. He is an experienced campaigner, having played in the 2020 Olympics and the Arnold Palmer Cup three times.

He has had 6 top-25 finishes in the 15 events he has played in 2024, having made the cut 11 times. He is good at scrambling from rough, being placed 4th on the PGA Tour website with a 67.53% field average. He is ranked 5th in sand save percentage, with a 66.38% field average. His SG: Approach to Green is also impressive, with a field average of 0.498, which places him 15th overall.

2 Wesley Bryan

Bryan chose golf over baseball because “it gave the best chance at earning a college scholarship.” Bran is currently ranked 284th on the OWGR rankings, having turned pro in 2012. He won the 2017 RBC Heritage, having joined the PGA in 2016. He has been runner-up once and has 5 top-5 finishes to his name in his tenure on the Tour.

 

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Will the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship be a game-changer with these top sponsor exemptions?

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He has played in 13 events in 2024, with 1 top-10 finish and making it to the weekend just 4 times. He has a YouTube channel called “Bryan Bros Golf,”  where he creates trick-shot videos with his older brother. He comes from a golfing family, with his sister and father also playing competitively. His father was also a PGA professional and runs the George Bryan Golf Academy in South Carolina. His father is very well respected as a golf teacher.

3 Erik Barnes

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The 36-year-old Michigan native turned pro in 2011. He has been interested in golf since he was little, playing nine holes with his family. He is currently ranked 310th in the OWGR rankings and has 2 top-10 finishes in the 37 events he has featured in. He narrowly missed out on his first win in 2024, losing to Brice Garnett in the Puerto Rico Open. He has had 2 top-25 finishes this year and netted a tidy $702,661 in prize money.

So, let us know in the comments who will you be rooting for this weekend. Will it be for Fowler’s winless streak to end or for someone else to lift the trophy and get a prize share of $7.6 million?