Sanderson Farms Championship

The Country Club of Jackson opened in 1914. It is a private club with 27 championship holes, 18 of which were re-designed by John Fought in 2008 and measure 7,400 yards (6,800 m) from the championship tees. Fought's layout incorporates classic Donald Ross flavor – parkland style routing with smallish, tricky greens – which range in size from 5,000 to 8,500 square feet (460 to 790 m²).

Known as the Magnolia State Classic from 1968 through 1985 with notable winners including Roger Maltbie, Craig Stadler, and Payne Stewart, the tournament was renamed the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic in 1986. From 1999 to 2006, it was known as the Southern Farm Bureau Classic, from 2007 to 2011 as the Viking Classic, and in 2012 as the True South Classic.

In the past, this tournament was generally played opposite of a major or limited field tournament (officially termed an "alternate event" by the PGA Tour). It later became part of the Fall Series, a group of events held after The Tour Championship, before returning to its former status as an alternate event in 2011. In either case, the leading players in men's professional golf rarely participate. Until 1994, it was played opposite the Masters Tournament and then opposite The Open Championship in the mid-1990s. More recently, it played opposite various World Golf Championships and The Tour Championship. From 2007 to 2010, it generally played opposite the major team events involving PGA Tour players, namely the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. In 2011, it returned to the PGA Tour regular season opposite the British Open in July.

It has been an official money event on the PGA Tour since 1994. Prior to that, it was a satellite event with the money counting but the wins counting as unofficial.

From 2007 to 2010, it was part of the Fall Series. Because the FedEx Cup season championship was already determined by that time, elite players generally passed on Fall Series events; most players in the tournament were trying to either make the Top 125 on the money list and retain their tour cards, or earn a quick two-year exemption by winning. The 2007 event was played in the same week as the Presidents Cup; most of the top Tour players played in that event instead of the Viking Classic. The situation was similar in 2008, with the tournament being scheduled opposite the Ryder Cup. The 2009 purse was due to be $3,700,000, with $666,000 going to the winner. That year's event was also to be the first in the tournament's recent history to be the sole event on the PGA Tour schedule for that week, as it had been moved to the end of October with a scheduled finish on November 1. However, the tournament was canceled on October 31, due to unplayable conditions at the Annandale Golf Club. The event was not rescheduled.[1] The 2010 event was again held opposite the Ryder Cup. This would be the tournament's last fall edition, as it would move into the regular season the following year. In 2013, the title sponsor changed to Sanderson Farms.[2] The tournament was not held in the 2013–14 season because of the new PGA Tour wraparound season; the 2014 tournament, part of the 2014–15 season, moved to late October and was played opposite the WGC-HSBC Champions in China.[3]

As an alternate event, the winner did not receive an invitation to the Masters Tournament, but did earn a trip to the PGA Championship, a two-year PGA Tour exemption, a minimum of 24 OWGR points, and 300 FedEx Cup points.

For the 2019–20 season, the tournament was significantly upgraded. The 2019 tournament will not be an alternate event, but a stand-alone event in September, the second tournament of the season. The changed status means the winner will receive the full benefits of a regular PGA Tour event, with 500 FedEx Cup points and an invitation to The Masters. The prize purse for 2019 is $6.6 million, a 50% increase from 2018, with the winner getting $1,188,000.[4]

Over the years, the Sanderson Farms Championship has been played opposite a number of different tournaments:

Season	Date	Player	Country	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)	Purse ($)
Sanderson Farms Championship
2020–21	Oct 4, 2020	Sergio García	Spain	269	−19	1 stroke	Peter Malnati	1,188,000	6,600,000
2019–20	Sep 22, 2019	Sebastián Muñoz	Colombia	270	−18	Playoff	Im Sung-jae	1,188,000	6,600,000
2018–19	Oct 28, 2018	Cameron Champ	United States	267	−21	4 strokes	Corey Conners	792,000	4,400,000
2017–18	Oct 29, 2017	Ryan Armour	United States	269	−19	5 strokes	Chesson Hadley	774,000	4,300,000
2016–17	Oct 30, 2016	Cody Gribble	United States	268	−20	4 strokes	Chris Kirk Luke List Greg Owen	756,000	4,200,000
2015–16	Nov 9, 2015	Peter Malnati	United States	270	−18	1 stroke	William McGirt David Toms	738,000	4,100,000
2014–15	Nov 9, 2014	Nick Taylor	Canada	272	−16	2 strokes	Jason Bohn Boo Weekley	720,000	4,000,000
2013	Jul 21, 2013	Woody Austin	United States	268	−20	Playoff	Cameron Beckman Daniel Summerhays	540,000	3,000,000
True South Classic
2012	Jul 22, 2012	Scott Stallings	United States	264	−24	2 strokes	Jason Bohn	540,000	3,000,000
Viking Classic
2011	Jul 17, 2011	Chris Kirk	United States	266	−22	1 stroke	George McNeill Tom Pernice Jr.	648,000	3,600,000
2010	Oct 3, 2010	Bill Haas	United States	273	−15	3 strokes	Michael Allen	648,000	3,600,000
2009	Nov 1, 2009	Tournament cancelled[1]						666,000	3,700,000
2008	Sep 21, 2008	Will MacKenzie	United States	269	−19	Playoff	Brian Gay Marc Turnesa	648,000	3,600,000
2007	Sep 30, 2007	Chad Campbell	United States	275	−13	1 stroke	Johnson Wagner	630,000	3,500,000
Southern Farm Bureau Classic
2006	Oct 1, 2006	D. J. Trahan	United States	275	−13	Playoff	Joe Durant	540,000	3,000,000
2005	Nov 6, 2005	Heath Slocum	United States	267	−21	2 strokes	Carl Pettersson Loren Roberts	540,000	3,000,000
2004	Oct 3, 2004	Fred Funk (2)	United States	266	−22	1 stroke	Ryan Palmer	540,000	3,000,000
2003	Oct 5, 2003	John Huston	United States	268	−20	1 stroke	Brenden Pappas	540,000	3,000,000
2002	Nov 3, 2002	Luke Donald	England	201	−15	1 stroke	Deane Pappas	468,000	2,600,000
2001	Nov 4, 2001	Cameron Beckman	United States	269	−19	1 stroke	Chad Campbell	432,000	2,400,000
2000	Nov 5, 2000	Steve Lowery	United States	266	−22	Playoff	Skip Kendall	396,000	2,200,000
1999	Nov 1, 1999	Brian Henninger (2)	United States	202	−14	3 strokes	Chris DiMarco	360,000	2,000,000
Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic
1998	Jul 19, 1998	Fred Funk	United States	270	−18	2 strokes	Paul Goydos Franklin Langham Tim Loustalot	216,000	1,200,000
1997	Jul 20, 1997	Billy Ray Brown	United States	271	−17	1 stroke	Mike Standly	180,000	1,000,000
1996	Jul 21, 1996	Willie Wood	United States	268	−20	1 stroke	Kirk Triplett	180,000	1,000,000
1995	Jul 23, 1995	Ed Dougherty	United States	272	−16	2 strokes	Gil Morgan	126,000	700,000
1994	Jul 17, 1994	Brian Henninger	United States	135	−9	Playoff	Mike Sullivan	126,000	700,000

Prior to becoming an official PGA Tour event

Season	Date	Player	Country	Score	To par	Winner's share ($)	Purse ($)	Ref.
Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic
1993	Apr 11, 1993	Greg Kraft	United States	267	−13	54,000	300,000
1992	Apr 12, 1992	Richard Zokol	Canada	267	−13	54,000	300,000
1991	Apr 14, 1991	Larry Silveira	United States	266	−14	54,000	300,000
1990	Apr 8, 1990	Gene Sauers	United States	268	−12	54,000	300,000
1989	Apr 9, 1989	Jim Booros	United States	199	−11	36,000	200,000
1988	Apr 10, 1988	Frank Conner	United States	267	−13	36,000	200,000
1987	Apr 12, 1987	David Ogrin	United States	267	−13	36,000	200,000
1986	Apr 13, 1986	Dan Halldorson	Canada	263	−17	36,000	200,000
Magnolia State Classic
1985	Apr 15, 1985	Jim Gallagher Jr.	United States	131	−9	27,500	150,000	[5]
1984	Apr 15, 1984	Lance Ten Broeck	United States	201	−9	27,000	150,000	[6]
1983	Apr 11, 1983	Russ Cochran	United States	203	−7	27,000	150,000	[7]
1982	Apr 11, 1982	Payne Stewart	United States	270	−10	13,500	75,000	[8]
1981	Apr 12, 1981	Tom Jones	United States	268	−12	13,500	75,000	[9]
1980	Apr 13, 1980	Roger Maltbie	United States	65	−5	4,500	25,000[10]	[11]
1979	Apr 15, 1979	Bobby Walzel	United States	272	−8	9,000	50,000	[12]
1978	Apr 9, 1978	Craig Stadler	United States	268	−12	7,000	35,000	[13]
1977	Apr 10, 1977	Mike McCullough	United States	269	−11	7,000	35,000	[14]
1976	Apr 11, 1976	Dennis Meyer	United States	271	−9	7,000	35,000	[15][16]
1975	Apr 13, 1975	Bob Wynn	United States	270	−10	7,000	35,000	[17]
1974	Apr 14, 1974	Dwight Nevil (2)	United States	133	−7	3,500	17,500[10]	[18]
1973	Apr 8, 1973	Dwight Nevil	United States	268	−12	7,000	35,000	[19]
1972	Apr 9, 1972	Mike Morley	United States	269	−11	7,000	35,000	[20]
1971	Apr 11, 1971	Roy Pace	United States	270	−10	7,000	35,000	[21]
1970	Apr 12, 1970	Chris Blocker	United States	271	−9	5,000	35,000	[22]
1969	Apr 14, 1969	Larry Mowry	United States	272	−8	5,000	35,000	[23]
1968	May 19, 1968	Mac McLendon	United States	269	−11	2,800	20,000	[24]

Three men have won this tournament twice:

• Dwight Nevil: 1973, 1974
• Brian Henninger: 1994, 1999
• Fred Funk: 1998, 2004

• Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum ("Viking Classic Exhibit")

• Official website
• Coverage on the PGA Tour's official site