The 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship will take place Sept. 16-22. The total purse is $4.4 million to $6.6 millions. The money isn’t the main deal. The main deal is that Mississippi’s lone tournament will be an “unencumbered” event. This means that there will be no other PGA Tour tournament on these days. The Sanderson Farms Championship is its own event. There is no competition. This is huge. The Sanderson Farms Championship winner will automatically be invited to The Masters. This is a huge honor. The local tournament was held opposite the World Golf Classic in Shanghai, China, last year. There were 50 of the top-ranked players around the globe. It was the place where almost all of golf’s top-ranked players spent that week. The CCJ-based tournament will be second to nothing in September. Tiger Woods may not be required to play, but he could. Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, and others might also be interested. We’ll see. Let’s take a look at two fall tournaments with similar purses as the $6.6million that will be offered. Kevin Tway won in Napa against Fred Couples, Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker, the Safeway Open. Bryson de Chambeau won in Las Vegas the Shriners Hospital event against a field that included Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar, as well as Tony Finau. The Mississippi’s PGA Tour tournament was billed as an event where future stars can be seen. The Sanderson Farms Championship will bring in some of the stars today. The Sanderson Farms tournament will be the second on the 2019-20 PGA Tour schedule. It will take place one week after Greenbrier (W.Va.). Classic tees will be offered throughout the season. Joe Sanderson, CEO of Sanderson Farms in Laurel, said that this was our goal since 2013 when we became the title sponsor. Andy Pazder (PGA Tour chief of competitions & tournaments officer) was present at CCJ to witness Tuesday’s announcement. Sanderson’s professionalism and persistence are the reasons Jackson’s tournament is now a stand-alone event. Pazder was asked why he made the decision to make the move. He joked that he got tired of answering Joe calls. “Joe Sanderson, tournament sponsor, is what the PGA Tour dreams of,” Pazder stated. Sanderson is adamant about pursuing an “unencumbered status” since he signed a 10-year contract with the PGA Tour in 2016. Sanderson stated that “this was the logical step.” “Now we want to improve our players’ experience, our patrons and out sponsors, everyone.” The new status means that more money will be needed to fund the extra purse. Sanderson believes that the new status will allow for a better field of players. He stated that both pro-ams must be sold out and that there is no way to have another, a third. We’ll need more sponsors and more chalets. More fans. “I just have to believe that we can get a good amount of Top 50 players all that will occur.” Sanderson stated that he hopes that eventually the tournament will be moved to October dates and cooler weather. He said, “One step at time.” He said, “Today was an enormous, huge step.”