Sanderson Farms out as PGA Tour sponsor of Mississippi event

Wayne Sanderson Farms’ run as a full partner with Jackson, Mississippi, and its PGA tournament has been a historic one.

However, the 2024 Sanderson Farm Championship will be the 12th and last for the company as the title sponsor of the Jackson PGA Tour stop.

While its contract runs through 2026, the company has decided to move on as the title sponsor, but remain as a major sponsor for the tournament, which is held at the Country Club of Jackson. No financial details were released as part of the announcement.

“Wayne-Sanderson Farms is going to continue to partner with us in the near future to help our charitable efforts for Mississippi charities,” said Steve Jent, the executive director of the Sanderson Farms Championship. “There is a natural evolution on the PGA Tour of title sponsors. This has been an awesome 12-year run.”

PGA Tour official Mark Stevens told the Clarion Ledger that the average time for a Tour tournament sponsor is 13 years. Stevens said that, for the moment, the PGA Tour is leaving all public comments to Wayne-Sanderson Farms and local officials.

Since becoming title sponsor in 2013, the Sanderson Farms Championship has raised more than $17 million for charity including Children’s of Mississippi and other Mississippi-based causes.

“Wayne-Sanderson Farms is proud to be the title sponsor of the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson,” Clint Rivers, Wayne-Sanderson Farms President and CEO said in a statement to the Clarion Ledger. “Although this year’s event is our final year as title sponsor, Wayne-Sanderson Farms remains committed to supporting Children’s of Mississippi and other local charities through continued partnership with Century Club Charities and the PGA Tour. “We’re honored to support the championship and its impact on Mississippi families, and we’re excited to continue our involvement with this great event.”

Mississippi has been a PGA stop since 1968 when the tournament was known as the Magnolia Classic and was played in Hattiesburg. The tournament has had several names and sponsors over the years, including the Deposit Guaranty Classic from 1986–1998, the Farm Bureau Classic from 1999–2006 and the Viking Classic from 2007–2011. In 2012, it was called the True South Classic because it didn’t have a title sponsor. Sanderson Farms has sponsored the tournament since 2013.

Sanderson Farms also spearheaded to the move from Annandale Golf Course in Madison to the Country…