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Champ grouped with Haas, Armour at Sanderson

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Cameron Champ will be joined by a pair of former tournament winners when he defends a PGA Tour title for the first time at this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship.

Champ broke through last year in just the second start of his rookie season, winning by four shots over Corey Conners. He has returned to the Country Club of Jackson (Miss.) this week and will play the first two rounds alongside Bill Haas and Ryan Armour. Haas earned the second of six career Tour wins at this event back in 2010, while Armour got his first victory here two years ago at age 41.

Joaquin Niemann will make his first start as a PGA Tour winner this week in Mississippi, just days after he cruised to victory at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. The 20-year-old Chilean will be joined by fellow international Tour winners Dylan Frittelli and Si Woo Kim. Frittelli earned his first career win in July at the John Deere Classic, while Kim has two Tour wins including The Players in 2017.

Conners will hope to do one place better this year as he headlines a grouping of players who all recorded their first career Tour victories this year. Conners went from Monday qualifier to the winner’s circle at the Valero Texas Open in April, while Adam Long notched his first win at the Desert Classic in January and J.T. Poston broke through at the Wyndham Championship in August.

Rounding out the groupings that will be available Thursday and Friday on PGA Tour Live are three veterans, including former FedExCup champ Brandt Snedeker. Snedeker is making his first start since a T-23 finish at the Tour Championship, and he’ll play the first two rounds alongside major winners Zach Johnson and Stewart Cink. Johnson missed the cut last week at The Greenbrier after failing to advance to the playoffs for the first time in his career, while Cink is making his first start since the Korn Ferry Finals.

Full-field tee times are expected to be released Tuesday afternoon. With the event previously played opposite a high-profile Tour event, most recently the WGC-HSBC Champions, the winner of this week’s Sanderson Farms will earn a Masters invite for the first time in the FedExCup era.