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We move to the Atlantic coast in Georgia for the RSM Classic. Formerly The McGladrey Classic, the RSM within player circles is known as the Island Swing Major and is popular with lots of the golfing community who reside (or have a practice base) here on Sea Island or on the adjoining St Simon’s Island – after all, it’s always handy to have a full PGA Tour tournament worth an increased $7,600,000 on your doorstep. Jonathan Byrd, Harris English, Will Gordon, Ben Griffin, Brian Harman, Garrick Higgo, Zach Johnson, Patton Kizzire, Matt Kuchar, Keith Mitchell, Andrew Novak, J.T. Poston, Greyson Sigg and Davis Thompson plus tournament host Davis Love III will be spending a well-deserved tournament week in their own beds.
It’s worth noting, however, that the local knowledge doesn’t stop there as Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner and Nick Watney all regularly use the Sea Island Golf Performance Center. Knowledge of Sea Island resort also stretches to a large number of players who studied and played college golf in Southeastern Conference (SEC) universities. 2024 also sees the field benefit hugely from the likes of defending champion Ludvig Aberg returning from injury, Eric Cole, Austin Eckroat, Lucas Glover, Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, Si Woo Kim, Denny McCarthy, Sepp Straka, Matt Wallace and Gary Woodland boosting the field.
With only the RSM Classic in terms of 2024 PGA Tour events left to play, there are plenty of motivating factors this week such as:
Official World Golf Ranking top 50 spot (invite for the 2025 Masters arriving pre-Christmas for those not already exempt).
AON Next 10 FedExCup Fall Series spot (entry into the big money AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am & Genesis Invitational tournaments early in 2025.)
FedExCup Fall Series top 125 (Full Tour Card playing privileges for 2025 for those not already exempt)
FedExCup Fall Series top 126 – 150 (Conditional Tour Status for 2025 for those not already exempt)
Before we go into the detail surrounding the RSM Classic, we always have new visitors to Golf Betting System. Welcome and let me point you in the direction of our weekly Golf Betting System Podcast (published every Tuesday of the golfing calendar), the Steve Bamford Golf Channel on YouTube and our hugely popular, +6,400 strong, private Group on Facebook – you can Join Here.
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Course Guide: 2015 saw the RSM Classic extend to a 156 player field and a 2 course format. The Plantation Course sits next door to host venue the Seaside Course on St Simon’s Island. 18 holes of action across Thursday and Friday are split across the 2 courses with the Seaside Course hosting the final 36.
The Seaside Course is, as you would expect, a links-type test. Seaside is an original Harry Colt design which in 1998 had a Tom Fazio re-design where the original ‘Marshside’ and ‘Seaside’ sets of 9 later were merged. It’s a true rarity – an American links-style course with man-made sand dunes, ridges and elevation fluctuations. The course is a short, 7,005 yard, Par 70 featuring Bermudagrass fairways and rough (average 2″) as well as pretty grainy TifEagle Bermudagrass greens that will run at close to 12.5 on the Stimpmeter.
Sea Island Resort, Seaside Course, St Simon’s Island, Georgia: Designer: Colt & Allison, 1928, Fazio re-design, 1998; Course Type: Coastal, Mid-Score, Short; Par: 70; Length: 7,005 yards; Holes with Water Hazards In-Play: 13; Acres of Fairway: 25; Fairways Perennial Ryegrass Overseed; Rough: Perennial Ryegrass Overseed, 2″; Greens: 7,200 sq.ft TifEagle Bermudagrass; Stimpmeter: 12.5ft.
Course Scoring Average & PGA Tour Difficulty Rank:
2023: 67.58 (-2.42), Rank 53 of 58 courses
2022: 68.99 (-1.01), Rank 33 of 50 courses
2021: 68.97 (-1.03), Rank 33 of 50 courses
2020: 68.69 (-1.31), Rank 40 of 51 courses
2019: 68.90 (-1.10), Rank of 25 of 41 courses
Sea Island Resort, Plantation Course, St Simon’s Island, Georgia: Designer: Walter Travis, 1926, Rees Jones renovation, 1998, Davis Love III renovation 2019; Course Type: Coastal, Tree-lined, Short, Resort; Par: 72; Length; 7,060 yards; Holes with Water Hazards In-Play: 10; Acres of Fairway: 32; Fairways: Platinum Paspalum; Rough: TifTuf Bermudagrass, 1.5″; Greens: 6,100 sq.ft TifEagle Bermudagrass; Stimpmeter: 11ft – 11.5ft.
Course Scoring Average & PGA Tour Difficulty Rank:
2023: 69.76 (-2.24), Rank 51 of 58 courses
2022: 76 (-2.24), Rank 45 of 50 courses
2021: 69 (-1.31), Rank 36 of 50 courses
2020: 71.34 (-0.66), Rank 25 of 51 courses
2019: 44 (-1.56), Rank of 34 of 41 courses
Fairway Widths (yards): Below are the fairway widths for the Seaside Course and how they compare to recent courses that we’ve seen on Tour:
Seaside Course: 250 yards from the tee: 42 yards wide; 275:40; 300:34; 325:31; 350:23.
El Cardonal: Average 60 yards up to 70 yards wide.
TPC Summerlin: 250 yards from the tee: 35 yards wide; 275:37; 300:33; 325:30; 350:31.
Black Desert: Average 30 yards up to 70-100 yards wide.
CC of Jackson: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:28; 300:29; 325:28; 350:25.
Silverado: 250 yards from the tee: 27 yards wide; 275:26; 300:24; 325:25; 350:24.
TPC Southwind: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:29; 300:28; 325:31; 350:25.
Copperhead: 250 yards from the tee: 24 yards wide; 275:20; 300:21; 325:23 350:19.
TPC Sawgrass: 250 yards from the tee: 31 yards wide; 275:32; 300:30; 325:28 350:20.
Bay Hill: 250 yards from the tee: 32 yards wide; 275:33; 300:33; 325:39 350:29.
PGA National: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:27; 300:25; 325:27 350:25.
Riviera: 250 yards from the tee: 33 yards wide; 275:27; 300:26; 325:26 350:28.
TPC Scottsdale: 250 yards from the tee: 33 yards wide; 275:30; 300:28; 325:27; 350:27.
Pebble Beach: 250 yards from the tee: 33 yards wide; 275:33; 300:29; 325:30 350:26.
Torrey Pines South: 250 yards from the tee: 26 yards wide; 275:27; 300:25; 325:24; 350:23.
Pete Dye Stadium: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:27; 300:26; 325:26; 350:24.
Waialae: 250 yards from the tee: 34 yards wide; 275:32; 300:34; 325:37; 350:34.
Plantation Course: 250 yards from the tee: 59 yards wide; 275:61; 300:65; 325:60; 350:62.
Course Overview: The host Seaside Course is a links-style test, but don’t be fooled – you’d expect a technical challenge, but effectively the main defence of the course, which is barely 7,000 yards in length, is the weather from the Atlantic. Wide fairways and green complexes that average 7,200 sq.ft. make the Seaside Course extremely susceptible to birdie-making for those that can putt well on TifEagle Bermudagrass putting surfaces. The greens themselves are quite a challenge as any putt within 10 feet is testing and difficult to read, especially for those that don’t get on with grainy Bermuda carpet.
The players also get 18 holes on the Plantation Course. Renovated by tournament host Davis Love III, this is more of a parkland course by the sea. Fairways are tree-lined and the course certainly has a classical Carolina feel to it, with players mentioning links to Harbour Town Golf Links. However tidal creeks and lakes are in play across the majority of holes so mistakes prove costly. Plantation boasts expansive fairways and, at 7,060 yards, this Par 72 – which features three reachable par-5s – can (wind allowing) undoubtedly offer up more birdies than Seaside, despite players mentioning that the new Love III inspired green complexes are more difficult, with distinct quadrants and multi-tier layers. 2019 saw it rank the 7th and 15th easiest courses on Tour across 2019 and 2021 respectively, that jumped significantly in 2020 with tougher winds on Thursday/Friday.
The key to the RSM is pounding greens in regulation and strong Bermudagrass putting. The TifEagle Bermudagrass greens are not to every player’s liking and conversion of putts from anything outside of 10 feet is tough. That level of difficulty, when the wind allows, is not shared with Plantation, so low scoring is a must there to contend, especially as it is an incredibly short Par 72 by modern day standards.
RSM Classic Winners: 2023: Ludvig Aberg (-29); 2022: Adam Svensson (-19); 2021: Talor Gooch (-22); 2020: Robert Streb (-19), 2019: Tyler Duncan (-19); 2018: Charles Howell III (-19); 2017: Austin Cook (-21); 2016: Mackenzie Hughes (-17); 2015: Kevin Kisner (-22); 2014: Robert Streb (-14); 2013: Chris Kirk (-14); 2012: Tommy Gainey (-16); 2011: Ben Crane (-16); 2010: Heath Slocum (-14).
2023: Ludvig Aberg 67-64-61-61 -29/253 Plantation/Seaside
2022: Adam Svensson 73-64-62-64 -19/263 Plantation/Seaside
Mackenzie Hughes: MC OHL/68th Shriners/26th Sanderson/13th Safeway.
Kevin Kisner: 2nd HSBC/37th CIMB/25th Shriners/28th Tour Championship.
Robert Streb: 10th Shriners/31st Fry’s/9th Deutsche/MC Barclays.
Chris Kirk: 25th CIMB/36th Shriners/24th BMW/16th Deutsche.
Tournament Stats: We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s event that are well worth a look. Naturally they’ll help to shape a view on players who could go well this week: Current Form | Tournament Form | First Round Leader | Combined Stats.
My published predictor is available here. Top 10 of my published predictor are: Doug Ghim, Maverick McNealy, Harris English, Seamus Power, J.J. Spaun, Andrew Novak, Stewart Cink, Ben Griffin, Nate Lashley and Joel Dahmen.
Our brand new predictor model is running alongside, where you can build your own rankings in live time, using the variables listed on the left hand side.
2023: Thursday: Cloudy with moderate to heavy showers throughout the day. High of 71. Wind NE 12-16 mph, with gusts to 22 mph. Friday: Moderate showers. High of 65. Wind NNE 10-15 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 74. Wind NNW 7-12 mph. Sunday: Mostly sunny. High of 73. Wind NE 8-13 mph, with gusts to 15 mph.
2022: Thursday: Mostly cloudy. High of 55. Wind NW 8-14 mph. Friday: Sunny. High of 57. Wind NNE 6-12 mph, with gusts to 15 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 61. Wind NNE 6-12 mph. Sunday: Cloudy. High of 58. Wind NNE 8-14 mph, with gusts to 18 mph.
2021: Thursday: Mostly cloudy. High of 75. Wind SE 5-10 mph. Friday: Partly cloudy and windy. High of 67. Wind NE 15-20 mph, with gusts to 30 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy and windy. High of 67. Wind NE 15-20 mph, with gusts to 30 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy. High of 69. Wind NE 7-14 mph. Saturday: Sunny. High of 69. Wind N 6-12 mph. Sunday: Sunny. High of 77. Wind SSW 6-12 mph.
2020: Thursday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 68. Wind NE 10-15 mph, with gusts to 20 mph. Friday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 73. Wind NE 10-15 mph, with gusts to 20 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 74. Wind NE 10-15 mph, with gusts to 20 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 73. Wind NE 10-15 mph.
2019: Thursday: Sunny, with a high of 67. Wind ENE 6-12 mph. Friday: Sunny, with a high of 73. Wind SSE 6-12 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 74. Wind S 10-15 mph. Sunday: Sunny. High of 62. Wind W 10-15 mph.
2018: Thursday: Mostly cloudy. High of 58. Wind WNW 10 mph. Friday: Sunny, breezy and cool. High of 59. Wind NW 10-15 mph. Saturday: Sunny. High of 67. Wind NE 5-10 mph. Sunday: Mostly cloudy. High of 71. Wind ENE 5-10 mph.
2017: Thursday: Sunny with a high of 68. Wind NNE 5-10 mph. Friday: Sunny and breezy with a high of 68. Wind ENE 10-15 mph. Saturday: Mostly sunny with a high of 72. Wind S 10-15 mph. Sunday: Sunny, breezy and cooler. High of 68. Wind NW 10-15 mph, gusting to 25 mph.
2016: Thursday: Sunny, with a high of 74. Light, variable wind 4-8 mph. Friday: Sunny, with a high of 74. Wind ESE 4-8 mph. Saturday: Sunny, with a high of 77. Wind WSW 10-20 mph. Sunday: Sunny and cold, with a high of 62. Wind WNW 7-14 mph. Monday: Sunny and cold, with morning temperatures in the lower 40s. Wind WSW 5-7 mph.
2015: Thursday: Cloudy, with bands of rain throughout the day. High of 85 degrees. Wind E 10-20 mph. Friday: Sunny and cool. High of 68 degrees. Wind NE 12-18 mph, gusting to 28 mph. Saturday: Mostly cloudy. High of 71 degrees. Wind ENE 10-15 mph, gusting to 20 mph. Sunday: Mostly cloudy with light showers in the morning and a high of 60 degrees. Wind NNW 10-15 mph, gusting to 20 mph.
Weather Forecast: The latest weather forecast for Sea Island, Georgia is here.
Another week by the Atlantic coast and there are some continuations from what we saw last week in Bermuda. Gusting north-westerly winds of up to 25mph will impact the opening couple of rounds. The weekend looks much calmer, but temperatures look colder than we regularly see here as per 2018 and 2022 editions. 15-17 Celsius or 59-63 Fahrenheit is not the norm on the PGA Tour, so I wouldn’t expect a total birdiefest this week.
Player Strokes Gained Rankings: These top 25 in the field rankings are based on an 8-tournament window that stretches back to the BMW PGA Championship which includes both PGA Tour and DP World Tour events, where recorded. Player rankings are based on performance relative to the rest of the field:
Top 25 SG Total: 1) J.T. Poston; 2) Davis Thompson; 3) Michael Thorbjornsen; 4) Si Woo Kim; 5) Lucas Glover; 6) Gary Woodland; 7) Wesley Bryan; 8) Joe Highsmith / Matt Wallace; 10) Jacob Bridgeman / Nick Watney; 12) Austin Eckroat; 13) Seamus Power; 14) Ben Griffin; 15) Greyson Sigg; 16) Doug Ghim / Andrew Novak / Sam Stevens; 19) Daniel Berger; 20) Eric Cole / Harris English / Sepp Straka; 23) Chris Kirk / Maverick McNealy / Patrick Rodgers / Andrew Putnam.
Trends & Key Factors: Analysing the Strokes Gained Stats of the RSM Classic winners here at the Seaside Course since 2015 gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this desert Par 71:
Strokes Gained Tournament Trends:
2023, Ludvig Aberg (-27). SG Off the Tee: 1st, SG Approach: 14th, SG Around the Green: 12th, SG Tee to Green: 1st, SG Putting: 4th.
2022, Adam Svensson (-19). SG Off the Tee: 10th, SG Approach: 15th, SG Around the Green: 23rd, SG Tee to Green: 4th, SG Putting: 1st.
2021, Talor Gooch (-22). SG Off the Tee: 49th, SG Approach: 2nd, SG Around the Green: 2nd, SG Tee to Green: 3rd, SG Putting: 6th.
2020, Robert Streb (-19). SG Off the Tee: 31st, SG Approach: 36th, SG Around the Green: 27th, SG Tee to Green: 35th, SG Putting: 9th.
2019, Tyler Duncan (-19). SG Off the Tee: 21st, SG Approach: 3rd, SG Around the Green: 38th, SG Tee to Green: 2nd, SG Putting: 14th.
2018, Charles Howell III (-19). SG Off the Tee: 38th, SG Approach: 17th, SG Around the Green: 40th, SG Tee to Green: 19th, SG Putting: 24th.
2017, Austin Cook (-21). SG Off the Tee: 12th, SG Approach: 5th, SG Around the Green: 9th, SG Tee to Green: 1st, SG Putting: 13th.
2016, Mackenzie Hughes (-17). SG Off the Tee: 38th, SG Approach: 61st, SG Around the Green: 1st, SG Tee to Green: 25th, SG Putting: 3rd.
2015, Kevin Kisner (-22). SG Off the Tee: 15th, SG Approach: 2nd, SG Around the Green: 44th, SG Tee to Green: 2nd, SG Putting: 4th.
Strokes Gained Tournament Skill Averages:
SG Off the Tee: 24th, SG Approach: 17th, SG Around the Green: 22nd, SG Tee to Green: 10th, SG Putting: 9th.
Tournament Trends & Key Factors: Analysing the final stats of the winners here since 2015 gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this test:
2023, Ludvig Aberg (-29). 310 yards (2nd), 82.1% fairways (6th), 86.1% greens in regulation (5th), 28’11” proximity to hole (13th), 90.0% scrambling (4th), 1.65 putts per GIR (4th).
2022, Adam Svensson (-19). 277 yards (52nd), 81.1% fairways (5th), 84.7% greens in regulation (4th), 31’0″ proximity to hole (8th), 72.7% scrambling (19th), 1.69 putts per GIR (12th).
2021, Talor Gooch (-22). 298 yards (22nd), 66.1% fairways (52nd), 83.3% greens in regulation (4th), 38’5″ proximity to hole (51st), 83.3 % scrambling (4th), 1.68 putts per GIR (9th).
2020, Robert Streb (-19). 282 yards (51st), 71.4% fairways (36th), 83.3% greens in regulation (7th), 37″10″ proximity to hole (53rd), 83.3 % scrambling (5th), 1.68 putts per GIR (11th).
2019, Tyler Duncan (-19). 280 yards (47th), 89.3% fairways (6th), 83.3% greens in regulation (4th), 24″9″ proximity to hole (1st), 91.7% scrambling (1st), 1.70 putts per GIR (13th).
2018, Charles Howell III (-19). 297 yards (8th), 83.9% fairways (12th), 88.9% greens in regulation (1st), 29″11″ proximity to hole (14th), 50.0% scrambling (70th), 1.69 putts per GIR (19th).
2017, Austin Cook (-21). 288 yards (38th), 85.7% fairways (4th), 83.3% greens in regulation (2nd), 31″10″ proximity to hole (16th), 91.7 % scrambling (1st), 1.68 putts per GIR (11th).
2016, Mackenzie Hughes (-17). 280 yards (57th), 78.6% fairways (11th), 72.2% greens in regulation (50th), 31’1″ proximity to hole (16th), 85.0% scrambling (2nd), 1.62 putts per GIR (1st).
2015, Kevin Kisner (-22). 275 yards (54th), 78.6% fairways (17th), 81.9% greens in regulation (9th), 25’3″ proximity to hole (2nd), 84.6% scrambling (3rd), 1.63 putts per GIR (1st).
Tournament Skill Averages:
Driving Distance: 37th, Driving Accuracy: 17th, Greens in Regulation: 10th, Proximity to Hole: 19th, Scrambling: 12th, Putting Average 9th.
So let’s take a view from players as to how both Seaside and Plantation courses set up and what skills the course favours:
Ludvig Aberg (2023): “I feel like I’ve been striking the ball quite well, which obviously is nice in the wind, which is quite tricky to kind of manoeuvre. I made a few par putts today, I made some 10-footer-ish for par on 1 and then it’s nice to get those momentum putts and to keep the round going a little bit. But there’s no guarantees, but if I keep doing what I’m doing today, I like my chances.
Kind of the first couple three, four holes are not easy, so I stayed patient through those and made a few nice par putts. You get a lot of wedges on the back nine, you get basically all of them, and then 15’s a reachable par 5. I felt like I was striking the ball well. I was hitting the fairways, apart from 14, but other than that I felt I was striking the ball well and kind of took advantage of a little bit easier conditions today.
I got to play the Jones Cup two years ago here in 2021 and fell in love with it. We played a college event here last year, fell in love with it again. I’ve played all these courses around here at Sea Island and absolutely love it. To kind of get my name on that trophy is very, very cool.”
Adam Svensson (2022): “This golf course, you know, Seaside, it’s tough, the greens are fast. This course is all about ball-striking consistency, hitting fairways, hitting greens, giving yourself opportunities, not short siding yourself. I’m definitely getting better at playing away from flags now. Before, I was firing at all the flags. When the putter’s hot, you can shoot low numbers doing that.”
Talor Gooch (2021): “It was what you expect out here. It was comfortable, it was a grind. You know there’s going to be some tough stuff, there’s going to be a lot of uncomfortable shots. Like I said, being here a few times when it’s been like this, you know what to expect. And like you said, growing up in Oklahoma, you just, you feel like you have a little bit of advantage when it comes to the windy conditions.
For me, my creativity is just hitting it this high and hitting it low, not let the wind get it. Honestly, the tee shot on the last, I don’t think people realize not a lot of people have that shot. In fact, who’s caddie, either Sebastian’s or John’s caddie was like, Where’d you grow up, dude? I was like, Oklahoma, we’ve got to learn how to hit that one like that. So a couple like tee shots that were just tricky that I kind of fall back on my upbringing to hit some of those. Not super creative, not like moving a bunch, but that’s kind of the point, not to move a bunch.”
Tom Hoge (2021): “Yesterday you knew you had to make birdies. We were on our third or fourth hole and 7 under was the lead out there yesterday and you look up today and nobody’s really going anywhere, so you knew pars were going to go a long ways. I think just the biggest difference is putting. Out there on the Seaside, very exposed so you have a lot of putts- if you had a left-to-right breaker with the wind going in the opposite direction was very hard to figure out what the putt was going to do exactly because the wind can grab it pretty good with some of those gusts out there.”
Robert Streb (2020): “The key to this victory, it was just the putter. I had some pretty good spats of ball-striking in the middle, but I made some putts early and some good par putts the first round, then made a good chunk of them coming down the stretch that got me to 5 under on a pretty windy day the first round. Made a bunch of putts second and third round. I missed a few today, but overall I would say it’s the best I putted in a long time.”
Webb Simpson – DLIII Renovated Plantation Course: “Yeah, I mean, it’s usually windy here like Hilton Head so you’ve got to keep your ball on the ground. You have plenty of holes that are crosswinds, so that can be challenging. There’s water everywhere, so there are some similarities. But I love the redesign, Davis did a great job. There’s a lot of slope in the greens now, so you can really use those slopes to help you and get the ball in the hole.”
Scott Brown – DLIII Renovated Plantation Course: “Plantation‘s much tougher now with the new greens, I think, than it was before. You just had to get it in the right quadrant. You could get some good looks if you got it in those quadrants with the greens the way they’re tiered, but also, you know, on the other hand, if you’ve got them on the wrong side of them, you’ve got a tough two-putt. So I think it’s a great golf course and they’ve made it a lot tougher.”
Charles Howell III: “Yeah, Seaside, honestly if you shoot under par, you’ve played a good day. If I can shoot anything under par tomorrow, I’ll be happy with it and then you keep moving on from there. Anybody that shot 2, 3, 4 under today at Seaside, I mean, my goodness, what a round of golf it is in this wind, holy cow. Anything under par tomorrow would be great with me. Probably 14 just because, yeah, it was blowing pretty hard there on that hole and that’s a hole where you’re on that tee box, you’ll take a 4 and run, and made a 3 there. It was in off the left and just uncomfortable. But yeah, that hole there, because if you make three 4s there throughout the week, you’re happy. So to make a 3 there, it’s a drive and a 9-iron. The tee was up today because of the wind. But yeah, that one.”
Austin Cook: “I was here all four years at the SEC Championship, so I think it’s three rounds, and then – or the old format, three rounds and a practice round, so 16. Just being able to see the golf course and play it multiple times. I think it really does help the more rounds you get on a track, the more confident you are and comfortable you are on the golf course. It’s playing a little different this week than it does in May or whenever SECs are. It’s a little cooler but the grass isn’t quite the same. We’ve got some overseed this week, but I just think that being able to play it as many times as I have just really helped me out.”
Kevin Kisner: “I’m interested to see what the scores will be tomorrow if the wind blows like they’re forecasting. You know, north wind, neither course is really made to play a north wind. I think that’s probably the hardest wind to play Seaside in. So I’m hoping they move the tees up on that course like they did over here, or maybe it just doesn’t blow at all and we can make a bunch of birdies.”
Kevin Chappell: “Yeah, you know, Plantation course is in great shape, but the backside was tough there early. There were some pucker holes, 10 through 13. And then you can kind of get it. Obviously got me early. I played really well there the last 12 holes, last 13 holes. As we made the turn it got swirling pretty good. I drove it well today. I was in position and was able to take advantage of the soft golf course. Having two courses here brings back the feel of Disney again. It was real lax, but there was a tournament going on.”
Zach Johnson: “What they’ve done is added a lot of sand to the fairways over the last year and it helps with the drainage, helps with the run out and that sort of thing. I played here about a week ago, and we had an inch and a half of rain. That’s a lot of rain. I was getting some plugged lies. I played two days after that and I played nine holes, and it was starting to roll out already. They’ve done some nice things with the fairways. The greens have always been perfect. They’re difficult because they’re undulated and they’re kind of table topped somewhat, but they still hold, so it’s going to be a great test. The rough is brutal.”
Brian Harman: “I struck it nice, got some putts to go in. I think statistically which is one of the hardest plays to putt on Tour. The grain is very difficult to read here. I was pleased to make some 10 to 15 footers, some nice mid range putts and when you feel like you’re rolling it well you don’t have to be quite as aggressive coming into the green, so I was playing a lot of shots to the fat side of the green and just gave myself good looks and was fortunate enough to make a few of them.”
Russell Henley: “The other morning in the pro-am, I was hitting it at least a club shorter, and you know, into the wind, into the cold wind, it was playing almost two, and if you hit a normal shot, it’ll spin back into you, so you gotta hit some half shots, so it’s kind of a weird you almost gotta take two more clubs and hit it three quarter shots just to keep it under the wind, so I’d say I was pulling on average two more clubs in the morning. I don’t know. I just confused myself on that one, too.”
Chris Kirk: “Most important factor here? I’d say driving, generally this is a course I would say it’s not an overly long course, so it tends to favour the shorter, straighter hitter. I’m not a bomber by any means, but a little bit longer than average, I guess, on Tour and have yet to finish inside the Top 100 in driving accuracy in my first three years on Tour.
I definitely rely on hitting some good iron shots from the fairway and not always from the fairway and good scrambling and putting. But this is a golf course that you really need to play from the fairway and thankfully I drove the ball well this week and the rest of my game was really good.”
For the record, here’s the breakdown of Bermudagrass PGA Tour victors in the field since 2008:
4 – Bill Haas, Zach Johnson, Si Woo Kim, Chris Kirk, Camilo Villegas.
3 – Kevin Kisner, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker.
2 – Daniel Berger, Harris English, Lucas Glover, Mackenzie Hughes, Peter Malnati, Webb Simpson, Robert Streb.
1 – Ludvig Aberg, Aaron Baddeley, Wesley Bryan, Cameron Champ, Austin Cook, Tyler Duncan, Austin Eckroat, Tommy Gainey, Cody Gribble, Lanto Griffin, Adam Hadwin, Nick Hardy, Garrick Higgo, Sung Kang, Patton Kizzire, Martin Laird, Luke List, Keith Mitchell, Francesco Molinari, Taylor Moore, Seung-yul Noh, Sean O’Hair, J.T. Poston, Seamus Power, J.J. Spaun, Sepp Straka, Kevin Streelman, Adam Svensson, Brendon Todd, Nick Watney, Gary Woodland, Kevin Yu.
This tournament was formally known as the McGladrey Classic, which in 2010-2012 formed part of the PGA Tour Fall Series with the 2013 renewal being played in November as part of the first wrap-around season structure. Every winner of the tournament has played a PGA Tour tournament post-East Lake. It’s also interesting to see that inaugural McGladrey champion Heath Slocum had captured The Barclays title 13 months previously in 2009. Of all the winners on the Seaside course, nobody has won a full PGA Tour tournament in the calendar year prior to triumphing here.
Tommy Gainey, Robert Streb, Kevin Kisner, Mackenzie Hughes, Austin Cook, Tyler Duncan, Talor Gooch, Adam Svensson and Ludvig Aberg all captured their first main Tour titles here in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024 respectively. Charles Howell III won here in 2018 – that was 11 and a half years after winning at Riviera in 2007. Streb was the first 2-time winner here in 2020.
I covered off many of the resident, Sea Island Golf Performance Center and SEC links at the top of this Preview. Local links are numerous, but a couple of additional themes jump out for this tournament. Three winners – namely Slocum, Kirk and Kisner – resided in the home state of Georgia when winning this title. You can add Charles Howell III to that list as “CHIII” was born in Augusta, Georgia, despite living in Orlando, Florida, when winning this in 2018. He was also a former Sea Island resident. Other winners have hailed from the southern states of the United States, namely Texas (Aberg & Crane), South Carolina (Gainey), North Carolina (Hughes), Arkansas (Cook), Florida (Streb – at the time of his 2013 victory, Duncan & Svensson) and Oklahoma (Gooch). Mackenzie Hughes, Austin Cook and Aberg were all PGA Tour rookies.
With his PGA Tour Signature Event schedule already set for 2025 thanks to a FedEx Cup top 50 spot, Si Woo can take the momentum of a strong President’s Cup performance forward and capture an OWGR top 50 position and earn himself a Masters invite to close this year. A fast-finishing 6th at the ZOZO Championship at Narashino, only Kurt Kitayama matched the South Korean’s -12/128 weekend total in Japan.
Form here at Sea Island is modest but 18th on course debut (2015) and 3 rounds in the 60s here 12 months ago, when rusty and unmotivated, are good enough indicators for me. The real positive is the South Korean’s prestigious ability on short, Bermudagrass golf courses. All 4 of his PGA Tour victories have been on Bermuda across Sedgefield (2016), TPC Sawgrass (2017) PGA West (2021) and by the Pacific coast at Waialae (2023).
4th in this field across my 8-tournament Strokes Gained Current Form tracker, Si Woo will be looking to close 2024 in style.
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I’ll stick with Ben Griffin for a second consecutive week.
After last week’s 8th place finish he’s up to 56th in the FedExCup Fall Series (or 6th in the AON Next 10) so he’s sewn up playing in next year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational. Next focus now has to be his maiden PGA Tour event and where better to do it than at his home Sea Island course.
Bermudagrass is by far his favourite surface and he thrives on short golf courses, so these “Island Tour” events are perfect for the World Number 70. 29th (2022) and 8th (2023) here across his couple of appearances as a PGA Tour professional, I was mightily impressed with Griffin last week where he ranked 7th for Greens in Regulation.
Short courses are where Griffin comes to the party and where better to break his PGA Tour duck than on Sea Island.
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Taylor Moore 1pt EW 60/1 (8EW, 1/5) with William Hill
University of Arkansas graduate Taylor Moore has been showing signs of a return to form of late.
2024 has seen Moore finish 2nd at the Houston Open supported by top-12 finishes at the PGA Championship (12th), Rocket Mortgage Classic (10th) and 3M Open (12th) prior to the Fall Series. Outside of the FedEx Cup top 50, the Edmond, Oklahoma resident has played plenty of Fall Series events with 29th at TPC Summerlin and 11th at Narashino, highlighting improvement in form prior to a MC at El Cardonal – Paspalum has never been a good surface for Taylor.
Instead Taylor has always been hugely Bermudagrass positive. His single PGA Tour victory was at Copperhead in 2022. Around that 4th (2022) and 4th (2023) at TPC Louisiana with team-mate Matt NeSmith; 2nd (2024) at Memorial Park; 5th (2022) at Sedgefield; 5th (2022) at TPC Southwind; plus 8th (2021) here at Sea Island – Moore who has grown up in the Southern United States simply prefers Bermudagrass.
At 67th in the FedExCup Fall Series List, the AON Next 10 is still within reach motivation-wise, and Moore’s University of Arkansas background also provides him with Southeastern Conference (SEC) experience here on the Seaside Course as an amateur. 6th (2015) and 5th (2016) individually here on the Seaside Course, Moore has been driving and putting brilliantly of late and should arrive here with enthusiasm.
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Chandler Philips 1pt EW 80/1 (8EW, 1/5) with William Hill
Chandler Phillips interests me this week at a tournament where the scoring is likely to be a little higher than the PGA Tour Fall Series norm.
I tipped him up as recently as the Black Desert Championship and soon realised that tournaments where eagles and birdies are the premium aren’t really the Texan’s speciality. Philips is more of a plodder who gravitates closer to the top of leaderboards on tougher tracks – Copperhead (3rd), Colonial (12th), Hamilton (10th) and Silverado (13th) are courses in 2024 that have put up a decent level of resistance. So with wind forecast at +20mph over the opening 36 holes, I’m suspecting that may suit Chandler this week.
A Texas A&M University product, Chandler has had masses of Southeastern Conference (SEC) experience here on the Seaside Course as an amateur. 5th (2016), 3rd (2017), 10th (2018) and 6th (2019) highlight an incredible liking for this golf course. Plus his Korn Ferry Tour win last year came by the coast at the Great Exuma Classic in the Bahamas.
33rd (ZOZO) and 20th (WWT) over his past 2 outings he’s free-wheeling and confident arriving in Georgia, so I’m hoping for a strong outing at decent each-way odds.
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Garrick Higgo 1pt EW 200/1 (8EW, 1/5) with Betfred
Garrick Higgo finds himself in a better spot than when I tipped him up at the Sanderson Farms Championship in early October. Back then he was 144th in the FedExCup Fall Series List and his Tour exemption for winning the 2021 Palmetto Championship was exhausted. Quite simply he was staring at playing either the Korn Ferry Tour or the DP World Tour next season. Since the MC when I was on board things improved with 54th at Shriners Children’s Open, 6th at the Worldwide Technology Championship and 17th last week in Bermuda seeing Higgo up to a safe 135th in the FedExCup Fall Series List.
The South African, who uses Sea Island as a training base, has secured Partial Status for 2025. But as we have learnt with the 25 year-old in the past, he loves playing golf by the coast and has won multiple titles in the past. 3 DP World Tour victories came on the Portuguese coast plus the Spanish islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Add to that a PGA Tour victory at the 2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree which is a faux-links style course in South Carolina featuring Bermudagrass greens.
Now consistently hitting fairways and greens and growing in confidence, Higgo has a chance this week of grabbing a top 125 spot in the FedEx Cup Fall Series List, or at a tournament where shocks happen regularly, adding a second PGA Tour title to his CV this week at Sea Island.
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