The First Look: The RSM Classic

Ryo Ishikawa … Life inside and outside the ropes grew complicated in 2016 for the former wunderkind. Right around the time he got married, he was dealing with lumbar discopathy, so he shut it down for a few months. Still fully exempt on the PGA TOUR at the time, he then prevailed in his second start post-injury. The victory occurred in his native Japan in late August of that year. A T2 and a solo third followed immediately. After returning to the TOUR early in the 2016-17 season, his form didn’t translate and he lost his status despite 20 starts on a medical extension. The veteran of 145 TOUR starts hasn’t played on the circuit since until the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Now 28 years of age, he’s third on the Japan Golf Tour’s money list with two wins among eight top 20s this season. He’s also second in putts per GIR and third in scoring. Nate Lashley … It’s been a remarkable year for the 36-year-old who started last season on a Minor Medical Extension. After securing conditional status with strong play early, he was outside the top 125 in the FedExCup when he broke through at the Rocket Mortgage Classic where he got in as the last man in the 156-man field. He did OK the rest of the way but he’s back to his noise-making ways. He opened this season with a T3 at Greenbrier and just finished T20 at Nine Bridges where he co-led the field in par-5 scoring. Vaughn Taylor … It’s possible that he’s still pinching himself for how the value of one victory, and an unlikely one at that, continues to pay it forward. It was in February of 2016 when he gained entry as the sixth-to-last man in the field of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, via Past Champion status no less, and prevailed for his first PGA TOUR title in 11 years. That not only regained him fully exempt status for the first time since 2012, it’s also granted him time and space to stretch his career. In his age-43 season of 2018-19, he finished 49th in the FedExCup with four top 10s among 20 cuts made. That’s yielded appearances in his first two events in Asia. Although he placed T60 at Nine Bridges last week, he’s a better fit for cozier Narashino CC this week. Kevin Streelman … He’s hung up seven top 15s since February, but with a T4 at the Sanderson Farms Championship and a T12 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES as his only cuts made in his last seven starts, he’s been a tease of late. It’s also possible that his early success this season reflects but a spike with his putter. The flat stick usually is his nemesis, but he ranked third in putts per GIR at Nine Bridges and sits 24th in Strokes Gained: Putting with 10 measured rounds contributing. The 40-year-old also co-led the field in South Korea in par-5 scoring. Shaun Norris … The South African was a long-time regular on his native Sunshine Tour before joining the Japan Golf Tour in 2016. Since, he’s won exactly once in each of the last four seasons on the JGTO, most recently in the first weekend of this month. He also placed T2 in last week’s Japan Open to give him five top 10s in his last six starts. He finished seventh on the circuit’s money list in 2017, second in 2018 and sits fifth in this season’s chase. The 37-year-old also ranks eighth in greens in regulation and seventh in putts per GIR. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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The next iteration of “The Match,” the popular made-for-TV series on Turner Sports, will pit new business partners Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy against friends and Presidents Cup teammates Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas on Dec. 10. The seventh iteration of the exhibition series will start at 6 p.m. under the lights at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, a suburb of St. Petersburg. This will be the third appearance in “The Match” for Woods, who helped launch the concept when he took on Phil Mickelson in 2018. Woods and Peyton Manning defeated Mickelson and Tom Brady in “The Match” in 2020, when the world was reeling from the Covid crisis and fans had few other options when it came to televised live sports. Woods and McIlroy have combined for 105 PGA TOUR victories, 19 majors and five FedExCup titles, and are business partners in TMRW Sports, which is focused on “building technology-focused ventures that feature progressive approaches to sports, media, and entertainment.” In August, they announced a new tech-infused golf league in tandem with the PGA TOUR. Spieth and Thomas have been friends since their junior golf days and are coming off a 4-0-0 performance as teammates at the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow, where the U.S. Team won. Each won once last season, with Thomas picking up his second PGA Championship title. Neither has played in “The Match,” although Thomas was an on-course commentator in 2020. McIlroy got his 23rd and most recent victory at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina last month, part of a banner 2022 that has seen him return to world No. 1. He also won a record third FedExCup title in August despite starting six strokes back and opening with a triple-bogey. Woods, 46, is still recovering from injuries sustained in a car crash in early 2021. In limited action, he made the cut and finished 47th at the Masters Tournament, then made the cut against at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills. Alas, after a third-round 79 he was in too much pain to continue and withdrew. He missed the cut at the Open Championship at St. Andrews. But while it’s been a quiet year, competitively, it’s not over yet. The winner of 82 PGA TOUR titles, including 15 majors, Woods will host the unofficial Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in early December but has not said if he will play. He also could tee it up again with son Charlie at next month’s PNC Championship.

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