ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – A return to Sea Island may be just what Webb Simpson needs after the worst year of his lengthy career. Playing Thursday on one of his favorite TOUR venues, Simpson shot his lowest round since late July, a first-round 67 that was highlighted by a hole-in-one and has him back in a familiar place, contending at The RSM Classic. Simpson used his trusty 4-hyrbird – a club that’s been in his bag for six years – to ace the par-3 third hole at Sea Island’s Plantation Course. It was his fourth hole-in-one on TOUR. “My target was about 15 feet right of the hole there, so I did pull it, but I did hit it good enough to where I knew it would cover on that line,” Simpson said. “And I do love my hybrids.” Simpson was T6, four shots off Cole Hammer’s lead, after making five birdies, an eagle and two bogeys on a cold day in coastal Georgia. He missed just two fairways and hit 13 greens, the fruit of his work with new instructor Cameron McCormick, who also teaches Jordan Spieth and phenom Tom Kim, who’s won twice on TOUR as a 20-year-old. Simpson is coming off his career-worst finish in the FedExCup (116th) and has a missed cut and T52 in his two fall starts. “I really feel that I’m finally on the right track,” Simpson said. “I’m healthy, I feel like what I’m working on is simple for me and I’m starting to have confidence again. I didn’t have that much confidence last year. It’s hard to create confidence out of nothing.” Simpson’s previous ace came at the 2020 WM Phoenix Open, a tournament he went on to win. Another win later that year at the RBC Heritage remains his most recent on TOUR. It was part of a career renaissance that saw Simpson return to the game’s upper echelon after overcoming his well-documented putting struggles. He won THE PLAYERS in 2018 and twice in the 2020 season to crack the top 10 in the world ranking, make four consecutive TOUR Championship appearances and represent the U.S. in consecutive years in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. Sea Island, where Simpson has yet to win after multiple close calls, would be a fitting venue for him to return to the winner’s circle. He has finished in the top 10 in half of his starts in The RSM Classic, including two playoff losses and a third-place finish. His eighth-place finish at last year’s RSM was his lone top-10 of the season. “I learned the game in Wilmington, North Carolina, by the coast and I’ve always loved going to Hilton Head and I’ve always loved going to Sea Island for those reasons,” Simpson said. “I do love both golf courses here. I’d like for it to have been a little warmer, but I do love the wind.” Recently, Simpson has battled the lingering effects of a neck injury and fought some bad habits that crept into his swing after he tried to gain distance. He currently ranks 111th in the world ranking after sitting inside the top 10 as recently as spring 2021. The 2022 campaign was his first on TOUR that he didn’t post multiple top-10s. Simpson cited McCormick’s availability at TOUR events as one reason for the change. They’ve been looking at video from Simpson’s best seasons, in the opening and closing years of the 2010s, to help the self-described feel player get back into similar positions. “I think I’m going to blame myself (because) a couple years there I tried to hit the ball so much farther that I got into a number of bad habits,” Simpson said. “It was hard to see because it happens incrementally over time.” Simpson finished 80th in Strokes Gained: Approach last season, his worst showing since 2010, and was 93rd in Strokes Gained: Putting, ending a run of five consecutive seasons in the top 25 of that metric. He said even though he thought reverting to his older swing could cost him distance, Simpson was willing to make that trade-off. He said the distance gains have persisted, in part because of the strength he added during that process. “Most of this past year I had a two-way miss, where most of my career I’ve had a one-way miss,” Simpson said. “It’s a lot easier to play consistent golf that way. So I mean a day like today, it was a great day but I felt like I left a couple shots out there and that’s what my golf feels like. Whereas last year I feel like if I shot 5 under, it would have probably been I got the most out of it. “I’m optimistic. I feel like — I’m 37, I still have a number of years of good golf in me.”
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