DeChambeau-Rodgers to tee it up vs. Phil-Brady

Like a putt that gives into the gravitational forces of Raes Creek, it's an annual tradition for the PGA TOUR to tumble toward the Atlantic Coast after the Masters, only this year's migration has a different destination. Since 1983 and with the exception of 2011, golfers who competed in the major and didn't opt for rest packed up their things and headed to Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage, which they again will do in April of 2021, but for the first time, the Golden Isles of Georgia were punched into the GPS for the 11th edition of The RSM Classic. Sea Island Resort also hosts a much different event. For the details, a review of the co-hosts and more, scroll past the projected contenders. RELATED: The First Look | Inside the Field POWER RANKINGS: THE RSM CLASSIC Jason Day, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Brendon Todd, Tommy Fleetwood and Joaquin Niemann will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday's Fantasy Insider. Unlike its neighbor north of the South Carolina-Georgia line, The RSM Classic is a full-field open with the maximum 156-man field. It's possible at this latitude at this time of year because every golfer will play the Seaside Course and the Plantation Course once each before the 36-hole cut. When the low 65 and ties are determined, only Seaside will be utilized for the third and final rounds. Arriving at an apples-to-apples assessment of the leaderboard requires patience on multiple-course events, but it's especially relevant at Sea Island because Seaside is a par 70 (tipping at 7,005 yards) and Plantation is a par 72 (capable of stretching to just 7,060 yards). Last year, in relation to par after the opening round, a 5-under 67 on Plantation positioned seven golfers at T5, whereas a 3-under 67 on Seaside slotted another seven at T31. Plantation also scores easier in relation to par, so taking advantage is valuable. In the debut of its redesign in 2019, it averaged 70.439 (or 1.561 strokes under par). Seaside checked in at 68.899 (or 1.101 strokes under par). Capitalizing on Plantation's four par 5s is de facto strategy, but as a group, they flashed some teeth thanks in part to length added on Nos. 4 and 18. At an average of 4.69, they were the hardest they've played since the course in all five editions as part of the rotation. Because coastal sites are most susceptive to wind, greens usually roll slower than at, say, an inland parkland track. However, Seaside is prepped to roll out to 12-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter, while the putting surfaces at Plantation will be governed to 11 feet. None of the 36 TifEagle bermudagrass greens are overseeded. Fairways on both courses are overseeded, but only the rough and areas around the greens at Seaside are treated similarly. The longest primary rough on either course is just an inch and a half, but there is no intermediate rough on Plantation. Breezes are forecast to be stronger early in the tournament, but the first two days will be similar, thus retaining an even, 36-hole playing field as everyone cycles through each course. Rain can't be ruled out, but delays aren't expected. After a daytime high in the upper 60s on Thursday, temperatures will rise into the 70s for the remainder. En route to his breakthrough title here last year, Tyler Duncan crafted a bogey-free, 9-under 61 in the second round on Seaside. He then authored one of the strangest days in the history of any PGA TOUR winner. Despite hitting 16 greens in regulation on Seaside in the third round, he settled for 18 pars and a 70. The positive spin is that he was bogey-free until penciling in a 5 on the par-4 first hole in his final round. It was his only step backward all week. He outlasted Webb Simpson with a birdie on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. For the week, Duncan missed only six (of 56) fairways and 12 greens in regulation. He led the field in par-3 scoring and scrambling. He also paced it in proximity to the hole. Since ShotLink is used only on the Seaside Course, shot-level measurements reflect only 54 holes for all golfers who survive the cut and complete the tournament. For greater detail on how Duncan's route to victory compares other recent winners, and for all relevant course history, read Mike Glasscott's Horses for Courses on Tuesday. ROB BOLTON'S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM's Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM's Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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Editor's note: Pat Perez, who earned the first of his three PGA TOUR titles at the 2009 American Express, details his friendship with Michael Jordan in this first-person diary. Back when I was in junior high, everyone wanted the Jumpman IV's but there was no chance we could afford a new pair of Jordans back in the day. A guy I knew had thrown a pair of old ones out at school. I saw them in the can, grabbed them out, tried them on—perfect fit. I brought them home, cleaned them up and officially had my first pair of Jordans; the iconic white and cement-gray combo everyone wanted. RELATED: Perez’s Air Jordan obsession To go from that moment three decades ago, to having a wall of shoes and Michael Jordan's number in my phone—it never gets old and will never be taken for granted. MJ reached out to congratulate me after I won the CIMB Classic in Malaysia in 2017 and having won twice in the calendar year, at 41 years old after a major shoulder surgery, I just went all-in—never knowing if I'd get the chance again. He said to let him know if I ever needed anything, so I immediately asked for some shoes. The floodgates opened and within a year, I was a part of the Jordan team. I actually met MJ through a mutual friend some years back and would see him in passing, but going to Monaco with the other brand ambassadors a few summers ago was where things went next level. Just being in that setting with all those guys and getting some one-on-one time with #23, it was surreal. I try not to bother him much, but to be able to text with him and for him to actually respond right away, my younger self would never believe me if I went back in time and explained everything that's happened these past few years. That trip to Monaco was as one-in-a-lifetime as it gets; just sitting out on the deck, smoking cigars and sipping tequila with the legend, every aspect of that trip and experience was just mind-blowing. Even better is the fact MJ couldn't be nicer, cooler and welcoming. Sometimes you meet your heroes and it's a letdown. This has been the complete opposite. I started collecting Jordans once I got on the PGA TOUR and could actually afford to do so, especially when places like Flight Club started popping up and the secondary-market became a thing, making it easier to track down older models which I was really into. Out the gate, I started by collecting the ones MJ made famous during his playing days and it just grew from there. It really is an insane hobby if you stop and think about it, and we've literally had to renovate my office a second time now to make more space for the shoes. It's a beautiful sea of Jordans in there. I haven't done an official count recently but there's probably well over 1,000 pairs of Jordans at this point and it keeps growing as the Jumpman crew keeps sending more and more gear through my association with them. I can barely keep up. Every time that delivery truck is barreling up the street, I'm like a kid at Christmas. Even cooler is the fact my wife, Ashley is so supportive of this hobby. She thinks it's the coolest thing ever, the fact I went from being a kid who grabbed a pair of shoes out of the trash to now being a brand ambassador for Jordan and acquaintances with the icon whose name is on the shoe. We watched "The Last Dance" series together recently and I think it really helped her understand just how globally massive MJ and his brand truly are. One of my special pair I have is the Jordan IV “Wahlburgers” which mean a lot to me. Mark Wahlberg (actor) surprised me with the Wahlburgers shoe a couple years back when I was in Los Angeles for The Genesis Invitational. He invited us over for dinner and dropped those on me which was mind-blowing as those are super rare. I've also gotten my hands on all the Travis Scott shoes which I really dig as the retro "Flu Game" shoes released a few years back. Nothing means more than the Cement IV golf shoes the team made for me, though. Talk about a full circle moment; my first beat-up pair now in a custom golf shoe and there are only two pairs in the world. I still can't get over it. People have asked how the Cement IV golf shoes came to be and it's crazy how nonchalant the entire experience went down. I was sitting next to Mike and playing poker in Monaco when he went outside for a cigar and invited me to grab my tequila and to come with. The 11 had just come out and I'd mentioned how great that would look in a golf shoe, while reiterating my love for the IV, to which he said, "Well then just make the IV." I asked what he meant and it told me to just talk to Gentry (Humphrey; VP Jordan Footwear) and to "get it done". I couldn't track Gentry down fast enough and before I knew it, the ball was in motion and within weeks two pairs of Cement IV golf shoes were sent to the house. It's literally that easy when you a legend's blessing and he green lights it with the guy behind the guy. I've also got a cool relationship with Bill Murray (actor, comedian). Getting to know Bill over the years was definitely surreal. I first met him back in 2003 and he busted my balls about my finish at Pebble Beach the year before and things just sort of grew from there. We'd see each other over the years, but around 2015 when things were getting off the ground with William Murray Golf, he invited me on board and I've been with the brand ever since. It's a natural fit as I love all the gear, as well as the Murray brothers' attempts to make golf more laid-back, fun and accessible. As close as we've gotten through the brand, it's still a trip when you're playing with him at Pebble, standing in the middle of a fairway and you realize you're paired up with Carl Spackler, "Big Ern" McCracken or Dr. Peter Venkman. It really makes you appreciate how crazy this whole ride has been the past couple of decades. Never saw this day coming when I was dumper-diving for a pair of used kicks.

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ATLANTA — Scottie Scheffler returned to East Lake on Sunday morning looking every bit like the No. 1 player, pulling away with four birdies in six holes to complete the third round with a 4-under 66 that gave him a six-shot lead in the TOUR Championship. Scheffler was delivering a steady diet of pars that put him in a tight battle with Xander Schauffele until a second stoppage due to lightning in the area Saturday. At the time, he was one shot ahead. And then he was gone. Scheffler holed birdie putts from about 5 feet on the 13th and 15th holes. He stuffed his approach to 2 feet on the 17th and then made a superb escape from the left rough over the water that left him a long pitch he nearly holed on the par-5 18th. He tapped in to reach 23-under par. That left him one round away from the $18 million prize for winning the FedExCup. Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes for a 63 and will be in the final group with Scheffler. He was at 17 under along with Schauffele, who also had good looks for birdie and didn’t make any of them Sunday morning. Defending champion Patrick Cantlay (66) and Sungjae Im (66) were seven shots behind. Scheffler is the No. 1 seed in the FedExCup and was rewarded with a two-shot lead at 10-under par before the tournament started. He is 13 under for his raw score, which is tied for McIlroy for the best this week. McIlroy, however, was the No. 7 seed and began six shots behind. Schauffele missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole when they resumed the round. He sent his next tee shot so far to the right that he had to hit a provisional in case it was out-of-bounds. He found it, but wound up missing a 10-foot par putt to fall three behind. And then on the par-3 15th, Scheffler hit his tee shot to 5 feet to a front left pin over the water. Schauffele also hit a good one to 10 feet and missed again. Scheffler already has won four times this year, including the Masters, to reach No. 1 in the world and is considered a shoo-in for PGA TOUR player of the year. He won just over $14 million in the regular season — already a record, and not surprising given the steady rise in prize money. He won a $4 million bonus from the “Comcast Business Tour Top 10” for leading the FedExCup in the regular season, along with a $1 million bonus for winning the Aon Risk-Reward Challenge. A victory Sunday afternoon would equate to a $37 million year for the 26-year-old Texas grad.

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