Denny McCarthy secures fully exempt PGA TOUR status

The golden road to the TOUR Championship ends the 2018 portion of the 2018-19 season schedule on the Golden Isles of Georgia this week at The RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort on St. Simons Island. Resort life is the calling again this week as the first full-field event of the season will have 156 players trying to capture the eighth trophy of the new season. This is last call before the holidays and the final attempt to book a place at the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui to kick off the new calendar year in early January. The Seaside course will serve as host on the weekend, but everyone will get one chance at Plantation before the field is paired down to the top 70 and ties after Round 2. Austin Cook picked up his first win on TOUR at this event last year and is back to defend his title. The Seaside course has had a hand in all previous eight Classics but it was joined by the 18 holes of Plantation for the 2016 edition. This allowed the field to expand to the maximum of 156 and give the Web.com graduates another crack before the reshuffle after this week. The Seaside track is, relatively speaking, the more difficult of the two while Plantation checks in as one of the least-difficult challenges annually on TOUR. The winning total averages 20-under-par since Plantation was added so there’s no mystery in what will be required AGAIN this week. The lowest of the low will rack up $1.152 million of the $6.4 million prize pool, collect 500 FedExCup points and will book the final place in the field (if not already qualified) at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. TALE OF THE TAPE Last year Cook used just his 14th TOUR start to claim a comfortable four-shot victory in his first attempt at The RSM Classic. That sounds impressive but 2017 champion Mackenzie Hughes won a five-man playoff in just his ninth start in the big leagues! Cook ended up blistering Seaside the first time he saw it to the tune of 62 to tie the 36-hole record. He went one better in Round 3 as he established the new 54-hole mark on 18-under plus matching the largest lead (three shots) after three rounds. The former Monday qualifier du jour for gamers stuck a cherry on top as he cruised home to win by four shots in a blustery final round. He missed tying Kevin Kisner’s tournament record by a shot but his 23 birdies against just two bogeys provided a comfortable maiden victory. Look at those splits above! Hughes needed a playoff plus a Monday finish to vanquish his FOUR opponents who joined him on 17-under after 72 holes. Daylight, not the weather, caused the chilly Monday morning to determine a winner and the Canadian didn’t seem too bothered by the conditions. The first round he played on the Seaside course he popped it for 61 to lead after 18 holes, stressing that previous experience here is a bonus rather than a requirement. As the wind barely blew thru Round 2, 37 bogey-free rounds were accumulated and the cut came in at a whopping 5-under-par. Hughes, and the addition of the breeze, made the proceedings interesting in Round 3 as he took a triple that allowed the field to hang around. Only Henrik Norlander from that group of four returns this year for another crack at the title. The 2016 edition introduced the Plantation course (36 holes) and thereby a full-field event as 156 players would be able to complete play before sunset. South Carolina native Kisner wasted no time blasting the Par-72 Plantation course for 65, a “record” that still stands today. It’s not official because Rounds 1 and 2 both used lift, clean and replace due to wet conditions. The wind blew the first two days but the cut was still 140 (-2) so this isn’t the week to scratch out multiple pars. The gusting winds continued throughout the weekend but Kisner wasn’t fazed. He closed 64-64 to romp to a six-shot victory and picked up his first TOUR victory. He circled 22 birdies and one eagle against only two bogeys as his margin of victory remains the largest in tournament history. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 30-ish in each category last season. * – Finished inside the top 10 since 2010. Scrambling Rank  Golfer  1  *Webb Simpson  5  *Brian Gay  7  *Jim Furyk 13 *Alex Cejka 16 Seamus Power 18 *Chris Kirk 20 Joel Dahmen 23 *Ben Crane 30 *Zach Johnson 32 *Austin Cook 33 *Charles Howell III Par-4 Scoring Rank  Golfer  4  *Webb Simpson 10 *Kevin Streelman 10 *Zach Johnson 15 Joel Dahmen 15 *Chris Kirk 15 Hunter Mahan 27 Aaron Wise 27 *Stewart Cink 27 *C.T. Pan 27 *J.J. Spaun Greens in Regulation Rank  Golfer  2  Sam Ryder  5  *Kevin Streelman  6  *C.T. Pan 16 J.J. Henry 22 Corey Conners 23 *Michael Thompson 27 Tyler Duncan 27 *Charles Howell III 34 *J.J. Spaun 35 Keith Mitchell Birdie-or-Better Percentage Rank  Golfer  8  Ricky Barnes 12 Ollie Schniederjans 13 Brandon Harkins 16 Sam Saunders 22 *Brian Gay 24 Aaron Wise 25 *Rickie Fowler 26 *Tom Hoge 27 Peter Malnati 30 Chesson Hadley Seaside will host three of the four rounds but barely cracks 7,000 yards at 7,005 (Par-70) so the bombers won’t have much of an advantage this week. The wind is always in play here and that’s why the fairways and greens have some girth to them. The Tifdwarf Bermuda greens are the third different putting surface in three weeks but birdies will fly in here just like they did in Las Vegas (Bentgrass) and Mayakoba (Paspalum) as the speeds won’t be anything out of the ordinary. The rough isn’t a factor so scrambling will be required and so will a hot putter. The bunkers and rough off the tee and into the greens will be reserved for the exceptions, not the rules, this week. Seaside resides in the top half of easiest courses on TOUR annually. Plantation has the same grasses and green speeds but adds a pair of Par-5 holes on its 6,907-yard layout. It has ranked inside the top-10 easiest courses on TOUR in the three events it has been used for The RSM Classic. The one chance players will get should see them take advantage of their loop. As we’ve seen at TPC Summerlin and El Camaleon, when scoring is the key, the field opens up greatly. The lack of length on these two tracks won’t decrease that openness this week, either! The cut has been under-par in every event that has required one this fall and that shouldn’t change this week. The last three editions at Sea Island Resort have seen 2-under or BETTER chop the field at the halfway point. Par is about as useful as a belt after Thanksgiving dinner so imagine what bogeys or worse will do to a scorecard! The wind blows on these seaside courses but the scoring the last three years suggests it does not have any major influence on the outcome over the four rounds. Odds and Ends • In the previous eight editions, five winners have picked up their first TOUR victory. • Of the previous four winners, all secured their first TOUR victory. • Five winners had never played the event previously including three of the last four. • There has never been a repeat champion or a multiple winner. • The course record 60 at Seaside was posted by Tommy Gainey in the final round of his victory in 2012. • No current resident has ever finished on top. Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings has added course details and historical values. It’s also who I trust with the weather each week so pay attention!  NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation. These results range from 2010 thru last season.  

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You can never predict a historic round, but Rory McIlroy was dressed for the occasion. His bold fashion belied one of the strengths that allowed him to shatter the course record at the most iconic course in his homeland. His mock turtleneck and pants were white as snow. A pink belt accented the outfit, as did a pink stripe across his back. His hat, a lighter shade of the same color, sat atop curly hair that showed hints of highlights. “The confidence I had, and the cockiness I had at 16, sometimes I think I have to rediscover that a little bit,� McIlroy recent told TheOpen.com. Throughout his career, McIlroy has announced himself with assaults on par. His 61 at Royal Portrush during the 2005 North of Ireland Amateur was the first display of that skill. It was a special round that proved the phenom from Holywood was as good as advertised. He’s gone on to win 16 times on the PGA TOUR, including four majors, this year’s PLAYERS Championship and the 2016 FedExCup. Any adult who’s dealt with disappointment can relate to his yearning for the innocence of youth, though. Returning to Royal Portrush for this week’s Open Championship gives him the opportunity to do that. McIlroy has a sterling recent resume in The Open. He has four consecutive top-5s, including his win in 2014 (he missed his title defense with an injury). His 69.0 scoring average since 2014 is at least a half-stroke lower than anyone else. Lowest score in relation to par at The Open since 2014: Words like “jaw-dropping� and “unreal� were used to describe McIlroy’s incredible round at Portrush. Even the best professionals from Northern Ireland had never come close to matching the precocious 16-year-old’s score. Padraig Harrington had held Portrush’s course record for years with a 65. It had only been lowered by a stroke before McIlroy shot a back-nine 28 during the qualifying rounds for the 2005 North of Ireland Championship. “Whenever I think about Royal Portrush and about links golf and my development, I always think about that round of golf,� McIlroy told TheOpen.com. “There are not many golf rounds where I remember every shot, but for that round I do.� A similar round isn’t likely this week in the final major of the season. Royal Portrush’s Dunluce Links was toughened before hosting its first Open Championship since 1951, with two new holes (the par-5 seventh and par-4 eighth) that required a routing adjustment. Thus, McIlroy will be seeking a new course record to go along with the one he set 14 years earlier. Like many special rounds, the one in 2005 started inauspiciously. He missed a short birdie putt on the first hole. Then he hit a 6-iron onto the green of the second hole and two-putted for birdie. He had to wait four holes for his next birdie, though. He finished the front nine with another two-putt birdie after reaching the par-5 ninth with a wedge, making the turn in 3-under 33. He eagled the 10th and added another birdie at the par-3 11th. People began streaming onto the course to catch a peek at history. Gary McNeil, Royal Portrush’s head pro, was getting updates back in the pro shop. McIlroy’s longtime swing coach, Michael Bannon, thought it was a joke when he received his first report of McIlroy’s magical round. “No one can shoot 61 around Royal Portrush,� he thought. McIlroy, recognizing the magnitude of the putt, fist-pumped when he holed his putt on No. 11, even though he responded sarcastically when he saw a player in the group ahead give a similar reaction on the same hole. After making two consecutive pars, McIlroy birdied the final five holes, including the long, treacherous par-3 known as “Calamity Corner.� He showed his maturity by stepping away from the crowds during a long wait on the 17th tee, using the time to collect his thoughts. He admits he was just trying to two-putt the final hole, but his 20-footer fell for the perfect ending. “It felt normal to me,� McIlroy told TheOpen.com. I had that cockiness and thought this was what I was supposed to do. It is only when time goes on that I realize these things are special and you should savor them. One of his playing partners that day, Stephen Crowe, was particularly taken by McIlroy’s finish. “He didn’t take his foot off the pedal, he didn’t miss a shot the last two holes,� Crowe told NationalClubGolfer.com. “He hit driver and a long iron to the par-5 17th. He always hit it long, even for the size of him; he only put on muscle after he turned pro and he was always aggressive. He wouldn’t shy away from a shot and he had the belief that he was going to pull it off. “The old last was a tough tee shot with lots of bunkers, but he stayed aggressive, found the fairway and hit an 8-iron into the middle of the green and then holed about a 20-footer. “That was the most impressive thing, how he kept things going. Lots of us wouldn’t have had the mindset to shoot that sort of score but he did.� McIlroy has compared that round to his final-round 62 at Quail Hollow in 2010, another unthinkable score that netted him his first PGA TOUR win. Five of his 16 PGA TOUR titles have been won with a final-round score of 65 or lower. He shot a final-round 61 to win this year’s RBC Canadian Open and earned his first FedExCup with a closing 64 at the 2016 TOUR Championship. He’s the only player other than Tiger Woods to win multiple majors by eight or more shots. He won his first major, the 2011 U.S. Open, with the lowest 72-hole score in that championship’s history. His record-setting round at Royal Portrush gave an early glimpse into his uncanny ability to go low. “There was always a feeling in Northern Ireland that we had a very big talent in Holywood, but it was only from age 12, 13 or 14 that we really started to hear about him,� BBC reporter Stephen Watson told TheOpen.com. “He started to break record after record after record, was on TV now and again and so that was how we first heard of him.� Earlier that year, McIlroy had become the youngest winner of the West of Ireland Championship and the Irish Closed Championship. His round at Royal Portrush only raised those expectations. News traveled quickly throughout the tiny town of Portrush. The crowds swelled as word spread. McIlroy’s round occurred two days before the start of the 2005 Open Championship. The golf world was concentrated in St. Andrews, but reports of McIlroy’s round made its way across the Irish Sea. Darren Clarke, who plays out of Portrush, met McIlroy years earlier and gave the prodigy his phone number so he was available for advice. “He was just different� than the typical teenager, Clarke said. When Clarke walked off St. Andrews’ famous 18th green after his practice round, one of the first queries from the assembled press was about McIlroy’s round. It’s not often that a top-20 player gets asked about an amateur, but that illustrates the significance of the score. “We said, ‘Did you hear what Rory did in the North?’� recalls Irish journalist Brian Keogh. “He was taken aback and we were all amazed at such a low score.� Clarke sent a congratulatory text to McIlroy. Graeme McDowell said that round changed his perception of his younger countryman. “You hear about the next great thing. ‘We’ve got this kid, he’s playing at plus-7 (handicap) and blah, blah, blah,’� McDowell said. “Then he shot 61 in the first round of qualifying for the North of Ireland and I’m like, ‘Really? OK. Hold on. Now I have to pay a little more attention to this.’ “That was probably the first time that I realized we had something pretty special on our hands.� Fourteen years later, that 61 remains a touchstone for McIlroy. When he won the RBC Canadian Open last month, he acknowledged feeling the same way as he did in 2005. “It’s almost like you’re out of your own body and looking at yourself play,� he explained. “… If I could bottle that feeling and take it with me week to week, I would. Sort of comes and goes. “Just a matter of being confident with your game and everything sort of falling into place.� Now McIlroy returns home, back to Royal Portrush, hoping it all falls into place again. This time, the stakes – just like the lean teenager who has grown into one of the world’s best golfers – are much bigger.

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Round 3 of the Hero World Challenge takes place Saturday from Albany in The Bahamas. Bryson DeChambeau leads after a second-round 64. Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau and Brooks Koepka trail by one with the field of stars all staying for the weekend. Tiger Woods is the tournament host but will not compete. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action. Leaderboard Tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30 p.m.-5 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (Golf Channel), 1 p.m.-4 p.m. (NBC) MUST READS DeChambeau takes lead Koepka, McIlroy on upswing after two-year lulls Rory switches wedges Morikawa could move to No. 1 with a win Woods says he hopes to play PGA TOUR again

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