Lahiri leads Players by 1 shot, eyes 1st tour win

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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PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Paul Casey drove into Innisbrook and saw his picture on posters and programs, just what he needed to forget the cut he missed last week. He played Friday as though he wants those photos to stay here. Casey holed a 30-foot eagle putt on the 599-yard fifth hole and made short birdie putts on the other three par 5s on his way to a 5-under 66, giving him a share of the lead with Austin Cook among the early starters Friday in the Valspar Championship. No one has ever won back-to-back at the Valspar Championship since it became a PGA TOUR event in 2000. “I’ve never defended a professional event. I would love to do that,” Casey said. “Mentally last year I was hoping I would win, wanting to win. This year, knowing that I have won around here, I have a slightly different approach to it, and I played today quite aggressively and tried to take advantage of the golf course that I knew was going to get very, very tough this afternoon.” Casey and Cook, who shot a 67, were at 6-under 136. Scott Stallings (68) and Sungjae Im (67) were one shot behind, while Dustin Johnson overcame a rough patch early in his round with five birdies on the front nine to salvage a 69. Johnson was two shots behind on a Copperhead course he hasn’t seen in nine years. Joel Dahmen and Sepp Straka, who shared the 18-hole lead at 5 under, were among those playing in the afternoon. Casey last year ended eight years without winning on the PGA TOUR when he closed with a 65 and had to wait to see if Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed could catch him. It was the centerpiece of a resurgence for Casey, a 41-year-old from England who is back among the top 16 in the FedExCup standings.  He opened in the morning calm with a 10-foot birdie putt and did the rest of his damage on the par 5s. The eagle putt followed a blind shot over a hill on the longest hole at Innisbrook. He went bunker-to-bunker on his final hole at No. 9 and made bogey to slip into a tie with Cook. “Everybody is going to make bogeys. If you can just minimize those, it puts you in a good position,” Casey said. He spent the opening two rounds with Johnson, who had to maximize his birdies after his start. Johnson thought he might have had too much club on the par-3 13th and was stunned to learn that it had come up short enough to catch the slope and roll down toward the water, leading to double bogey. On the next hole, a par 5 where he had to lay up from the rough, Johnson had a 104-yard wedge for his third shot that traveled only about 50 yards. There was a reason for that. “As soon as he hit it, he said, `Just don’t go in a divot,'” said Austin Johnson, his brother and caddie. It found a divot. “It was big,” Johnson said, holding his hands about a foot part, which might have been a slight exaggeration. “I mean, it was long. It was deep. It wasn’t … I don’t think it was from a professional.” He managed to get that up-and-down by making a 5-footer to avoid losing another shot. Johnson started the front nine with four birdies in five holes, including one birdie putt from 35 feet on No. 3, and is back in the game. Gary Woodland also played with them and three-putted from 7 feet for double bogey on his last hole for a 71 that was almost certain to miss the cut. Woodland had the longest active cut streak on the PGA TOUR at 22, last going home on the weekend at THE PLAYERS Championship last May. On the other side of the course was 17-year-old Akshay Bhatia in his PGA TOUR debut. Playing on a sponsor exemption, he was at 3 under for the day and even par for the tournament through eight holes until a muffed chip and a missed putt led to double bogey at No. 9 that killed his momentum. Bhatia bogeyed his last two holes for a 72 and finished at 4-over 146 to miss the cut. He plans to turn pro later this year after the Walker Cup if he makes the team. The cheers he heard in some corners of Innisbrook were inspiring, especially behind the 12th green, where the rowdy fans chanted his first name to make it sound like the “Ole” cheer at the Ryder Cup. “It was sick. That was dope,” Bhatia said, adding that he hopes he can hear that at the Ryder Cup “in five, six years down the road.”

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