Live leaderboard: Rocket Mortgage Classic

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This week’s RBC Heritage slots familiarly immediately following the Masters where Scottie Scheffler prevailed for the first time in a major. For the 42 who competed at Augusta National and are committed at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina (as of Monday afternoon), the tournament promises that – hang on one sec … checks field to confirm that Scheffler isn’t playing –someone else will win. Notwithstanding Scheffler’s historic surge, the tournament also is known for its heaters. In its first 53 editions dating back to 1969 – all contested at Harbour Town – there have been 10 golfers who have won it multiple times. Davis Love III headlines the club with five titles, while Hale Irwin and this year’s defending champion, Stewart Cink, have won thrice. Twelve former RBC Heritage champions are among the 132 in the field this week, including all of the last nine. Continue reading beneath the ranking of projected contenders for how Harbour Town tests, which boxes Cink checked en route to victory, what’s new this year and more. RELATED: How Team Format Works | Play Pick ‘Em Live | The First Look | Inside the Field POWER RANKINGS: RBC HERITAGE OTHERS CONSIDERED Joaquin Niemann & Mito Pereira Will Zalatoris & Davis Riley Adam Hadwin & Adam Svensson Matthew NeSmith & Taylor Moore Sahith Theegala & Beau Hossler The Zurich Classic of New Orleans does not contribute to PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, so Draws and Fades on Tuesday will be abridged Eighty two-man teams have gathered at TPC Louisiana for the largest field on the PGA TOUR. All will follow the same format in every round. Four-ball will be used for scoring in the opening round. Foursomes will be utilized for the second round. When two rounds are complete, the low 33 teams and ties will survive the cut and repeat the sequence of scoring for the third and final rounds, respectively. Both members of the winning team will be credited with an official PGA TOUR victory and both will receive exemptions into next month’s PGA Championship as well as the 2023 editions of the Sentry Tournament of Championship and THE PLAYERS. Each also will have his membership extended through at least the 2023-24 season. The distribution of FedExCup points and earnings will treat the final results as if an individual competition occurred. For example, instead of rewarding 500 FedExCup points to the winner and 300 to a solo runner-up, the winning team will split 800 points evenly. Prize money will be calculated similarly. What isn’t in play is an impact on the Official World Golf Ranking. From that standpoint, divisors will not increase. That’s important for those who monitor their values like a stock portfolio in real time. Unlike last year’s reveal of new fairways and greens at TPC Louisiana, nothing has changed since last year’s edition of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Well, no modifications were planned, that is. The impact of Hurricane Ida’s pass last August has required a few hundred trees to be planted as well as significant attention paid to the bunkers that were damaged. For the fifth spin as a team competition, overseeded TifEagle bermuda greens are governed to 12 feet on the Stimpmeter. With the absence of overseed and sluggish growth of the only layer of rough (up to two inches), guys who can move it off the tee on the 7,425-yard stock par 72 will be encouraged regardless of the round. As is the case in every shootout, particularly this team competition that’s yielded winners of 20-under and lower in the first four stagings, the primary objective will be to pile up scoring opportunities. The targets at TPC Louisiana can be tricky what with their segments and undulations. Considering the promise of persistent winds throughout the tournament, including gusts exceeding 20 mph, strategy in foursomes could be a gamechanger. Daytime highs in the 80s is forecast. Rain is not a threat. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY: Sleepers, Draws and Fades WEDNESDAY: Pick ’Em Preview SUNDAY: Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Rookie Ranking

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Michael Thompson loves to read, and for that, he surely has his mother to thank. She was an English teacher, and he was losing himself in the wonder of books long before he ever wrapped his fingers around the grip of a golf club. Even now, as he travels around the world making his living on the PGA TOUR, he always has at least one book in his suitcase to help him get his mind off golf. A bound book with words on paper, too – no Kindles or iPads for him. “No, I like the actual physical book,” Thompson says. “I like turning pages. I don’t like staring at a screen for very long, so I try to travel with the actual book.” Among Thompson’s go-to authors is Clive Cussler. He especially likes the Dirk Pitt series, which he started reading again earlier this year. Pitt is the larger-than-life adventurer and decorated aviator featured in Cussler’s novels from 1976 to 2019. It probably doesn’t hurt that Pitt’s character has a collection of classic cars, either. Thompson shares that interest with the protagonist — and Cussler the author, as well — and even taught himself how to rebuild a 1967 Ford Mustang fastback, as well as other special rides. One of Thompson’s favorite books of all time is Where the Red Fern Grows. He was an Eagle Scout, and the plot, which centers on a young boy in the Ozarks and his two redbone coonhounds, resonates with him, as does Jack London’s classic,The Call of the Wild. “I just love the story of being in the woods and a little boy growing up with his dogs and kind of the struggle of life as a kid and hunting and teaching your dog how to do the things you want to do,” he says. “And I always loved being outdoors. I was in the Boy Scouts growing up, so anything kind of mountain-to-cabin just was kind of real romantic to me.” Historical fiction is another of Thompson’s interests, along with biographies and autobiographies. The two-time PGA TOUR winner is also very process-oriented – remember the rebuilt Ford Mustang? – so he enjoys books that help with setting and accomplishing goals. “I like reading those as well because they’re encouraging and just motivating,” Thompson says. Lately, though, Thompson has found himself imparting his love of reading to the next generation. His mom has helped, too, sending some of the books she once read to Thompson to her grandson Jace and granddaughter Laurel. “I have two little kids now, so she’s been going through the closet at home and finding all the children’s books that we used to read and, and she’s given me a bunch of them,” Thompson says. “They have the date of one when we got them either Christmas or birthday gifts. “… It’s just cool to go back and see actually see the physical book and remember like how old I was when I first remember reading it and being read those books. It’s just cool.” Jace likes the Berenstain Bears and Dr. Seuss. But like most little boys, he’s also into lizards and snakes so there’s an amphibian encyclopedia that’s high on his reading list right now, too. And the precocious youngster also has a book that’s teaching him about weather. “He’s always asking, Daddy, let’s read it. Can you read this to me?” Thompson says, smiling broadly. “He’s got his favorite ones like there was one that was the green pit viper. He’s just all into snakes right now. … And then he likes reading about the haboobs and weather patterns, the big dust storms. “It’s fun to see him kind of latch onto some of that. And remember the facts and the statistics with regards to all of the characteristics of the different animals and that kind of thing.” Laurel, on the other hand, is a toddler, so her attention span is limited. “She’ll sit there for a little bit, but then she wants to run around and play,” Thompson says with a laugh. “But she’ll get into it.” And when Laurel does, Thompson and his wife Rachel will be ready. “It’s the fun part of being a parent,” he says.

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