Monday qualifiers: The RSM Classic

ATLANTA – Money, in certain situations, does matter to the world’s top golfers. When Justin Thomas is at home, playing a game with one of his friends, and $200 is riding on the final putt, well … “That makes me nervous,â€� JT said, “when you have to physically give the money over and you lose to somebody.â€� Or when your mother points out how much money you lost with a double bogey. In 2014, Thomas – then a member on the Korn Ferry Tour — played the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide on a sponsor’s exemption. He doubled the 72nd hole, going from a top-20 finish to T-37. “That cost me,â€� JT told himself at the time. Related: How it works: TOUR Championship | Expert Picks | Tiger: ‘All hell broke loose’ last year The next day, his mother sent him a text, telling him exactly how much it cost him: $42,000. JT’s response? Mom, if you ever send me a text like that again, I will delete your number. Don’t ever text me something like this. JT laughed as he told the story Wednesday while answering questions about the amount of money he and his 29 peers will be playing for this week at the TOUR Championship. It’s slightly more than $200, slightly more than $42,000. To be exact, Sunday’s winner gets the $15 million bonus that goes with the FedExCup trophy. It’s a 50% bump over the previous FedExCup winner’s bonus, and it’s the biggest prize on the PGA TOUR. It’s also among the biggest single-week prizes in sports. Forbes’ annual list of the world’s highest-paid athletes is usually populated by those playing team sports, so their money is spread out over the course of a season. Boxers generally receive the highest single-day paydays; Floyd Mayweather made $275 million for his fight against Conor McGregor, albeit with a guaranteed $100 million before throwing a single punch. This week’s total purse at East Lake is $60 million, so even last place in the 30-man field this week will get $395,000. “Being a player from yesteryear, this is an ungodly amount of money,â€� noted NBC golf analyst Roger Maltbie, who made $2.2 million during his five-win PGA TOUR career. But that’s the way all sports have evolved, and golf – to some degree – still is playing catch-up. Even with the increase in money, the top golfers aren’t yet at the annual levels stars in other sports are making. “If you turn on SportsCenter, you turn on any other shows, you’re looking at football players and baseball players, basketball getting $150 million over four years. So it’s front and center over there, and it’s guaranteed,â€� said Rory McIlroy, the 2016 FedExCup champ. “This isn’t guaranteed for us. You’ve got to play to earn it, so this is a little different. But at the same time, I think it does bring us in line with the other sports.â€� But McIlroy would rather talk legacy, not dollars and cents, when it comes to the FedExCup, now in its 13th year. The FedExCup is a unique honor in that it rewards a combination of regular-season wins and consistency, followed by the three-tournament Playoffs sprint to the title. Money can be spent, but his name on the silver trophy will never disappear. “If the FedExCup wants to create a legacy that lasts longer, it doesn’t need to be about the money,â€� McIlroy said. “It should be about the prestige of winning an event that you’ll be remembered for. … “For me and my competitive spirit, I want to win the FedExCup for a lot of different reasons. Is money one of them? Yeah, look, it would be nice to win on Sunday and be, oh, I’m $15 million richer, whatever it is. But at the same time, I’ll get more satisfaction from winning the golf tournament and playing well. One of the things that I’ve talked about over the past couple of years is I don’t think the money needs to be front and center because I don’t think that’s what the fans care about.â€� Nor is it what the players care about, at least not in the heat of competition. Asked if he would let his mind drift to the $15 million payoff if he was walking toward the 72nd green Sunday with a guaranteed win, Patrick Cantlay still said no. He wants to remain immersed in his shot-by-shot process. “I think you could get caught up in something like that and lose your attention or lose your focus and your intensity, and I don’t think that helps you,â€� said Cantlay, who starts on Thursday in the second-most advantageous position at 8 under, just two strokes behind Thomas, the FedExCup points leader who starts at 10 under in this year’s new format. Defending FedExCup champ Justin Rose acknowledged that playing for last year’s $10 million bonus can “get in your head a little bit. It’s a huge reward, huge pot of gold at the end.” But, said Rose, “I’ve always played to win and also for pride.” Patrick Reed won $1.98 million for winning the Masters in 2018, but the money is secondary compared to simply slipping on the green jacket. He feels the same way toward the FedExCup, even with its much bigger payoff. “We all know, it’s a big number,â€� said Reed, starting the week at 6 under. “But as the end of the day, as competitors, we’re out there trying to get hardware. We’re going out there to try to win a golf tournament. Whatever comes with it is great, but at the end of the day, we’re trying to go win a golf tournament and hold up a trophy because that’s what we’ve always played for. We’ve always played for trophies growing up.â€� Thomas already has won FedExCup trophy. On Sunday, he hopes to join Tiger Woods as the only two-time winners. Like Mclroy, he’s playing for his legacy, not his pocketbook. “If I win the FedExCup this week, it’s not going to change my life,â€� Thomas said. “It’s unbelievable and it’s an extremely substantial amount of money, and how FedEx has stepped up to take care of us players is crazy. It’s unbelievable. I’m sure 10 years ago I never would have thought that was possible, but I’m not going to change the way I live my life if I win. “Money has never driven me. I hope it never will. I play to win trophies and win championships and be the best player to ever the walk the planet – and that’s all I play for.â€�

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The final regular season event of the 2021-2022 PGA TOUR schedule lands at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, for the Wyndham Championship. RELATED: Expert Picks | Power Rankings The final 125 places on the FedExCup Playoffs Eligibility Points List will be determined after 72 holes this weekend. Those qualifying will head to TPC Southwind next week to kick off the FedExCup Playoffs in Memphis. Since this is regular season GRAND FINALE, time to debut the new look of this column. The focus moving forward will be on the players who play the best on this track. Need more details about the course? Read Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings. Need more details about the field and history of the event? Read Adam Stanley’s The First Look. The important statistics you have become accustomed to have not been forgotten. I’ll have another column this week focused on the key stats at Sedgefield. I’ll take a look at the crucial components of going low here and who on TOUR matches up well given their form this season. Also, don’t be afraid to reach out with suggestions/thoughts/ideas as this idea is always evolving! Sedgefield is a perfect course and Wyndham is a perfect event to debut this idea. Since 2008 Greensboro has turned to Donald Ross’ Sedgefield Country Club to host the final event of the PGA TOUR season. Kris Spence spruced the place up in 2007 before the TOUR arrived and the only other major change to the property was removing Bentgrass greens and replacing them with Champion Bermudagrass in 2012. The Par-70 layout features just two par fives and the famous back to front tilt of Donald Ross green complexes. Kevin Kisner won a six-man playoff last season and returns to defend his title. Let’s see if he gets a run in the top five horses for this course. Horses for Courses High Five Webb Simpson (BetMGM odds. Win: +2200, Top 5: +400, Top 10: +190, Top 20: -125, Top 40: -250) The Wake Forest Arnold Palmer Scholarship recipient picked up his first TOUR victory in Greensboro in 2011 and hasn’t looked back. His annually annuity has produced 12 paydays from 13 starts and nine have produced top 10 returns. The streak is currently at five and seven of his last eight visits. Outside of T72 in 2016 and T22 in defense in 2012 every other payday is T11 or better. In 50 rounds his scoring average is a scalding 66.66. Yes, his daughter is named Wyndham for a reason! Si Woo Kim (BetMGM odds. Win: +2500, Top 5: +450, Top 10: +200, Top 20: -125, Top 40: -250) The youngest winner (21) ran away to victory in 2016 on the back of setting the then course record of 60 in the second round. His five-stroke victory announced his arrival on TOUR as did his equaling of the tournament record at the time (-21). I’ll argue he set the course record after the change to Champion Bermuda and he did so by three shots, adding to his impressive totals. Kim was unable to defend his title after some niggling injuries and upon return in 2018 he missed the cut but that’s not surprising for a player ‘defending’ for the first time. He’s now rattled off 50-under par the last three seasons and picked up checks for solo fifth, T3 and P2. In 20 rounds he’s posted 65 or better eight times. Kevin Kisner (BetMGM odds. Win: +4000, Top 5: +750, Top 10: +350, Top 20: +170, Top 40: -150) The defending champion has never missed out on the weekend on his preferred surface of Bermuda at Sedgefield. His lucky number seven last season backed up his T3 from 2020 as he sits 33-under in the last two seasons. Big picture shows us he posted four top five finishes in his last five visits. I’ll point out this streak stretches back to 2014 so he’s not an annual arrival. Muscle memory is on point as 26 of 28 are rounds of par or better and 23 of 28 are in the red, including the last 15. Russell Henley (BetMGM odds. Win: +2200, Top 5: +450, Top 10: +200, Top 20: -125, Top 40: -225) Opened last year with 62 to throw down his marker after closing 63-65 in 2020 for T9. His lead ballooned to four shots at the halfway point and was three after 54 holes. Missing a four-footer at the last and signing for 71 cost him a spot in the six man playoff and resigned him to T7. There’s too many good things over the last two years to let one putt or one round cause any concern. Heck, he posted 12-under in 2019 (T31) to run his three-year total here to 42-under. Billy Horschel (BetMGM odds. Win: +2000, Top 5: +350, Top 10: +165, Top 20: -135, Top 40: -275) The veteran and former FedExCup champ hasn’t played since 2020 when he was runner up with an impressive 20-under 260. He’s now racked up four T11 or better in his last five visits to Sedgefield. Big Billy is also eight of nine in his career when it comes to cashing at the event with a career scoring average of 67.38 from 34 rounds. His last 23 rounds are par or better at Sedgefield at 66.83 and the last 12 of those… well that’s a tasty 65.83! Odds sourced on Tuesday, August 2nd at 2 p.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. Pipped at the Post Sungjae Im has a pair of top 10s and a T24 from three visits and yields a 66.42 scoring average. Denny McCarthy has never MC in four tries and his worst payday is T26. Posts a scoring average of 66.81. Rory Sabbatini returned after T8 in 2013 with T4 in 2017 and hasn’t left again. His last three years here are T10-MC-T6 and has posted a 63 and 64 in those top 10s. Adam Scott returned for the first time since 2015 and posted 64-65 to join the playoff where he finished P2. Harris English hasn’t missed in seven tries and carries a 67.50 on 28 rounds. Veteran Scott Piercy has cashed in his last seven visits. Richy Werenski and CT Pan have never gone home empty handed from four tries. Russell Knox has carried his cut streak to four straight while Tyler Duncan and Mark Hubbard are on three in a row. Other past champions in the field this week include 2020 winner Jim Herman who also has a T11 and T18 to his credit over six starts. The 2019 champion JT Poston, who became the first player since 1971 to WIN a tournament while being bogey free, has MC in three other trips after T50 on debut. Davis Love III became one of the oldest winners on TOUR with his 2015 victory here, his third at the event since his debut in 1986! Camilo Villegas, the 2014 title holder, returned for the first time since 2017 and posted T46 last year. Any winners before the change to Bermuda are NOT included.

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