The PGA Tour is likely to ban the controversial green-reading books before the start of next season, Golfweek has learned.
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Will his Tiger’s remaining sponsors—Nike, Rolex, Bridgestone and TaylorMade—drop him after his weekend DUI?
The PGA TOUR travels stateside for this week’s tournament, The RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia. The first two days of the tournament at Sea Island Resort will have a split field on both the Plantation course and the Seaside course. After Friday’s cut, the remainder of the tournament will be played on the Seaside course, which measures just over 7,000 yards, will play as a par 70 and be putt on Bermuda greens. The tree-lined Plantation course, which is more inland, will play as a par 72 and measure a little over 7,000 yards as well. RELATED: Course, field preview: The RSM Classic | Power Rankings | Expert Picks Last season, Seaside played as the 16th easiest course in scoring relative to par, and the Plantation course ranked as the 12th easiest. Both sit fairly close to the coast and can be subject to windy conditions, which happened during the second round of last year’s tournament. Average Friday scores on both courses totaled 71.02. Similar to last week, golfers shouldn’t have a hard time padding their fairway and greens hit in regulation stats, both are well over the TOUR average. Seaside registered an average of 71% fairways hit in regulation and 74% in greens in regulation. We should be focusing on the Seaside course this week with the majority of rounds being played there, and par 4 scoring should be at the top of our list when considering who to roster. If you want to dive deeper, par 4 scoring on holes between 400 to 450 yards will be even more important with eight holes on Seaside measuring within this distance range. We also should be looking at golfers who do well with their wedges, as 20% of all approach shots came from 125 to 150 yards. Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green will be the most important statistic to prioritize when building our lineups; golfers who’ve finished inside the top five gained more than twice the amount with their irons as they did in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. We’ll keep the trend going with focusing on par 5 scoring and driving accuracy again this week. TOP VALUES HARRIS ENGLISH ($10,000) English should continue his strong play in Sea Island after a top-five finish at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico. Much of it was done with his irons, averaging 72% of greens in regulation. He’s missed the cut here twice in the past four years, so in order to do well he’ll need to lean on his strong iron play and his ability to score on par 4s measuring between 400 to 450 yards. The good thing is he ranks first in par 4 efficiency from 400 to 450 yards over his past six tournaments. SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER ($9,200) Scheffler was a popular play early in the swing season and should get our attention again in Georgia. Scheffler dominated on the Korn Ferry Tour last season with 10 top-10s, a couple of second-place finishes and two wins (Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship and Evans Scholars Invitational). Although he couldn’t get anything going down in Mexico, he still shot three rounds in the 60s and has made all six of his cuts on the PGA TOUR this season. DENNY McCARTHY ($8,600) McCarthy quietly has been great in the swing season with two top-10s, a top-15 and six straight made cuts. He’s putting extremely well, gaining close to five strokes on the greens in his past 10 tournaments en route to his solid finishes. He shot two rounds in the 60s last week but scorched the back-nine in his final round, carding four birdies and an eagle. He’ll look to take his momentum to Sea Island and feel confident in his ability to score on par 4s, ranking fifth in par 4 scoring, seventh in par 4 efficiency from 400 to 450 yards and first in overall birdie or better percentage in his past six tournaments. XINJUN ZHANG ($7,300) Zhang has made five straight cuts and should be excited to get on a course where his strong iron play can excel. Zhang ranks 11th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and ninth in birdie or better percentage over his past 24 rounds. He made the cut back in 2018 and should keep his solid play going on this coastal course. KYLE STANLEY ($7,200) He’ll be a nice value play at his price, especially with him ranking first in par 4 wfficiency 400 to 450 yards over his past six tournaments. He also ranks second in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green over the same timeframe and hasn’t lost strokes in 11 of his past 12 tournaments with his irons. He struggles on Bermuda, but if he has an average week on the greens this week, he should be able to make the cut and do well on a course he’s had decent finishes at in the past. Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. 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LAS VEGAS — Tom Hoge wanted to be sure to take advantage of pristine conditions Thursday morning in Las Vegas. He did more than he expected, making two eagles on his way to an 8-under 63 for a one-shot lead in the Shriners Children’s Open. One of the eagles came with a gap wedge in his hand, part of a six-hole stretch he played in 6-under par in the middle of his round at the TPC Summerlin. The other eagle was a 35-foot putt down the hill on the par-5 16th. Equally important, Hoge kept bogeys off his card. Presidents Cup partners Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim ganged up on Max Homa in a group that brought back memories and stories from Quail Hollow two weeks ago. Si Woo Kim had a 64 and was tied for second with Maverick McNealy, while Tom Kim had a 65 and Homa didn’t fare too badly with a 67. Homa went 4-0 in his Presidents Cup debut, beating Tom Kim in singles. But it was Tom Kim who delivered the best moment when he made a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole, slamming his cap to the ground to celebrate a win with Si Woo Kim as his partner. “We still talk about the Presidents Cup, like some holes,” Si Woo Kim said. “Then I finish the hole, and Tom came over on 18 and I said, ‘If you make that one, I got to ask you to go throw the hat like the last hole Saturday.’” McNealy now lives in Las Vegas and had more support than usual for a Thursday morning, a gallery he figures will grow on the weekend if he keeps this up. Defending champion Sungjae Im joined Tom Kim in the large group at 65, particularly impressive because he played in the afternoon when low scores were harder to find. Patrick Cantlay, who has a win and two runner-up finishes in his four appearances at TPC Summerlin, had a steady diet of birdie chances from the 15- to 20-foot range and had to settle for a 67. The low round for Hoge was unexpected because he had been fishing off the coast of Mexico the last two weeks, wanting to put the golf clubs away after a long season. He was in the mix for a Presidents Cup pick, though the oversight was not a surprise because he hadn’t played well enough since his inaugural PGA TOUR victory at Pebble Beach in early February. “I didn’t know where things would stand coming out today,” Hoge said. He holed a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 6, then hit a gap wedge from 110 yards on No. 7 that hit the middle of the pin and crashed into the left side of the cup for eagle. He followed with three more birdies over the next four holes, and then picked up a bonus with fast eagle putt on the 16th. “It was an interesting day,” Hoge said. “I feel like I missed some very makeable birdie putts, but I holed some real nice, long ones for eagle on 16 and some other long ones. Certainly happy with the score, but I’ve got to make a lot of birdies the next few days.”
