For the touring professional for whom it’s so hard to buy a gift for the holidays, what better than one more opportunity to pick up a breakthrough victory on the PGA TOUR? The RSM Classic is the kind of tournament that can fulfill that wish list. This is just the eighth of 46 events in the 2018-19 season, but it’s the last until the season resumes in early January. Each of the last four champions (and five of the last six) of The RSM Classic were first-time winners. The last two – Mackenzie Hughes (2017) and Austin Cook (2018) – were PGA TOUR rookies. Sea Island Resort’s Seaside and Plantation Courses co-host the first 156-man field of the season. Scroll past the ranking for more on the setup, what it takes to prevail here, what’s in store at Plantation after the tournament concludes and more. Zach Johnson, Brian Harman, Bill Haas, 2013 champ Chris Kirk and other notables will be included in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. The field will be split evenly over Seaside and Plantation during the first two rounds. After the 36-hole cut falls, only Seaside will be used for the third and final rounds. Scoring in relation to par can be tricky to follow in real time during the first two rounds because Seaside is a par 70 and Plantation is a par 72. Both courses are race tracks and eminently scorable. The 7,005-yard Seaside averaged 69.239 over four rounds last year, while Plantation, which measures just 7,058 yards, checked in at 70.542. The cut fell at 3-under 139. Cook’s winning pace of 21-under 261 fell one shot shy of Kevin Kisner’s tournament record in 2015. Cook ranked T4 in fairways hit and T2 in greens in regulation (averaging 15 per round). He also finished fifth in converting his chances into par breakers and co-led the field in scrambling. The primary rough grows no longer than an inch-and-a-half on both courses. ShotLink is utilized only on Seaside, but it comes as no surprise in a shootout on short courses that distance off the tee is irrelevant as a predictor for success. Furthermore, three rounds contributing to the data are enough to surmise that hitting it close and/or connecting with the putter are prerequisites to contend. Of the dozen who finished inside last year’s top 10, half ranked inside the top 15 in proximity to the hole, while seven were inside the top 20 in greens hit and/or strokes gained: putting. Not unlike last week’s preparation at El Camaleón Golf Club situated alongside the sea, the speed of the Bermudagrass greens on Sea Island will be governed primarily by the wind. This is a big reason why red numbers are for the taking in the Golden Isles. Moderate breezes are forecast for the first two rounds before spectacular conditions take over on the weekend. Daytime highs probably won’t touch 70 degrees. The fingerprints of Davis Love III are all over the tournament, now in its ninth edition, but he’ll put the rest of his mitts and all of his muscle behind a complete renovation and redesign on the Plantation Course. Soon after this week’s winner is crowned, Love Golf Design plans to reintroduce elements of the 90-year-old track’s history but with what today’s talent can do also in mind. Everything from a one-acre putting course to a new structure for instruction and training is planned. New routing of at least some of the course also is expected. Because of the complexity and scope of the project, the course will be closed for at least 10 months. 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: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done, Twitter live fantasy show * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.
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