Ryan Palmer back as a winner, this time with Jon Rahm at Zurich Classic

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Harold Varner III, Tom Hoge and Roger Sloan each shot 8-under 62 on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Wyndham Championship, the PGA TOUR’s final regular-season event before the FedExCup playoffs. Varner started the go-low parade at at Sedgefield Country Club with an eight-birdie, no-bogey round that matched his career best on the PGA TOUR. RELATED: Leaderboard | Simpson, Todd feed off friendly energy in Round 1 | FedExCup update Hoge and Sloan, playing together, followed suit later in the round, Hoge also matched his career low on TOUR, while Sloan’s score set his personal best. There were 33 players on the course who had not finished when the round was suspended due to bad weather. Hoge looked like he might have a shot at 59 after he went eagle-birdie on the 15th and 16th holes to reach 9 under. But Hoge, who first played on the PGA Tour in 2015 and has never won, missed a 10-footer for birdie on the 17th before his only bogey on No. 18 to drop into the tie. Sloan had birdies on the 16th and 17th holes and had a chance at 9-under to take the lead alone, but came up short on a 15-foot birdie try on the final hole. The strong start was especially crucial for the 33-year-old Canadian, who came into the TOUR’s last regular-season event at 178 in FedEx Cup points — well out of the 125 cut off to make next week’s first postseason event, THE NORTHERN TRUST in Boston. Sloan is projected to rise into the top 50 should he maintain his position. “Honestly, I don’t have to do anything,” he said. “I’m very blessed that I have status on the PGA TOUR next season. That’s important. I’m going to get starts, I think that frees you up.” All three leaders are seeking their first TOUR wins. The trio were two shots in front of Harris English (64). A large group was at 5-under led by former Masters champion Patrick Reed. Past U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson led another pack at 4-under 66. Paul Casey, who tied for second last week at the PGA Championship, was at 67. Some other PGA Championship contenders last week were not as fortunate. Both Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose, each in the mix in the final round of the year’s first major, could not keep that going in this one. Koepka was 10 shots behind after a 72. Justin Rose finished a stroke worse at 73. Koepka said he was flat after playing several weeks in a row. “A bit tired, to be honest with you, so definitely came out flat,” he said. “But I’ve got to play, I’ve got no other option.” Koepka said even moving up a spot or two in FedExCup standings is helpful to advance, so that’s why he passed up a week off to compete. PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa is off. Varner had eight birdies, including four in a row midway through the round, without a birdie his first 15 holes. He finished with three pars. Varner, who went to high school in Gastonia about two hours away and college at East Carolina, was disappointed he couldn’t play in front of friends and family due to the ongoing pandemic. “It’s unfortunate this year because I enjoy the cheers and stuff,” he said. “But we’ll get through this year and figure it out. Yeah, it’s just good to be close to home.” Hoge started crunching the numbers after he reached 9-under with two holes left. “I thought we could birdie the last two, but you’ve got to put it in the fairway,” he said after his tee shot on No. 18 went into the rough leading to bogey.

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CHICAGO - The nation’s leading provider of audit, tax and consulting services focused on the middle market and title sponsor of The RSM Classic - is pleased to announce that Corey Conners has won $300,000 through RSM's Birdies Fore Love charitable giving competition. Conners won for recording the most birdies (or better) over the first 11 events of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season. The top three players who accumulated the most birdies (or better) throughout the fall, concluding with The RSM Classic at Sea Island, Georgia, were awarded with $300,000, $150,000 and $50,000, respectively, for charitable donations to the players' choice of children- and/or family-focused charitable organizations. Patton Kizzire recorded the most birdies (or better) at this year's RSM Classic, winning $50,000 for his charity of choice to wrap up the 2020 RSM Birdies Fore Love program. In addition, players who recorded the most birdies (or better) in each fall event earned $50,000 for charities of their choice, bringing the total raised through the RSM Birdies Fore Love on-course competition to $950,000 through this year's program. For a list of the weekly RSM Birdies Fore Love winners from this year's fall events, as well as final scoring results, visit the PGA TOUR website. Winning players donated funds to charitable organizations focused on building tomorrow's middle market business leaders through programs that support education, as well as organizations committed to improving the lives of youth through a focus on hunger, housing and/or health. "Birdies Fore Love continues to provide a unique opportunity to amplify RSM's focus on stewardship through The RSM Classic," said Joe Adams, managing partner and CEO with RSM US LLP. "We are honored to work with the PGA TOUR and the Davis Love Foundation to support worthy charitable organizations through Birdies Fore Love." "Stewardship at RSM, is truly a part of our DNA - it's something that we do because it's part of who we are," said Andy Bosman, chief marketing officer with RSM US LLP. "On behalf of our 13,000 people, I'd like to congratulate all of the weekly winners, including Patton Kizzire who recorded the most birdies or better during The RSM Classic, as well as Corey Conners, Sepp Straka and Sungjae Im on accumulating the most birdies or better during the 2020 program." "This year's RSM Classic has certainly been like no other," said Davis Love III, 21-time PGA TOUR winner and RSM Classic tournament host. "I am extremely proud and humbled by the success of the RSM Birdies Fore Love competition. The generosity of the RSM team, its clients and friends is truly remarkable. Our tournament and the charitable dollars we raise would not be possible without RSM, one of the best Title Sponsors in golf." Over the past three years, RSM's Birdies Fore Love has helped PGA TOUR players support more than 30 deserving nonprofit organizations. Since The RSM Classic began in 2010, RSM and the Davis Love Foundation have donated more than $21.6 million to deserving charities.

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JEJU ISLAND, South Korea –  Brooks Koepka likes what he has seen so far at $9.5 million THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. The powerful American went on a fishing trip off Jeju island on Monday, enjoyed local delicacies in town and liked what he saw at The Club @ Nine Bridges during the tournament’s pro-am.  With this week’s venue being a true bomber’s paradise, Koepke fancies his chances of a winning debut in what is his first appearance in the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season. “Definitely a ball striker’s golf course. I do think I’ll be grabbing driver a bit. Felt like the fairways are wide enough where I can really take advantage of my length. I think anytime the rough’s down, so even if you are in the rough, you can stop it. It’s not as penalizing if you’re missing the fairways. You want to be as close as you can to the hole and give yourself the best look,â€� said Koepka. He will need to contend against the likes of title holder and 2017 FedExCup champion Justin Thomas, Marc Leishman, who was victorious at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia on Sunday, Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama and Billy Horschel in South Korea’s only PGA TOUR tournament which is celebrating its second edition. Si Woo Kim, the 2017 PLAYERS winner, spearheads the Korean challenge alongside other leading local players including Byeonghun An, Whee Kim and Sungjae Im, the recent Web.com Tour money list winner. A total of 13 players from the top 30 of the 2017-18 FedExCup points standing will headline the field in Jeju. Koepka has enjoyed a tremendous season with two wins at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, which led him to be voted as the 2018 PGA TOUR Player of the Year. He received the award from golf legend Jack Nicklaus.  “To have Mr. Nicklaus there was incredible. That was something neat. I didn’t know he was going to be there.  Anytime you can be around him and just kind of pick his brain and talk to him is always fun,â€� he said. Thomas won last year’s inaugural CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in a playoff against Leishman. He arrives on the back of a T5 at the CIMB Classic following a closing 64. “I played well on Sunday. I really didn’t play very well Thursday, Friday or Saturday, so to get a quality top-five finish in a good tournament like that with far from my best stuff is sometimes just as much as a positive as it is winning.  So hopefully I’m kind of able to feed off of that a little bit here,â€� said Thomas Day also gets his 2018-19 PGA TOUR season off the ground this week and made clear his intent to challenge for a win. “I set myself goals of winning three times last year (2017-18 Season) and I only won twice. I finished 11th here last year and 11th in China the next week. If I can try and improve on that, get myself in contention and possibly win, it sets up the whole year. That’s why I’ve come back to play,â€� said the Australian. Asia’s challenge will be carried by Matsuyama who returns to action after pulling out of Malaysia due to a wrist injury. He ended the 2017-18 season with three straight top-5s in the FedExCup Playoffs. The 26-year-old knows he must tame the Jeju winds which posed a stern challenge last year. “It’s a very difficult golf course, a lot of blind holes. The wind makes it play very, very difficult. I’m going to really have to be on the top of my game and hit quality shots,â€� said the five-time PGA TOUR winner. Si Woo Kim, 23, is amongst the new generation of Korean rising stars. He is counting on a Korean victory which he believes can accelerate further the growth of golf in his country and Asia. “If a Korean player wins here, it’s like winning a major. The PGA TOUR is now in Korea and it can help raise the popularity. If we have a local winner, we’ll certainly attract more fans and golfers into the game,â€� said Kim.

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