BlogThe RSM Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

The RSM Classic is an event in a small resort town or should we say island in Georgia which has been well received since it started in 2010.  Davis Love III got behind it and his charities are the benefactors of this event.  Love also gets behind the tournament to get his friends and fellow players to attend.  The event also has a great sponsor in RSM who is a tax and consulting firm.  The good thing is that folks like Zach Johnson, Harris English and Brian Harman, who live in Sea Island are playing which helps.  This event has been held at different times during the fall swing and it seems that it’s found it’s spot, the last event on the fall swing.  Another thing last year the field was increased from 132 players to 156 as another course (the Plantation) is used in the first two rounds, so players are on the Seaside Course for three rounds.

The Plantation is the first course at Sea Island, it was a nine hole course which opened in 1928.  Built by Walter Travis, it opened when ferry service was first introduced to bring people over to Sea Island.  A year later the Seaside course was built.  The land on which the course was built was a working plantation.  Some of the oak trees that are on the course were planted over two-hundred years ago.  In 1998 the ownership of Sea Island brought in Rees Jones to upgrade the original course.  The course was turned into a “parkland by the sea” course as it has views of the Atlantic but is parkland in nature.  It’s totally different than the Seaside Course which is links nature.  The Plantation course will play at 7,058, has a 74.8 rating with a slope rating of 138 and to a par of 72.  It does have wide open fairways but lakes come into play on 10 of the 18 holes so it will present a different challenge for players.

Seaside Course information:

• The Seaside course is part of the three courses at Sea Island Golf Club.  The Seaside course which is the venue of the McGladreys is a classic Harry Colt and Charles Alison design dating from 1929. Tom Fazio completed a renovation in 1999. It’s another of those hidden gems that not many people know about, it’s a true Scottish links course near the Atlantic with ocean views that plays fast and firm.
• The main challenges could be in the greens, which are nearly impossible to read. The layout features other notable challenges like the bunkering which is old fashion and truly memorable. They offer a variety in size and shape but they are all strategically placed to deliver a formidable test for even the most experienced players.
• The first nine goes out and back in a counterclockwise fashion while the second nine follows a clockwise direction. Each of the four par-3s faces its unique direction which is unique for any course, so players get a different feel on each par 3 when it’s windy that is always the case at Sea Island.
• The course meanders through marsh lands and lakes with water or marshes coming in play on most of the holes.  There are only 40 sand bunkers on the course, but they are all in strategic spots to catch drives and wayward shots to the greens that are average size of 7,000 square feet.  The course has bermudagrass all through it with a 72.3 rating and a slope of 137.  In 2015 the course played to a 69.422 average score (.578 under par) and was the 28th toughest course of the 52 courses used.
• It’s been the venue for some significant amateur competitions over the years including the US Senior Amateur and the US Senior Women’s Amateur.

So which players showed us something at the Mayakoba?

It was won by Pat Perez, a player that we told you last week to watch for last week in our preview.  Perez had played on the PGA Tour for 15 years and had a reputation as one that made a lot of money and FedEx Cup points, but come Sunday afternoon was rarely in contention.  The reason for that tended to be complicated, but the truth was that Perez made a lot of money on tour and spent more time enjoying that money instead of practicing on his game.  He was a lot like Charles Howell III, he could make a lot of money during the early part of the year and then coast the rest of the year.  When it came to majors and WGC events, it just wasn’t Perez cup of tea as he played in 18 majors and only finished in the top-25 four times with his best finish coming at the PGA Championship when he finished T-6th.  He shot a final round 73 at Baltusrol and was three back of winner Phil Mickelson.  But when he got hurt last year and knew he needed surgery there was a lot of anxious moments if he come back and play well. The time off gave him months to think about his career and to have a better mind sense when he started playing again.  As he said on Sunday after the victory, before when he got in contention he seemed to have to many things on his mind and not play well.  But he has taken to heart some thoughts from Steve Elkington who said he needed to think of just one thing, beating everybody else and make birdies, just what he did at the Mayakoba.   So what did Perez do right last week?  He was T-11th in greens hit but around the greens he was also good.  He was T-9th in scrambling and T3rd in putting average.  He didn’t have a three-putt for the week and despite not making a lot of birdies (only 23) he made just a bogey a day.  On Sunday he made birdie on five of his first 8 holes and on his final ten holes had enough of a lead to shot one over.  Now the interesting thing, this is a big confidence boast for him and with the taste of victory, at 40 he wants more.  So I would look at him to possibly win again on the coming up west coast swing, who knows maybe at Kapalua which he finished T-10th in his only start in 2010.

Gary Woodland finish 2nd and we can tell he is close to winning. Over the years his game has always been volatile and inconsistence, his two weaknesses is putting and hitting greens.  At the Mayakoba he was 1st in greens hit and his putting was in the middle of the pack, with that we can see why he was 2nd.  In looking toward the future, watch him on events that helps bombers and long hitters, the first for Woodland will probably be at Phoenix in Janaury.

Chez Reavie roared on tour in 2008 winning the Canadian Open.  But he had to endure knee and then wrist problems which required surgeries.  Basically between 2010 and the end of 2014 he was never in good shape physically.  He started getting healthy again at the end of 2014 and since then has been pulling himself up and his game has come together again.  The one part of his game that has been the weakest is putting, in strokes gained putting between 2012 and 2016 he has ranked no better than 103rd, but mostly below 150th.  But this year has shown steady improvements he was T-8th in putts per round in Mexico.  With that look for him to do well at Riviera in February and when the tour moves east onto greens that are easier to putt like Shell Houston and Byron Nelson.

Scott Piercy had his second top-five finish with his T-4th at Mayakoba.  His game has steadily improved, in 2013 he ranked 150th in greens hit, T-142nd in 2014 and 80th in 2015.  This year he is T29th and was T-3rd at Mayakoba.  He also is hitting the ball straighter off the tee, ranking T-8th in Mexico and making lot’s of birdies (ranked 1st).  He was four back of Perez even though he made a double bogey on 18 and bogeys at 13 and 16.  What this all means, look for him next year in the Sony Open, he has a good record in that event and will play really well, who knows he has the game to win and that could happen that week in Hawaii.

Chris Kirk and Luke List finished T-7th and both are playing in the RSM.  Look for them to do well, both are playing well and with Kirk playing well in past RSM’s and List being a young up and comer they could be two players in contention.

Last but not least we have Charles Howell, who could be the biggest overachiever ever on the PGA Tour.  On the surface Howell finished T-15th in Las Vegas and then T-7th in Mexico.  He is playing at the RSM and was T-9th last year and has three top-10s.  The only problem is that Howell seems to like finishing in the top-ten and can’t seem to get into real contention.  In 476 starts he has been in the top-25 180 times or 38% of the time.  He has 80 top-ten finishes (17%) but only 25 top-three finishes (5%) so he really is not comfortable and I will say that a top-ten is in the offing at the RSM, but he won’t give you a win.

Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at The RSM Classic:

Key stat for the winner:

This is a true links course so players will have to be able to play firm fast fairways and be good in the wind.  Hitting into the greens tend to be very tricky and for those that miss the greens getting it up and down is a key.  In looking at the first three winners they aren’t among the leaders in scrambling, Slocum in 2010 was T20th, Crane in 2011 was T41st and Gainey was T35th in 2012.  But the three have one big stat in common, and that is they all led the scrambling for the fringe stat, while 2014 winner Chris Kirk was 5th in scrambling, the 2015 winner Robert Streb was 25th, but last year’s winner Kevin Kisner was 3rd so this is an important stat  So go to this page on PGA Tour.Com it’s the leaders from this year’s scrambling category, look, and you will see guys like George McNeill, Vaughn Taylor and Steve Wheatcroft who are on top and playing this week, they should be players that do well this week.

Here are some more key stats to look to for this week:

• One of two stats is key, you either have to hit a lot of greens or putt really well.  Look at the six winners, Slocum in 2010 was T7th in greens hit and 39th in strokes gained putting.  Crane in 2011 was T26th in greens hit but 2nd in Strokes gained putting while Gainey in 2012 was T23rd in greens hit but 3rd in strokes gained putting.  In 2014 Chris Kirk was T15th in greens hit, and T11th in strokes gained putting, while in 2015 Robert Streb was T-47th in greens hit but 2nd in strokes gained putting.  Last year Kevin Kisner was T-9th in Greens hit and 4th in Strokes gained putting  So you can see what is important to win this week.
• All six winners had one thing in common, and that was the ability of playing the par 4s.  In 2010 Slocum was 11 under on them, the next closest player was 9 under.  In 2011, Crane was 12 under, the next closet was 11 under and in 2012 Gainey was 12 under the next closet was 11 under.  In 2014 Chris Kirk was 6 under, in 2015 Robert Streb was 7 under the best for the week was 8 under.  Last year Kevin Kisner was 15 under on the par 4s, the best of anyone in the history of the event  So if it’s Sunday and you’re looking for someone with the edge look at that stat.
• Driving accuracy means nothing on this course that makes sense since it’s a resort course.  Last year it was 47th, in 2015 it was 43rd while in 2014 it was 42nd, in 2012 it was 44th in driving accuracy, while it was T43rd in 2011 and 38th in 2010 so poor drivers could do well this week
• Most people disregard putts per round, but this is something of importance on this course.  As you don’t have to drive the ball straight on this course to succeed, you do have to take the least amount of putts.  In the putts per round category Seaside has been 4th last year and in 2015, in 2014, 2nd in 2012 and 2011, 3rd in 2010.  In a way, this is because it’s a resort course but still putting is important.
• Look for a good mix of players from Sea Island, Jacksonville and Ponte Vedra to be in the field, a bit of local knowledge.
• We find a course that is completely Bermuda and that is important because it takes a special player to win on Bermuda grass. Last year Kevin Kisner won and he was from up the road in Aiken, South Carolina and knows how to play on Bermuda. Robert Streb won in 2015 and he is from Kansas, which has bermuda grasses.  But previously Chris Kirk (born and lives in Atlanta), Gainey (born and lives in South Carolina) and Slocum (born in Louisiana and lives in Georgia) are southern boys that have been around Bermuda all of their lives.  Ben Crane was born in Portland and went to school in Portland, Oregon which isn’t a place to learn Bermuda, but look at Crane’s wins, three of the four have come on courses with Bermuda and he does live in Texas today.  The point is, look for a player that does well on Bermuda courses.  Also, I can’t see a player that was born, raised and lives in the North and Midwest winning.
• Lastly have to talk about the weather.  It’s going to be great this week with mild temperatures and no rain, wind won’t be a factor in the first two rounds but creep up to 16 mph on Sunday..