Congratulations if you were on-board Adam Schenk at 125/1 (best Monday price with William Hill) at the Bermuda Championship.
We move to the Atlantic coast in Georgia for the RSM Classic. Formerly The McGladrey Classic, the RSM within player circles is known as the Island Swing Major and is popular with lots of the golfing community who reside (or have a practice base) here on Sea Island or on the adjoining St Simon’s Island – after all, it’s always handy to have a full PGA Tour tournament worth an increased $7 million on your doorstep. Jonathan Byrd, Will Chandler, Harris English, Will Gordon, Brian Harman, Zach Johnson, Patton Kizzire, Matt Kuchar, Keith Mitchell, Andrew Novak, J.T. Poston, Paul Peterson, Greyson Sigg and Davis Thompson – plus tournament host Davis Love III – will be spending a well-deserved tournament week in their own beds.
It’s worth noting, however, that the local knowledge doesn’t stop there as Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner and Nick Watney all regularly use the Sea Island Golf Performance Center. Knowledge of Sea Island resort also stretches to a large number of players who studied and played college golf in Southeastern Conference (SEC) universities. 2025 also sees the field benefit hugely from the likes of Daniel Berger, Bud Cauley, Eric Cole, Austin Eckroat, Ryan Gerard, Tom Hoge, Stephan Jaeger, Mackenzie Hughes, Si Woo Kim, Denny McCarthy, Sahith Theegala and Matt Wallace.
With only the RSM Classic in terms of 2025 PGA Tour events left to play, there are plenty of motivating factors this week such as:
Official World Golf Ranking top 50 spot (invite for the 2026 Masters arriving pre-Christmas for those not already exempt)
AON Next 10 FedExCup Fall Series spot (entry into the big money AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am + Genesis Invitational tournaments early in 2026
FedExCup Fall Series top 100 (Full Tour Card playing privileges for 2026 for those not already exempt)
FedExCup Fall Series top 101 – 125 (Conditional Your Status for 2026 for those not already exempt)
Before we go into the detail surrounding the RSM Classic, we always have new visitors to Golf Betting System. Welcome and let me point you in the direction of our weekly Golf Betting System Podcast (published every Tuesday of the golfing calendar), the Steve Bamford Golf Channel on YouTube and our hugely popular, +6,600 strong, private Group on Facebook – you can Join Here.
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Course Guide: 2015 saw the RSM Classic extend to a 156-player field and a 2 course format. The Plantation Course sits next door to host venue the Seaside Course on St Simon’s Island. 18 holes of action across Thursday and Friday are split across the 2 courses with the Seaside Course hosting the final 36. The Seaside Course is, as you would expect, a links-type test. Seaside is an original Harry Colt design which in 1998 had a Tom Fazio re-design where the original ‘Marshside’ and ‘Seaside’ sets of 9 later were merged. It’s a true rarity – an American links-style course with man-made sand dunes, ridges and elevation fluctuations. The course is a short, 7,005 yard, Par 70 featuring Bermudagrass fairways and rough (average 2″) as well as pretty grainy TifEagle Bermudagrass greens that will run at close to 12.5 on the Stimpmeter.
Sea Island Resort, Seaside Course, St Simon’s Island, Georgia: Designer: Colt & Allison, 1928, Fazio re-design, 1998; Course Type: Coastal, Resort, Short; Par: 70; Length: 7,005 yards; Holes with Water Hazards In-Play: 13; Number of Sand Bunkers: 47; Acres of Fairway: 25; Fairways Perennial Ryegrass Overseed; Rough: Perennial Ryegrass Overseed, 2″; Greens: 7,200 sq.ft TifEagle Bermudagrass; Stimpmeter: 12.5ft.
Course Scoring Average + PGA Tour Difficulty Rank:
2024: 70.02 (+0.02), Rank 13 of 51 courses
2023: 67.58 (-2.42), Rank 53 of 58 courses
2022: 68.99 (-1.01), Rank 33 of 50 courses
2021: 68.97 (-1.03), Rank 33 of 50 courses
2020: 68.69 (-1.31), Rank 40 of 51 courses
2019: 68.90 (-1.10), Rank of 25 of 41 courses
Sea Island Resort, Plantation Course, St Simon’s Island, Georgia: Designer: Walter Travis, 1926, Rees Jones renovation, 1998, Davis Love III renovation 2019; Course Type: Coastal, Tree-lined, Short, Resort; Par: 72; Length; 7,060 yards; Holes with Water Hazards In-Play: 10; Number of Sand Bunkers: 47; Acres of Fairway: 32; Fairways: Platinum Paspalum; Rough: TifTuf Bermudagrass, 1.5″; Greens: 6,100 sq.ft TifEagle Bermudagrass; Stimpmeter: 11ft – 11.5ft.
Course Scoring Average + PGA Tour Difficulty Rank:
2024: 70.80 (-1.20), Rank 28 of 51 courses
2023: 69.76 (-2.24), Rank 51 of 58 courses
2022: 76 (-2.24), Rank 45 of 50 courses
2021: 69 (-1.31), Rank 36 of 50 courses
2020: 71.34 (-0.66), Rank 25 of 51 courses
2019: 44 (-1.56), Rank of 34 of 41 courses
Fairway Widths (yards): Below are the fairway widths for the Seaside Course and how they compare to recent courses that we’ve seen on Tour:
Seaside Course: 250 yards from the tee: 42 yards wide; 275:40; 300:34; 325:31; 350:23.
El Cardonal: Average 60 yards up to 70 yards wide.
Black Desert: Average 30 yards up to 70-100 yards wide.
CC of Jackson: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:28; 300:29; 325:28; 350:25.
Silverado: 250 yards from the tee: 27 yards wide; 275:26; 300:26; 325:27; 350:26.
Caves Valley: 35-40 yards.
TPC Southwind: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:29; 300:28; 325:31; 350:25.
Copperhead: 250 yards from the tee: 24 yards wide; 275:20; 300:21; 325:23 350:19.
TPC Sawgrass: 250 yards from the tee: 31 yards wide; 275:32; 300:30; 325:28 350:20.
Bay Hill: 250 yards from the tee: 32 yards wide; 275:33; 300:33; 325:39 350:29.
PGA National: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:27; 300:25; 325:27 350:25.
TPC Scottsdale: 250 yards from the tee: 33 yards wide; 275:30; 300:28; 325:27; 350:27.
Pebble Beach: 250 yards from the tee: 33 yards wide; 275:33; 300:29; 325:30 350:26.
Torrey Pines South: 250 yards from the tee: 26 yards wide; 275:27; 300:25; 325:24; 350:23.
Pete Dye Stadium: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:27; 300:26; 325:26; 350:24.
Waialae: 250 yards from the tee: 34 yards wide; 275:32; 300:34; 325:37; 350:34.
Plantation Course: 250 yards from the tee: 59 yards wide; 275:61; 300:65; 325:60; 350:62
Course Overview: The host Seaside Course is a links-style test, but don’t be fooled – you’d expect a technical challenge, but effectively the main defence of the course, which is barely 7,000 yards in length, is the weather from the Atlantic. Wide fairways and green complexes that average 7,200 sq.ft. make the Seaside Course extremely susceptible to birdie-making for those that can putt well on TifEagle Bermudagrass putting surfaces. The greens themselves are quite a challenge as any putt within 10 feet is testing and difficult to read – especially for those that don’t get on with grainy Bermuda carpet.
The players also get 18 holes on the Plantation Course. Renovated by tournament host Davis Love III, this is more of a parkland course by the sea. Fairways are tree-lined and the course certainly has a classical Carolina feel to it, with players mentioning links to Harbour Town Golf Links. However tidal creeks and lakes are in play across the majority of holes so mistakes prove costly. Plantation boasts expansive fairways and, at 7,060 yards, this Par 72 – which features three reachable par-5s – can (wind allowing) undoubtedly offer up more birdies than Seaside, despite players mentioning that the new Love III inspired green complexes are more difficult, with distinct quadrants and multi-tier layers. 2019 saw it rank the 7th and 15th easiest courses on Tour across 2019 and 2021 respectively, that jumped significantly in 2020 with tougher winds on Thursday/Friday.
The key to the RSM is pounding greens in regulation and strong Bermudagrass putting. The TifEagle Bermudagrass greens are not to every player’s liking and conversion of putts from anything outside of 10 feet is tough. That level of difficulty, when the wind allows, is not shared with Plantation, so low scoring is a must there to contend, especially as it is an incredibly short Par 72 by modern day standards.
The Seaside Course is set a Davis Love III inspired restoration from spring to early summer next year, where the fairways are scheduled to be re-grassed to Platinum Paspalum, amongst a whole set of changes.
RSM Classic Winners: 2024: Maverick McNealy (-16); 2023: Ludvig Aberg (-29); 2022: Adam Svensson (-19); 2021: Talor Gooch (-22); 2020: Robert Streb (-19), 2019: Tyler Duncan (-19); 2018: Charles Howell III (-19); 2017: Austin Cook (-21); 2016: Mackenzie Hughes (-17); 2015: Kevin Kisner (-22); 2014: Robert Streb (-14); 2013: Chris Kirk (-14); 2012: Tommy Gainey (-16); 2011: Ben Crane (-16); 2010: Heath Slocum (-14).
Mackenzie Hughes: MC OHL/68th Shriners/26th Sanderson/13th Safeway.
Kevin Kisner: 2nd HSBC/37th CIMB/25th Shriners/28th Tour Championship.
Robert Streb: 10th Shriners/31st Fry’s/9th Deutsche/MC Barclays.
Chris Kirk: 25th CIMB/36th Shriners/24th BMW/16th Deutsche.
Tournament Stats: We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s event that are well worth a look. Naturally they’ll help to shape a view on players who could go well this week: Current Form | Tournament Form | First Round Leader | Combined Stats.
My published predictor is available here. Top 10 of my published predictor are: 1) Takumi Kanaya; 2) Vince Whaley; 3) Pierceson Coody; 4) Rico Hoey; 5) Michael Brennan; 6) Michael Thorbjornsen; 7) Matt Kuchar; 8) Andrew Putnam; 9) Max McGreevy; 10) Greyson Sigg.
Our brand new predictor model is running alongside, where you can build your own rankings in live time, using the variables listed on the left hand side.
2024: Thursday: Sunny. High of 64. Wind W 14-18 mph, gusting to 30 mph. Friday: Sunny. High of 60. Wind WNW 15-20 mph, gusting to 30 mph. Saturday: Sunny. High of 64. Wind WNW 10-15 mph. Sunday: Sunny. High of 68. Wind WSW 5-10 mph.
2023: Thursday: Cloudy with moderate to heavy showers throughout the day. High of 71. Wind NE 12-16 mph, with gusts to 22 mph. Friday: Moderate showers. High of 65. Wind NNE 10-15 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 74. Wind NNW 7-12 mph. Sunday: Mostly sunny. High of 73. Wind NE 8-13 mph, with gusts to 15 mph.
2022: Thursday: Mostly cloudy. High of 55. Wind NW 8-14 mph. Friday: Sunny. High of 57. Wind NNE 6-12 mph, with gusts to 15 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 61. Wind NNE 6-12 mph. Sunday: Cloudy. High of 58. Wind NNE 8-14 mph, with gusts to 18 mph.
2021: Thursday: Mostly cloudy. High of 75. Wind SE 5-10 mph. Friday: Partly cloudy and windy. High of 67. Wind NE 15-20 mph, with gusts to 30 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy and windy. High of 67. Wind NE 15-20 mph, with gusts to 30 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy. High of 69. Wind NE 7-14 mph. Saturday: Sunny. High of 69. Wind N 6-12 mph. Sunday: Sunny. High of 77. Wind SSW 6-12 mph.
2020: Thursday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 68. Wind NE 10-15 mph, with gusts to 20 mph. Friday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 73. Wind NE 10-15 mph, with gusts to 20 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 74. Wind NE 10-15 mph, with gusts to 20 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 73. Wind NE 10-15 mph.
2019: Thursday: Sunny, with a high of 67. Wind ENE 6-12 mph. Friday: Sunny, with a high of 73. Wind SSE 6-12 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 74. Wind S 10-15 mph. Sunday: Sunny. High of 62. Wind W 10-15 mph.
2018: Thursday: Mostly cloudy. High of 58. Wind WNW 10 mph. Friday: Sunny, breezy and cool. High of 59. Wind NW 10-15 mph. Saturday: Sunny. High of 67. Wind NE 5-10 mph. Sunday: Mostly cloudy. High of 71. Wind ENE 5-10 mph.
2017: Thursday: Sunny with a high of 68. Wind NNE 5-10 mph. Friday: Sunny and breezy with a high of 68. Wind ENE 10-15 mph. Saturday: Mostly sunny with a high of 72. Wind S 10-15 mph. Sunday: Sunny, breezy and cooler. High of 68. Wind NW 10-15 mph, gusting to 25 mph.
2016: Thursday: Sunny, with a high of 74. Light, variable wind 4-8 mph. Friday: Sunny, with a high of 74. Wind ESE 4-8 mph. Saturday: Sunny, with a high of 77. Wind WSW 10-20 mph. Sunday: Sunny and cold, with a high of 62. Wind WNW 7-14 mph. Monday: Sunny and cold, with morning temperatures in the lower 40s. Wind WSW 5-7 mph.
2015: Thursday: Cloudy, with bands of rain throughout the day. High of 85 degrees. Wind E 10-20 mph. Friday: Sunny and cool. High of 68 degrees. Wind NE 12-18 mph, gusting to 28 mph. Saturday: Mostly cloudy. High of 71 degrees. Wind ENE 10-15 mph, gusting to 20 mph. Sunday: Mostly cloudy with light showers in the morning and a high of 60 degrees. Wind NNW 10-15 mph, gusting to 20 mph.
Weather Forecast: The latest weather forecast for Sea Island, Georgia is here.
Another week by the Atlantic coast, but this one looks far warmer and calmer. Wind only looks a factor on Saturday with 15 -20 mph south westerly gusts a feature. Apart from that, it’s calm, dry and warmer that I have seen here at Sea Island going back to 2021. 23-26 Celsius or 73-77 Fahrenheit is a large step up from 12 months ago. Expect low, resort-level scoring as per 2023.
Strokes Gained Rankings: These top 25 in the field rankings are based on an 8-tournament window that stretches back to the Procore Championship/BMW PGA Championship which includes both PGA Tour and DP World Tour events, where recorded. Player rankings are based on performance relative to the rest of the field:
Top 25 SG Total: 1) Si Woo Kim / Doc Redman; 3) Jonathan Byrd; 4) Pierceson Coody; 5) Matt Kuchar; 6) Michael Thorbjornsen; 7) Thorbjorn Olesen; 8) Michael Brennan / Brian Harman; 10) Vince Whaley; 11) Rico Hoey / Zach Johnson / Mac Meissner / J.T. Poston; 15) Greyson Sigg; 16) Takumi Kanaya; 17) Blades Brown / Sahith Theegala; 19) Bud Cauley / Ryan Gerard / Adam Schenk; 22) Brandt Snedeker; 23) Eric Cole / Seamus Power; 25) Steven Fisk.
Trends & Key Factors: Analysing the Strokes Gained Stats of the RSM Classic winners here at the Seaside Course since 2015 gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this desert Par 71:
Strokes Gained Tournament Trends:
2024, Maverick McNealy (-16). SG Off the Tee: 13th, SG Approach: 6th, SG Around the Green: 29th, SG Tee to Green: 4th, SG Putting: 12th.
2023, Ludvig Aberg (-27). SG Off the Tee: 1st, SG Approach: 14th, SG Around the Green: 12th, SG Tee to Green: 1st, SG Putting: 4th.
2022, Adam Svensson (-19). SG Off the Tee: 10th, SG Approach: 15th, SG Around the Green: 23rd, SG Tee to Green: 4th, SG Putting: 1st.
2021, Talor Gooch (-22). SG Off the Tee: 49th, SG Approach: 2nd, SG Around the Green: 2nd, SG Tee to Green: 3rd, SG Putting: 6th.
2020, Robert Streb (-19). SG Off the Tee: 31st, SG Approach: 36th, SG Around the Green: 27th, SG Tee to Green: 35th, SG Putting: 9th.
2019, Tyler Duncan (-19). SG Off the Tee: 21st, SG Approach: 3rd, SG Around the Green: 38th, SG Tee to Green: 2nd, SG Putting: 14th.
2018, Charles Howell III (-19). SG Off the Tee: 38th, SG Approach: 17th, SG Around the Green: 40th, SG Tee to Green: 19th, SG Putting: 24th.
2017, Austin Cook (-21). SG Off the Tee: 12th, SG Approach: 5th, SG Around the Green: 9th, SG Tee to Green: 1st, SG Putting: 13th.
2016, Mackenzie Hughes (-17). SG Off the Tee: 38th, SG Approach: 61st, SG Around the Green: 1st, SG Tee to Green: 25th, SG Putting: 3rd.
2015, Kevin Kisner (-22). SG Off the Tee: 15th, SG Approach: 2nd, SG Around the Green: 44th, SG Tee to Green: 2nd, SG Putting: 4th.
Strokes Gained Tournament Skill Averages:
SG Off the Tee: 23rd, SG Approach: 16th, SG Around the Green: 19th, SG Tee to Green: 10th, SG Putting: 11th.
Tournament Trends & Key Factors: Analysing the final stats of the winners here since 2015 gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this test:
2024, Maverick McNealy (-16). 295 yards (20th), 69.6% fairways (36th), 79.2% greens in regulation (2nd), 73.3% scrambling (15th), 1.70 putts per GIR (12th).
2023, Ludvig Aberg (-29). 310 yards (2nd), 82.1% fairways (6th), 86.1% greens in regulation (5th), 90.0% scrambling (4th), 1.65 putts per GIR (4th).
2022, Adam Svensson (-19). 277 yards (52nd), 81.1% fairways (5th), 84.7% greens in regulation (4th), 72.7% scrambling (19th), 1.69 putts per GIR (12th).
2021, Talor Gooch (-22). 298 yards (22nd), 66.1% fairways (52nd), 83.3% greens in regulation (4th), 83.3 % scrambling (4th), 1.68 putts per GIR (9th).
2020, Robert Streb (-19). 282 yards (51st), 71.4% fairways (36th), 83.3% greens in regulation (7th), 83.3 % scrambling (5th), 1.68 putts per GIR (11th).
2019, Tyler Duncan (-19). 280 yards (47th), 89.3% fairways (6th), 83.3% greens in regulation (4th), 91.7% scrambling (1st), 1.70 putts per GIR (13th).
2018, Charles Howell III (-19). 297 yards (8th), 83.9% fairways (12th), 88.9% greens in regulation (1st), 50.0% scrambling (70th), 1.69 putts per GIR (19th).
2017, Austin Cook (-21). 288 yards (38th), 85.7% fairways (4th), 83.3% greens in regulation (2nd), 91.7 % scrambling (1st), 1.68 putts per GIR (11th).
2016, Mackenzie Hughes (-17). 280 yards (57th), 78.6% fairways (11th), 72.2% greens in regulation (50th), 85.0% scrambling (2nd), 1.62 putts per GIR (1st).
2015, Kevin Kisner (-22). 275 yards (54th), 78.6% fairways (17th), 81.9% greens in regulation (9th), 84.6% scrambling (3rd), 1.63 putts per GIR (1st).
Tournament Skill Averages:
Driving Distance: 30th, Driving Accuracy: 19th, Greens in Regulation: 9th, Scrambling: 12th, Putting Average 9th.
So let’s take a view from players as to how both Seaside and Plantation courses set up and what skills the course favours:
Maverick McNealy (2024): “on Seaside my first hole of the day, 10, was our first hole during the practice round on Tuesday. Tuesday I hit driver, sand wedge and today was driver, 5-iron. So right out of the gates you’ve got hazard left, you can’t cover the bunkers that we were flying by 60 yards in the practice rounds, so just had to hit two great shots in the middle of the green. Speed felt great with the putter. Even the shot into 9 on the last hole, wind ripping off the right, I just steepened left and was able to hit the window and spin that ball a little bit left to right to hold the wind and that’s a shot I wasn’t very comfortable with six months ago.
Played Plantation today. I would say yesterday was a little bit tougher and my game was a little bit sharper. I think the challenge on the back nine today was when that wind started to die down, it got a lot gustier and you’re guessing is this ball going to carry 30 yards further, five yards further than the number. That was the challenge. I really feel like everything was a 10 out of 10 yesterday and closer to 8 out of 10 today, but walking on that range this morning and not being able to feel my hands, I was saying to myself if I get to double digits I’ll be pretty happy with that and I did that today.
It’s exactly where I want to be. I’m really excited about the golf that’s gotten me there. It’s kind of affirming to come to a golf course that I haven’t had much success on with being a really good test of approach play. The guys who hit their irons really well play well here. Kind of icy dormant Bermuda, which is a grass type that I don’t see much on the west coast. “
Ludvig Aberg (2023): “I feel like I’ve been striking the ball quite well, which obviously is nice in the wind, which is quite tricky to kind of manoeuvre. I made a few par putts today, I made some 10-footer-ish for par on 1 and then it’s nice to get those momentum putts and to keep the round going a little bit. But there’s no guarantees, but if I keep doing what I’m doing today, I like my chances.
Kind of the first couple three, four holes are not easy, so I stayed patient through those and made a few nice par putts. You get a lot of wedges on the back nine, you get basically all of them, and then 15’s a reachable par 5. I felt like I was striking the ball well. I was hitting the fairways, apart from 14, but other than that I felt I was striking the ball well and kind of took advantage of a little bit easier conditions today.
I got to play the Jones Cup two years ago here in 2021 and fell in love with it. We played a college event here last year, fell in love with it again. I’ve played all these courses around here at Sea Island and absolutely love it. To kind of get my name on that trophy is very, very cool.”
Adam Svensson (2022): “This golf course, you know, Seaside, it’s tough, the greens are fast. This course is all about ball-striking consistency, hitting fairways, hitting greens, giving yourself opportunities, not short siding yourself. I’m definitely getting better at playing away from flags now. Before, I was firing at all the flags. When the putter’s hot, you can shoot low numbers doing that.”
Talor Gooch (2021): “It was what you expect out here. It was comfortable, it was a grind. You know there’s going to be some tough stuff, there’s going to be a lot of uncomfortable shots. Like I said, being here a few times when it’s been like this, you know what to expect. And like you said, growing up in Oklahoma, you just, you feel like you have a little bit of advantage when it comes to the windy conditions.
For me, my creativity is just hitting it this high and hitting it low, not let the wind get it. Honestly, the tee shot on the last, I don’t think people realize not a lot of people have that shot. In fact, who’s caddie, either Sebastian’s or John’s caddie was like, Where’d you grow up, dude? I was like, Oklahoma, we’ve got to learn how to hit that one like that. So a couple like tee shots that were just tricky that I kind of fall back on my upbringing to hit some of those. Not super creative, not like moving a bunch, but that’s kind of the point, not to move a bunch.”
Tom Hoge (2021): “Yesterday you knew you had to make birdies. We were on our third or fourth hole and 7 under was the lead out there yesterday and you look up today and nobody’s really going anywhere, so you knew pars were going to go a long ways. I think just the biggest difference is putting. Out there on the Seaside, very exposed so you have a lot of putts- if you had a left-to-right breaker with the wind going in the opposite direction was very hard to figure out what the putt was going to do exactly because the wind can grab it pretty good with some of those gusts out there.”
Robert Streb (2020): “The key to this victory, it was just the putter. I had some pretty good spats of ball-striking in the middle, but I made some putts early and some good par putts the first round, then made a good chunk of them coming down the stretch that got me to 5 under on a pretty windy day the first round. Made a bunch of putts second and third round. I missed a few today, but overall I would say it’s the best I putted in a long time.”
Webb Simpson – DLIII Renovated Plantation Course: “Yeah, I mean, it’s usually windy here like Hilton Head so you’ve got to keep your ball on the ground. You have plenty of holes that are crosswinds, so that can be challenging. There’s water everywhere, so there are some similarities. But I love the redesign, Davis did a great job. There’s a lot of slope in the greens now, so you can really use those slopes to help you and get the ball in the hole.”
Scott Brown – DLIII Renovated Plantation Course: “Plantation‘s much tougher now with the new greens, I think, than it was before. You just had to get it in the right quadrant. You could get some good looks if you got it in those quadrants with the greens the way they’re tiered, but also, you know, on the other hand, if you’ve got them on the wrong side of them, you’ve got a tough two-putt. So I think it’s a great golf course and they’ve made it a lot tougher.”
Charles Howell III: “Yeah, Seaside, honestly if you shoot under par, you’ve played a good day. If I can shoot anything under par tomorrow, I’ll be happy with it and then you keep moving on from there. Anybody that shot 2, 3, 4 under today at Seaside, I mean, my goodness, what a round of golf it is in this wind, holy cow. Anything under par tomorrow would be great with me. Probably 14 just because, yeah, it was blowing pretty hard there on that hole and that’s a hole where you’re on that tee box, you’ll take a 4 and run, and made a 3 there. It was in off the left and just uncomfortable. But yeah, that hole there, because if you make three 4s there throughout the week, you’re happy. So to make a 3 there, it’s a drive and a 9-iron. The tee was up today because of the wind. But yeah, that one.”
Austin Cook: “I was here all four years at the SEC Championship, so I think it’s three rounds, and then – or the old format, three rounds and a practice round, so 16. Just being able to see the golf course and play it multiple times. I think it really does help the more rounds you get on a track, the more confident you are and comfortable you are on the golf course. It’s playing a little different this week than it does in May or whenever SECs are. It’s a little cooler but the grass isn’t quite the same. We’ve got some overseed this week, but I just think that being able to play it as many times as I have just really helped me out.”
Kevin Kisner: “I’m interested to see what the scores will be tomorrow if the wind blows like they’re forecasting. You know, north wind, neither course is really made to play a north wind. I think that’s probably the hardest wind to play Seaside in. So I’m hoping they move the tees up on that course like they did over here, or maybe it just doesn’t blow at all and we can make a bunch of birdies.”
Kevin Chappell: “Yeah, you know, Plantation course is in great shape, but the backside was tough there early. There were some pucker holes, 10 through 13. And then you can kind of get it. Obviously got me early. I played really well there the last 12 holes, last 13 holes. As we made the turn it got swirling pretty good. I drove it well today. I was in position and was able to take advantage of the soft golf course. Having two courses here brings back the feel of Disney again. It was real lax, but there was a tournament going on.”
Zach Johnson: “What they’ve done is added a lot of sand to the fairways over the last year and it helps with the drainage, helps with the run out and that sort of thing. I played here about a week ago, and we had an inch and a half of rain. That’s a lot of rain. I was getting some plugged lies. I played two days after that and I played nine holes, and it was starting to roll out already. They’ve done some nice things with the fairways. The greens have always been perfect. They’re difficult because they’re undulated and they’re kind of table topped somewhat, but they still hold, so it’s going to be a great test. The rough is brutal.”
Brian Harman: “I struck it nice, got some putts to go in. I think statistically which is one of the hardest plays to putt on Tour. The grain is very difficult to read here. I was pleased to make some 10 to 15 footers, some nice mid range putts and when you feel like you’re rolling it well you don’t have to be quite as aggressive coming into the green, so I was playing a lot of shots to the fat side of the green and just gave myself good looks and was fortunate enough to make a few of them.”
Russell Henley: “The other morning in the pro-am, I was hitting it at least a club shorter, and you know, into the wind, into the cold wind, it was playing almost two, and if you hit a normal shot, it’ll spin back into you, so you gotta hit some half shots, so it’s kind of a weird you almost gotta take two more clubs and hit it three quarter shots just to keep it under the wind, so I’d say I was pulling on average two more clubs in the morning. I don’t know. I just confused myself on that one, too.”
Chris Kirk: “Most important factor here? I’d say driving, generally this is a course I would say it’s not an overly long course, so it tends to favour the shorter, straighter hitter. I’m not a bomber by any means, but a little bit longer than average, I guess, on Tour and have yet to finish inside the Top 100 in driving accuracy in my first three years on Tour.
I definitely rely on hitting some good iron shots from the fairway and not always from the fairway and good scrambling and putting. But this is a golf course that you really need to play from the fairway and thankfully I drove the ball well this week and the rest of my game was really good.”
For the record, here’s the breakdown of Bermudagrass PGA Tour victors in the field since 2008:
4 – Zach Johnson, Si Woo Kim, Chris Kirk, Ryan Palmer, Camilo Villegas.
3 – Kevin Kisner, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker.
2 – Daniel Berger, Jason Dufner, Harris English, Mackenzie Hughes, Davis Love III, Webb Simpson, Robert Streb.
1 – Jonathan Byrd, Austin Cook, Rafael Campos, Cameron Champ, Tyler Duncan, Austin Eckroat, Steven Fisk, Lanto Griffin, Adam Hadwin, Nick Hardy, Brian Harman, Joe Highsmith, Stephan Jaeger, Patton Kizzire, Martin Laird, Luke List, Keith Mitchell, Taylor Moore, Andrew Novak, J.T. Poston, Seamus Power, Davis Riley, Kevin Streelman, Adam Svensson, Brendon Todd, Nick Watney.
This tournament was formally known as the McGladrey Classic, which in 2010-2012 formed part of the PGA Tour Fall Series with the 2013 renewal being played in November as part of the first wrap-around season structure. Every winner of the tournament has played a PGA Tour tournament post-East Lake. It’s also interesting to see that inaugural McGladrey champion Heath Slocum had captured The Barclays title 13 months previously in 2009. Of all the winners on the Seaside course, nobody has won a full PGA Tour tournament in the calendar year prior to triumphing here.
Tommy Gainey, Robert Streb, Kevin Kisner, Mackenzie Hughes, Austin Cook, Tyler Duncan, Talor Gooch, Adam Svensson, Ludvig Aberg and Maverick McNealy all captured their first main Tour titles here in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. Charles Howell III won here in 2018 – that was 11 and a half years after winning at Riviera in 2007. Streb was the first 2-time winner here in 2020.
I covered off many of the resident, Sea Island Golf Performance Center and SEC links at the top of this Preview. Local links are numerous, but a couple of additional themes jump out for this tournament. Three winners – namely Slocum, Kirk and Kisner – resided in the home state of Georgia when winning this title.
You can add Charles Howell III to that list as “CHIII” was born in Augusta, Georgia, despite living in Orlando, Florida, when winning this in 2018. He was also a former Sea Island resident. Other winners have hailed from the southern states of the United States, namely Texas (Aberg & Crane), South Carolina (Gainey), North Carolina (Hughes), Arkansas (Cook), Florida (Streb – at the time of his 2013 victory plus Duncan & Svensson) and Oklahoma (Gooch). Mackenzie Hughes, Austin Cook and Aberg were all PGA Tour rookies. Californian Maverick McNealy took this out 12 months ago, residing in Las Vegas!
My Final RSM Classic Tips Are As Follows:
Michael Thorbjornsen 3pts EW 25/1 (8EW, 1/5) with Ladbrokes
Talor Gooch, Adam Svensson, Ludvig Aberg and Maverick McNealy – they are the last 4 winners of the RSM Classic. What do they share in common? Well you’d be right by answering that all 4 were PGA Tour maidens when arriving here on the Atlantic coast. Add Tyler Duncan (2019), Austin Cook (2017), Mackenzie Hughes (2016), Kevin Kisner (2015) and Robert Streb (2013) into the mix and I make it 9 of the last 11 RSM winners were maidens when lifting the trophy on the Seaside Course.
Michael Thorbjornsen has been impressive a few times in 2025 and has plenty enough game to win this. 2nd at Corales, 4th at the Rocket Classic and 3rd at the Baycurrent Classic last month, when you look at where he has performed best, it’s been on short courses where scoring is mid-teens or much lower. The warm, pretty windless conditions this week in Georgia should suit him perfectly.
Thorbjornsen was fast-tracked via the PGA Tour University rankings last year and in a weak field, where most of the big names have hardly played competitive golf of late, I think the 24 year-old has a great chance. Thorbjornsen was 8th here 12 months ago when windy conditions (opening 36 holes) made scoring far tougher. This week should suit down to the ground.
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Pierceson Coody 2pts EW 35/1 (8EW, 1/5) with bet365
If Thorbjornsen doesn’t take this out then Pierceson Coody is another Tour maiden that could well do so. Ranking in the top 5 across my 8-week Strokes Gained Current Form metric, Pierceson already has his 2026 Tour card sewn-up via his Korn Ferry Tour campaign where he landed 7 top-10 finishes. But at 110th in the FedEx Fall Series standings heading to Georgia, he can grab a coveted full PGA Tour card this week with a move into the top 100, which would allow the 25 year-old Texan full access to all non-Signature Event level tournaments.
Has experience of playing Sea Island golf via his amateur career and his PGA Tour career to date has seen him lose in a play-off for the 2024 ISCO Championship, plus finish 3rd twice in recent outings at the 3M Open in July and Bank of Utah Championship last month. A 3-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour, Coody knows how to get across the finish line and I was impressed with how he battled to 22nd in Bermuda last week in far from ideal gusting 40mph conditions.
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Vince Whaley 1.25pts EW 40/1 (6EW, 1/5) with BetMGM
Vince Whaley is maturing in front of our eyes. Up to 59th in the Datagolf rankings, Whaley has 3 top-4 finishes in his last 10 appearances on the PGA Tour. 3rd twice already this Fall on the Bermudagrass greens of Jackson (Sanderson Farms Championship) plus Port Royal (Bermuda Championship) last week, Whaley at 73rd in the FedEx Cup can now look forward to pushing into the top 60 and grabbing an AON Next 10 FedExCup Fall Series spot for Signature events in California in early 2026. A win isn’t out of the equation either.
13th (2023) and 8th (2024) here at the RSM Classic over his past 2 outings, Vince has always excelled on coastal courses and much prefers short formats to long. Sea Island is a great set-up for the Atlanta, Georgia resident, as is Port Royal where he’s now finished 7th (2021), 8th (2023), 5th (2024) and 3rd (2025), across his last 4 visits. Amazing consistency that.
Undoubtedly one of those later developers when it comes to world-level PGA Tour golf, this weak RSM Classic field presents a huge opportunity for the 30 year-old, who is more than capable these days of contending and potentially grabbing a maiden title.
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Seamus Power 1.25pts EW 40/1 (10EW, 1/5) with Boylesports
Golf Betting System Podcast colleague Paul Williams was on Seamus Power each-way last week in Bermuda and naturally he finished 11th, after heading into Sunday in 8th spot. Paul’s case for Power held water last week and does exactly the same thing a week on. At 129th in the FedEx Fall Series standings, Seamus has to continue to play well as, like many, he’s playing for his PGA Tour future right now.
4th (2021) and 5th (2022) here across 2 of his last 3 visits to the RSM Classic, Seamus won the 2022 Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal and also has a top 3 at another short, coastal track at El Camaleon (2022). T2 for Resort-level scoring in this week’s RSM Classic predictor model, in essence this is an ideal course and scoring assignment for Power, who will look to grab a 2026 conditional status, top 125 FedEx Fall Series position at the very least this week.
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