Event Overview:
The final full-field event of the 2022 calendar year is the RSM Classic, an event many players look forward to.
This week’s venue is home to many players on the PGA Tour. On St Simon’s Island, the Plantation Course is just next door to the host venue, the Seaside Course. The 18-hole action is split between the two courses on Thursday and Friday, with the Seaside Course hosting the last 36 holes.
The Seaside Course is a hidden gem with firm, quick greens and the oldest TifEagle greens on tour. It’s like a Scottish links course with ocean vistas near the Atlantic. The course flows through marshlands and lakes, with water or marshes in play on nearly every hole. A stop on the PGA Tour that all the players look forward to especially those that get to stay in their own bed such as Harris English, Harman, Patton Kizzire, Matt Kuchar, Keith Mitchell, and J.T. Poston to name just a few.
Plantation is more of a parkland course near the sea, and it was recently refurbished by event host Davis Love III. The fairways are tree-lined, and the course has a traditional parkland feel to it, with golfers referencing Harbour Town Golf Links as a reference point. However, because tidal rivers and lakes are present on nearly every hole, mistakes are costly. Plantation’s fairways are wide, and this Par 72 course is 7,060 yards long, mega short by PGA Tour standards.
With distance virtually having no advantage, players will club down more. The leaders will be determined by their ability to strike the ball and manage its trajectory and shot shapes, as well as their ability to hit fairways and greens and make more putts outside of 15 feet. If the wind isn’t too strong, this could turn into a putting contest.
This will be another low-scoring PGA Tour event, and it will be a dramatic turnaround from last week’s Houston Open.
RSM Classic 2022 – Event & Course Details:
| Course: | Sea Island Resort (Seaside Course) & Plantation Course |
| Location: | St. Simons Island, GA |
| Date: | Nov. 17-20, 2022 |
| Par: | 70 |
| Yardage: | 7,005 yards |
| Purse: | $8.1 Million / Winner $1.4 Million |
| Fairways/Rough: | Platinum Paspalum / Bermudagrass |
| Greens: | Bermudagrass (TifEagle) |
| Defending Champion: | Talor Gooch (2021) |
Key Skill Sets Required:
01. SG T2G
Anyone who has followed me for some time will know that on low scoring tracks I favour recent T2G performance. I just don’t believe that it is something that can click across all facets of your game without showing some prior sparks. This is a course that sees the same type of player contending year in year out. These are players that are accurate off the tee and consistent with their iron play. It often falls down to the best putter on the week certainly in recent times.
02. Driving Accuracy
The course this week is more tactical off the tee. It is not possible to overpower the golf course and therefore playing to the right parts of the fairways will be key to success. I am therefore favouring players that show patience off the tee, and don’t just rely on power.
03. GIR Gained
When we looked at the recent winners and the stats it is apparent that GIR gained is a key metric. The majority of the winners in the last six years have been in the top 10 for GIR gained on that given week I expect similar this week.
04. Proximity to hole from 100-150 yards
We can expect another low-scoring affair this week on the PGA tour, and therefore it’s going to be imperative that players hit their short iron shots close to the pin giving themselves plenty of birdie looks inside 15 feet.
RSM Classic 2022 – Best Outsiders to consider
1. Brendon Todd
- 4th here in 2019.
- Ranked in the top 20 for Par 4 scoring on holes of 400-450 yards in length, we have 27 of those on the sea island course this week.
- Ranked in the top 20 for Proximity to the hole from 75-125 yards over the past 50 rounds.
- Thrives in windy conditions, which can certainly happen here on the coastal course which players play 54 holes on.
- Gains strokes putting on the Bermudagrass we face this week.
2. Chris Kirk
- A winner here and 2 other top 10 finishes from 12 starts.
- His form has dipped towards the back end of 2022, however, that is reflected in his odds.
- There have been plenty of big-priced winners here in the past.
- Ranks in the top 20 over the past 50 rounds for PAR 4 Scoring, Scrambling and Proximity to the hole from 100-150 yards which are all key skill sets required this week.
3. David Thompson
- 23RD here on his first-ever PGA Tour start.
- Knows the course well, having played for Georgia in the SEC Championship.
- A top 10 at the Fortinet Championship recently and 12th at the Shriners Open.
- This is an event that has thrown up huge-priced winners in the past.
