RSM CLASSIC: The PGA Tour’s final full-field event of 2024 gets underway this week from lovely Sea Island, Georgia, a little slice of heaven near the Georgia/Florida line that is home to dozens of professional golfers, several of whom will be teeing it up this week. If you’ve never been to Sea Island and you love golf and/or nature, you should do yourself a favor and book a few nights at the Lodge. It’s a top shelf experience that is still a little under the radar compared to some other coastal destinations, so there’s no touristy vibe, no crowds.
There are two courses onsite, Seaside and Plantation, and though both will be used this week, the majority of the action, including all play on Saturday and Sunday, will take place at Seaside, a Tom Fazio design that winds through the marshy wetlands. It’s fairly short by Tour standards, tipping out at just over 7,000 yards, though it’s a par-70 with only two par-5s, so you have to earn your birdies. It’s wind-exposed and has a bit of a links feel in spots, and the firm, undulating green complexes make things challenging for the players, especially when the wind is whipping. The Plantation course, which everyone will play either Thursday or Friday, is a more conventional, tree-lined layout that is short and tight — the driver won’t leave the bag much. Birdie opportunities abound on both courses and scores are always low here, with the champion posting 19-under or better in 8 of the past 9 years and young phenom Ludvig Aberg going bananas last year and firing 29-under 253, a new tournament record.
Aberg is back to defend, and though this field is a little light on star power, it’s pretty strong compared to some of the other Fall Series events, with names like Davis Thompson, Si Woo Kim, and Brian Harman joining Aberg atop BETDAQ’s Win Market. This has traditionally been a week for the underdog, with 5 of 7 champions prior to last year starting the week as triple-digit longshots, but Aberg turned that history on its head en route to breaking the tournament record by 7 shots. He may just do it again, but considering this is his first event back since knee surgery and a 4-week break from golf, I’ll be putting my money elsewhere. Here’s what I’m thinking:
WIN MARKET
Recommendations to BACK (odds in parenthesis)
Denny McCarthy (26.0)- McCarthy is the best putter in the world, so the more difficult the greens, the better. The Seaside course is known for its super-slick undulating putting surfaces, and since it’s a fairly straightforward tee-to-green layout, navigating the greens and the difficult pin positions is what will separate the contenders from the also-rans this week. It should come as no surprise, then, that McCarthy has enjoyed tremendous success at this tournament, finding the top-10 in 3 of the past 5 years and finishing T5 last year. Though he hasn’t teed it up in competition in a few weeks, he was last seen in good form and has finished 26th or better in 3 of his past 5 starts, including a pair of top-10s in that span. He’s a blue-chip option this week and is reasonably priced at 26.0.
Eric Cole (50.0)- I backed Cole here last year and he nearly got the job done, posting 22-under and finishing third. A Florida boy who grew up on water-lined, Bermuda-covered courses just like Sea Island, Cole plays his best golf in the Southeast and is always a threat on courses where length off the tee is largely irrelevant. He teed it up at a course like that last month in Mississippi, finishing T16 at the Sanderson Farms, and then he went overseas and finished 6th at the ZOZO in his last start. He’s had a couple of weeks to rest and refocus so he should be primed and ready to give this tournament another run. At a price like 50.0, Cole might be the best value on the board this week.
William McGirt (112.0)- A 45-year-old journeyman who no longer has full playing privileges on Tour, McGirt would make a great story if he were to somehow win this week, and that scenario isn’t quite as farfetched as his price here would indicate. Like Cole, McGirt grew up on the Bermuda-covered courses of the Southeast and has historically played his best golf in the region. He’s never missed a cut at this event in five career appearances and his T28 last year was his best finish since an 8th-place showing in 2017. He made the cut and finished T37 in Bermuda last week, so we know his game is in decent shape and, unlike some others in the field, he won’t have a few weeks’ worth of rust to work off. Longshots have historically fared well in this tournament and McGirt is a live one at a triple-digit price. He’s worth a bet.
