The penultimate PGA Tour event of 2020 takes place this week when the roadshow heads a couple of hours down from Augusta to Sea Island for the RSM Classic, an event which is usually popular with a number of mainstays on the circuit.
Tyler Duncan shocked one of them in a play-off last year to win this title for the first time and he will be looking to hold on to his crown here. Given the time of year and the fact it comes straight after a major a more than acceptable field opposes him.
Recent Winners
2019 – Tyler Duncan
2018 – Charles Howell III
2017 – Austin Cook
2016 – Mackenzie Hughes
2015 – Kevin Kisner
2014 – Robert Streb
2013 – Chris Kirk
2012 – Tommy Gainey
2011 – Ben Crane
2010 – Heath Slocum
The Courses
There are two courses in use for this tournament. The Seaside Course and the Plantation Course are the two in use. Three of the four rounds take place on the Seaside Course with the other on the Plantation track. Neither course is especially long so if the wind isn’t blowing they can both be got after. The Seaside Course is a par 70 that measures 7,005 yards while the Plantation Course is a par 72 which goes up to 7,060 yards. It has four par fives on it so they have to be taken care of.
These are courses where accuracy matters more than length although in truth there is no great demand off the tee. The key comes in firing at flags and holing putts in what are generally low scoring tournaments. The wind is expected to play a part in the early part of the tournament so having players who can do well in the wind is a pre-requisite. There is no rough though so it may pay to go with form horses here.
The Field
There is a more than decent enough field who have taken the opportunity to make the short drive from Augusta to Sea Island this week and they are headed by Webb Simpson who will be looking to get his hands on the title. Former winners here who are in the field against include Mackenzie Hughes, Austin Cook and Kevin Kisner and there is something of a European explosion into the competition with no big event on the other side of the pond this week.
They include Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry, Lee Westwood, Alex Noren and Justin Rose while the likes of Sungjae Im and Dylan Frittelli will be looking on good showings at Augusta. International stars such as Jason Day, Louis Oosthuizen and Adam Scott are also here as are form horses such as Russell Henley, Harris English, Corey Conners and Jason Kokrak in what is a very competitive event.
Market Leaders
Webb Simpson is the 9/1 favourite to finally get his hands on this title. He is the class act in the field I think it is fair to say but with the wind in play and the two course element to the tournament there is more than a lottery feel about this event and that would immediately put me off backing anyone at a short price, particularly after the dreadful experience we had with one last week. I’m not sure Simpson is that far ahead of this field that he justifies being this short. He isn’t for me here.
Tyrrell Hatton comes next in the betting at 18/1. I’m not necessarily going to ignore him off the back of that missed cut at Augusta last week as his record there is terrible but it does suggest that he might be coming off the tip of his form which would be a concern. I’m not saying that he can’t win but he’s no better than fairly priced in my eyes now and while I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes in I’m no fan of the price so I’ll leave him alone too.
Sungjae Im pushed Dustin Johnson as close as anyone last week and he is 20/1 to back that up with his second PGA Tour title this week. You’ve got to think those four rounds will have taken a fair bit out of him though and I wouldn’t be surprised to see something of a comedown from that here. His putting was excellent at Augusta but I’m still not convinced he’s a decent putter which you need to be this week. Plenty of poor putters have gone well around Augusta in the past. Either way as much as I like Im the comedown is too much of a concern for me.
Russell Henley and Tommy Fleetwood are both next in the betting at 25/1. You would have to give both a decent shot here too. Henley has been in good form for a while and this sort of title would certainly not be beyond the grasp of someone who putts as well as he does. It is the putter that is the concern for Fleetwood although we know his tee to green game is in top order, it always is. He can play perfectly adequately in the wind as well. That putter is enough of a concern to leave him alone though.
Main Bets
I’ve been impressed with Sebastian Munoz for a while now and this could be the week to take him. Time will tell whether his poor final round was a bad day at the office or the going getting a little tough for him but he has really impressed in recent times. He still finished in the top 20 last week which shows how good he was for 54 holes and prior to that he had top 15 finishes at the CJ Cup and the Zozo Championship in absolutely loaded fields on tougher tracks than this. Munoz was third here last year so we know that he can handle these tracks and most South American players can play in the wind which is another positive. Since the FedEx Play-offs last season Munoz has been in decent form and I fancy he can land the title here.
Mackenzie Hughes has already won the title around here having landed the crown back in 2016 and he looks in the sort of form which suggests another strong tilt at winning can be expected this week. It isn’t just the fact that he’s won around here which I like, his form since the restart is very much a positive. This season he has already finished third in the Dominican Republic and seventh in Houston and the two poor efforts in between just didn’t suit him at all. Last season he was second at The Honda Classic and went well in The Memorial as well and had a good run at the FedEx Play-offs. He ticks pretty much every box needed this week and is my second main bet.
Outsiders
I’ll chance three outsiders at varying prices with the first of those coming in the form of CT Pan, who had a very good Masters tournament. That might be a negative but I’ll pay to find out because the last time that Pan played Augusta he won the next week when he landed the RCB Heritage last term. That shows us that he can win at this level and we saw more than a few glimpses of that last week. Had it not been for a poor third round where he clearly tired having finished his second round earlier that day he might well have given Johnson a lot more to think about. He should be confident here as he has a couple of top 15 finishes in this tournament and looks well worth an outsider role in the staking plan.
Stewart Cink looks to be back to his best having won the Safeway Open at the start of the season. I was waiting to see if that was a one-off or whether he would follow that up somewhere and he has followed it up by coming fourth in the Bermuda Championship which further highlighted what we already knew in that he can play in the wind. We knew that anyway from where he won The Open back in the day. The missed cut at Houston last time out was a bit of a surprise but that was a different track so it might be that a return to familiar terrain is what is needed this week. Cink has a top 10 around here back in 2016 and you could argue his results since are irrelevant because his game hasn’t been in the shape it is now. I’ll add him to the staking plan and see where we go.
The other bet is on Peter Malnati who I’m absolutely convinced is going to go in at some point and you would think this is his best chance for a while because after the turn of the year the big guns will be out on beefy courses. Malnati has a poor record here. We need to get that out there but often in these events current form trumps that and he definitely has that. In his last three tournaments Malnati has finished T2, T5 and T21 with the latter coming in Bermuda where he opened with a 63 before he plateaued for the week. The game of Malnati looks in decent order and I’ll pay one last time to see if he lands the title here.
Tips
Back S.Munoz to win The RSM Classic (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 36.00 with Sky Bet (1/5 1-8)
Back C-T.Pan to win The RSM Classic (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Sky Bet (1/5 1-8)
Back P.Malnati to win The RSM Classic (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with Sky Bet (1/5 1-8)
Back M.Hughes to win The RSM Classic (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-8)
Back him here:
Back S.Cink to win The RSM Classic (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-8)
Back him here:
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