RSM Classic 2020: Preview and picks to win at Sea Island Golf Club

The PGA Tour heads to Sea Island this week for the 2020 RSM Classic

In the second to last event of the PGA’s swing season, the tour moves on to this week’s RSM Classic at Sea Island Golf Club in Georgia.

This week’s 156 man field includes some of the bigger names that played at last week’s Masters and will represent a stronger field than would normally be seen at this event. This includes a number of European players as they make the short trip south from Augusta this week.

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Some of the big names that will tee off this week at the RSM Classic include Webb Simpson, Tyrrell Hatton, Sungjae Im, Tommy Fleetwood, and Jason Day amongst others.

Past winners of this event include Tyler Duncan (2019), Charles Howell III (2018), Austin Cook (2017), and Mackenzie Hughes (2016).

The Courses at Sea Island Golf Club

This week’s RSM Classic is another of a few PGA tournament locations that use a multiple course rotation over its four days of play.

Golfers this week will rotate between the Seaside Course and the Plantation course over the first two days with the Seaside Course hosting the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday after the cut of top 65 and ties has been made at the halfway point.

Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course is a Par 70 that plays out at 7,005 yards and is a Tom Fazio re-design that features coastline views and presents golfers with a links course style experience.

The Plantation Course is a Par 72 that plays slightly longer at 7,062 yards and is slightly more inland, it will also present players with an additional two Par 5’s to score on.

Both courses feature Bermuda greens and overall will play as a second shot and putting contest with scoring likely to be favorable. There are also numerous Par 4’s with a majority of them playing between 400-450 yards.

Comparable courses could include, Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia, Harbour Town Golf Links, home of the RBC Heritage, and Waialae Country Club host to the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Matt Vincenzi provides a comprehensive overview of the stats that matter this week at the RSM Classic and I will be focusing on these statistics and more to make up my model for the week.

Best Bets at the RSM Classic

The odds used in this article can be found online at popular betting sites, check out Golf Bet of The Action Network for odds and more information on the best books available online local to you.

Unsurprisingly Webb Simpson +850 opens as the betting favorite this week. Coming off a tenth place finish last week at the Masters and with great history at this event including a second and a third-place finish in his last two starts at The RSM Classic, Simpson is a worthy favorite at the top of the board.

Webb is followed by Tyrrell Hatton +1600 who until last week had been in the form of his life and who produced an excellent finish at the RBC Heritage earlier in the year. Sungjae Im +2200 and Tommy Fleetwood +2500 close out the top of the board. Sungjae is coming off of an impressive runner-up finish in his first Masters and Fleetwood showed some form last week for the first time in a while on U.S. soil.

It’s Russell Henley +3000 who I’ll start this week’s card off with, however. Henley has been in fantastic form recently and he comes into this week’s RSM Classic on the back of three top-ten finishes in his last six starts.

Russell has gained at least three strokes or more with his approach shots over his last four events and he has placed inside the top ten of this event on three different occasions.

Henley is third in my model for the week and with success at both the Sony Open and RBC Heritage in the past will be my first add of the week.

I considered both Georgia Bulldogs Kisner and English in this range but I decided to back Sebastian Munoz +4500 instead who is coming off an impressive Masters last week where he flirted near the top of the board for much of the week before falling back on Sunday.

The Colombian has produced three straight finishes inside the top 20 over the last month and he was third at the RSM Classic last year.

Munoz is seventh in my model this week and he ranks inside the top 15 in both approach and Par 4 scoring from that 400-450 yard range.

A member of last year’s President’s Cup team C.T. Pan +7000 is my next addition to this week’s card. Pan is coming in this week fresh off an impressive 7th at last week’s Masters showing that he is coming in with great form.

C.T. is a former winner of the RBC Heritage back in 2019 in an event that is typically held the week after the Masters. He also has two top 15 finishes in this event over his last three starts and rates out well putting on Bermuda greens over his last eight rounds.

I’ll back Mackenzie Hughes +7000 at the same price next. Hughes excels in birdie fests and is consistently one of the best putters on tour. The Canadian ranks 4th in putting on Bermuda greens over his last eight rounds.

Mackenzie is coming off a 7th place finish in his last start and he is a former winner of the RSM Classic back in 2016.

I’ll take a shot with Sepp Straka +9000 next who despite poor recent showings at this event in his previous two starts at The RSM Classic has shown some nice form of late. Straka produced a 5th at the Houston Open in his last start and had a top 25 in the event prior to that.

The Austrian is another who played collegiate golf at the University of Georgia and he rates out sixth in my model this week. Straka traditionally struggles on the greens but showed improvement in that department in his last start when he gained over 6 strokes putting.

Finishing off this week’s card I’ll add Patton Kizzire +20000 who is a local resident of the area. Kizzire has shown signs of life recently with a 24th and an 11th in his previous two starts on tour.

He has made the cut in his previous three starts at The RSM Classic and has had success at similar courses in the past including winning the Sony Open in Hawaii back in 2018.

Next. The Masters: Winners and Losers from Augusta National. dark

Kizzire also ranks as the number one putter on Bermuda greens and I’ll take a chance that his fine recent form continues this week at a place he should know well.

RSM Classic betting card

Russell Henley +3000

Sebastian Munoz +4500

C.T. Pan +7000

Mackenzie Hughes +7000

Sepp Straka +9000

Patton Kizzire +20000

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