Weekly Preview: The RSM Classic

The RSM Classic

Seaside Course
Sea Island, GA

The PGA Tour heads to Georgia for the final full-field event of the fall season.

We are now in the home stretch to the real off season in that all that remains after this week are a couple non-official events and then we start looking ahead to the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January. Yes, it's almost that time of year when we see the green grass in Hawaii and start to dream about the time that we can also get out there and golf again, well, those of us in the north anyway. This is also out last chance to look back at the fall season before it's forgotten, so what did we learn this fall? For starters, Viktor Hovland is not slowing down and could make a run at that elite level that Collin Morikawa joined this past season. Rory McIlroy proved he's not done yet as he posted yet another win, but will that equate to that elusive major win next year? And what of Sam Burns? Is this guy as good as he's looked over the past 12 months, or is he on an extended heater? There are plenty of things to look forward to next year and I can't wait. Actually, I can. It's good to have a break -- a real break -- at least once per year.

LAST YEAR

Robert Streb shot a final-round 68 on his way to a playoff victory over Kevin Kisner.

FAVORITES

Scottie Scheffler (14-1)

As has been the case most of the fall season, the favorite comes in at pretty long odds (relatively) and once again, Scheffler finds himself among the favorites. Outside the fact that he's the favorite, this will be Scheffler's best chance to win to date. Not only is the field fairly weak, but Scheffler comes in with some serious momentum. Scheffler finished solo-4th two starts back and T2 this past week at the Houston Open.

Webb Simpson (16-1)

There are a few spots every season where Simpson is a solid play, and this is certainly one of them. Simpson has made eight of nine cuts at this event, including a runner-up in 2019, a solo-3rd in 2018 and two more top-10s in total. He hasn't played that much this fall however, so it's hard to get a grip on his current form. His most recent start resulted in a T14 at The CJ Cup in mid-October.

Cameron Smith (18-1)

Smith is a first timer at this event, which can be good or bad, but for our purposes, it's just a big question mark. What we do know is that Smith has played well this fall. The only problem is, he's only played twice in the past two months. The good news is, one of those starts was this past week in Houston and Smith played well on his way to a top-15.

THE NEXT TIER

Corey Conners (25-1)

Remember this guy? Conners was supposed to be the one who broke through this past season and after a strong start in the fall, it looked like those premonitions were coming true, but Conners' pace fell a bit during the summer. Instead, it was Sam Burns who broke through and took over the role of the next big thing. With that said, Conners is still on the ascent and it's just a matter of when he starts to take off again.

Kevin Kisner (35-1)

Kisner's runner-up here last year was no fluke. He's made the cut here in seven of 10 starts and has finished top-10 five times. Among those instances, he has recorded a win, a runner-up and two other top-5s. That's the good news. The bad news is his current form, which includes a T54 and a MC this fall. With that said, he hasn't played since mid-October, so he may have ironed things out since then.

Brendon Todd (50-1)

I haven't played a hunch since Rickie Fowler early in the fall season and since that one paid off; I'm going back to the well here. Hunches are a strange thing, you can't put your finger on why you feel a certain way, but they are often based on some good information, you just can't pinpoint that info. In this case, Todd has some good metrics this week, including a T11 in his most recent start and a T4 here in 2019, but this pick is just based more on a hunch that anything else.

LONG SHOTS

Robert Streb (60-1)

I get it, it's tough to defend a title, but as we've seen this fall, it can be done. Now, Streb is no Viktor Hovland, but he's playing well coming into this week (T7 at the Houston Open this past week) and he's won this event twice! Yes, not only did he win this past year, but he also won here in 2014. It's not often you find someone with multiple wins and good form at 60-1.

Henrik Norlander (100-1)

It's longshot territory, so you aren't going to find glowing resumes down here. Let's start with the bad, Norlander's current form is not great, it's not terrible either though as he's made the cut in each of his five starts this fall, which includes a T4 in early October. The good? His track record here is pretty solid, including a T5 in 2019 and a runner-up in 2016.

ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES

Highly-owned Pick: Scottie Scheffler - Unless he wins this week or plays in an opposite-field event this season (he won't), this will likely be the shortest odds you see on Scheffler all season. This is a great chance for Scheffler to win as his nearest competition (Simpson), while solid, is not the player he was a couple years ago. This event is there for the taking.

Moderately-owned Pick: Webb Simpson - With his track record here and only one player ahead of him on the odds chart, this might be a spot that many OAD players pull the trigger on Simpson. Something to keep in mind with Simpson however is that there are a couple really good spots to use him in 2022, so make sure you love him in this spot, otherwise, look elsewhere.

Lightly-owned Pick: Robert Streb - Many OAD players will be scared off because he's the defending champ or because his name doesn't carry the cache of others in the field, but Streb is a great option this week, especially for those that are trying to avoid using the big names this fall.

Buyer Beware: Louis Oosthuizen - Oosthuizen enters this week at 25-1, which puts him just behind the favorites, but this doesn't look like a great spot for him. His track record here is not great as he's only played here twice, and his one good result happened in 2011. Oosthuizen has played twice this fall with decent results, but nothing that would suggest a run this week.

Last Week: Sungjae Im - T19 - $85,661

Season Total: $2,492,855

This Week: Scottie Scheffler - I thought hard about using Streb in this spot, but Scheffler just looks too good in this spot. I hate to lose Scheffler for 2022, but as mentioned earlier, I doubt he'll be better than 14-1 next year. Scheffler is on a roll coming into this week and he'll look to seize this golden opportunity to pick up his first PGA Tour win.

FANDUEL PICKS

Upper Range: Scottie Scheffler $12,000
Middle Range: Kevin Kisner $10,700
Lower Range: Henrik Norlander $8,800

SURVIVOR LEAGUES

Last Week: Sungjae Im - T19

Streak: 5

This Week: Scottie Scheffler - I thought about using...actually I didn't consider anyone else in this spot. I've hit five in a row by doubling-up, I'm not about to move away from that this week, especially with a red hot Scheffler available. Scheffler has only one start at this event, which isn't ideal for a Survivor pick, but the way he's playing right now, I can't see him missing the cut this week.