The PGA Tour heads to the Sea Island Resort in Sea Island, Ga., for the RSM Classic, the eighth event of the 2018-19 wraparound season. Here’s the key info for this week’s event.
Golf course: The RSM Classic is hosted by Davis Love III at Sea Island Golf Club, near the southern tip of St. Simons Island, Ga. For the fourth consecutive year, the first two rounds of the RSM Classic will be played over both the Seaside and Plantation Courses at Sea Island Golf Club, a move enacted with the expansion of the field from 132 to 156 players in 2015. The weekend will be played exclusively at Seaside. The 7,005-yard, par-70 Seaside course was originally designed in 1929 and was updated in 1999 by Tom Fazio. The Plantation Course was renovated by Rees Jones in 1998. The 6,907-yard, par-72 track played as the ninth-easiest to par on the PGA Tour last season.
Purse: $6.4 million ($1.152 million to winner).
TV schedule (all times Eastern): Golf Channel, Thursday-Sunday, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Live streaming: Click here to watch the action live, Thursday-Sunday, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Last year: Rookie Austin Cook defeated J.J. Spaun by four strokes to earn his first career PGA Tour win. Cook took a three-stroke lead into the final round and finished strong with birdies on three of his last four holes to seal the deal.
Notable tee times (all times Eastern):
10 a.m. Thursday (Plantation Course), 11 a.m. Friday (Seaside Course): Austin Cook, Kevin Kisner, Mackenzie Hughes
10:10 a.m. Thursday (Plantation), 11:10 a.m. Friday (Seaside): Cameron Champ, Patton Kizzire, Davis Love III
11:10 a.m. Thursday (Seaside), 10 a.m. Friday (Plantation): Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk
11:20 a.m. Thursday (Seaside), 10:10 a.m. Friday (Plantation): Chris Kirk, Robert Streb, Peter Uihlein
Key stats:
• The highest ranked players in the field this week are: No. 20 Webb Simpson, No. 34 Kevin Kisner, and No. 45 Brian Harman.
• Also in the field this week: 11 major champions, seven of the eight winners of this event (all except Heath Slocum), one winner on the PGA Tour this season (Cameron Champ), two members of the World Golf Hall of Fame (Ernie Els and Davis Love III) and one 2019 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee (Retief Goosen).
• Austin Cook is back as defending champion. The best finish by a defending champion is a tie for 4th by Chris Kirk in 2014.
• Five players have made this event the site of their first PGA Tour win: Tommy Gainey (2012), Robert Streb (2014), Kevin Kisner (2015), Mackenzie Hughes (2016), and Austin Cook (2017).
• This is the last official PGA Tour event of 2017. The season resumes in January at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
• In addition to prize money, the winner also receives 500 FedExCup points, a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, and invitations to the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions, Players, Masters, and PGA Championship.
• The tournament is run by the Davis Love Foundation and proceeds benefit the Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeast Georgia, and Birdies Fore Love. In its first eight years, the RSM Classic has raised more than $9 million for charities focused on children and families in need.
• This is the ninth playing of the RSM Classic. The inaugural event in October 2010 was won by Heath Slocum.
Stats and information provided by the Golf Channel editorial research unit
