RSM Classic: Sea Island Resort set up perfectly for Tyrrell Hatton

Several of those who featured at last week’s Masters will head to Sea Island for The RSM Classic this week – the penultimate event of 2020.

Previous FedExCup champions Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker and Henrik Stenson lead the way along with a collection of major champions all looking to lift the trophy come Sunday.

Past Masters winners Danny Willett and Zach Johnson will be in attendance, along with Tyler Duncan, coming off his Masters debut, who will defend his maiden TOUR title.

Course/Field

JUSTIN ROSE TO WIN THE RSM CLASSIC: 41.00

Course: Sea Island Resort (Seaside)
Length: 7005 yards (Par 70)
Greens: Bermuda
Opened: 1929
Architect: Colt & Allison, redesigned by Tom Fazio in 1998

Due to the proximity to Augusta RSM will see by far its best field with particularly a lot of the top Europeans staying in Georgia and adding the tournament to their schedule.

As usual this tournament is played on two courses The Plantation Course (1 round) and The Seaside Course (3 rounds), for obvious reasons we will focus mostly on The Seaside course, but besides the fact that the Plantation Course is a parkland track the two courses share the same characteristics .

As is alluded to in the name, The Seaside course is a seaside links style course that is vulnerable to the weather.

WEBB SIMPSON TO WIN THE RSM CLASSIC: 10.00

This is a course that awards precision over length with tight undulating fairways and a lot of shortish Par 4s that will see players club down off the tee.

The Bermuda greens are large, undulating, and fast with shaved run off areas to protect them.

Over the past few years the winning score has hovered around -20 and with Kisner, Streb, Duncan and Howell among the past winners it tells me that good iron play and a hot putter are important success criteria’s around this course.

Ten of the twelve par 4s measure between 390-460 yards, three of the par 3s clocks in at over 200 yards and the course only has two par 5s that both are reachable by most golfers.

Here are some of the things I will be looking at/for:

Strokes gained approach
Strokes gained around the green
Bermuda putting
Par 4 scoring 400-450 yards
Proximity 125-175 yards
Birdies or better gained

Betting history

2019

Profit/Loss: +35.61 units , ROI: 121%

2020

Wagered: 54 units
Won: 10,62 units
Result: -43,38 units

Picks

Tyrrell Hatton @ 19.00
3pts to WIN

The Englishman has taken a step in 2020 from a good to a great player with two massive wins at the BMW PGA and The Arnold Palmer Invitational.

This course should set up perfectly for a guy who has won The Alfred Dunhill Links two times and is one of the best putters in the world.

I don’t put much stock into last weeks missed cut since he is yet to master Augusta, and besides that, he is in great form having produced four top 10s including a win in his last seven starts worldwide.

Harris English @ 29.00
2pts EW (1/4 the odds 5 places)

My second bet of the week is also a guy that has taken some promising steps as of late, with four top 12 finishes in his last seven starts including a runner up at The Northern Trust and an extremely impressive personal best in a major with a T4 at The U.S Open a couple of months ago.

Not being qualified for the Masters should see him come into this week well rested and hungry to end the year with his first win since 2013.

The course sets up nicely for a player who has become a world class putter, overperforms when it gets windy and who ranks in the top 3 in both around the green and birdies or better gained over the last 36 rounds.