by The Tour heads to the final official event of the 2017 calendar year at the RSM Classic at Sea Island. Players will each play on two different courses during the first two days of competition. This change was made a few years ago to allow some of the rookies another start before the all-important reshuffle which will determine how many events a player may get into during the first few months of the year. Both of these courses will yield a lot of birdies, and I expect the winner to be around -20 this week. Many players have ties to the area or past success on these courses.
DraftKings
Chesson Hadley $10,300
Hadley withdrew during the third round last week and destroyed a lot of lineups as he was highly owned based on his recent stellar play. I look for some people to skip over him this week at $10,300 as they go for Harman, Kisner or Simpson. I will gladly roster him in large field tournaments as I expect him to be around 10% owned which could pay off massively if he has a high finish this week.
Ollie Schniederjans $9,900
Ollie was scheduled to play Mayakoba last week but withdrew before the start of the event. He now heads to a course that brings back good memories for him. He won the 2009 Jones Cup Junior Invitational which was played on the Seaside course here at Sea Island which is used for three of the four rounds. He also finished sixth here a year ago.
Jamie Lovemark $8,400
Lovemark has finished in the top ten in both of his visits to Sea Island. I hope some people decide not to play him this week since he missed the cut in his last event (Shriners). I expect Lovemark to get a victory in the 2017-18 season and this week will is an opportunity.
Stewart Cink $7,700
Cink missed the cut last week by a shot and burned a lot of people as he was a popular choice at Mayakoba. I think this may depress his ownership a bit even though this week is a better fit for him. Cink trained at Sea Island and finished in the top ten here a year ago.
One-and-Done
Brian Harman
Harman is a resident of Sea Island who is looking to pick up a victory on home soil this week. He is coming into this event in good form off of an eighth at the HSBC and a fifth at the CJ Cup. Harman has missed his last two cuts at this event, but I think he is a completely different player now after that very successful 2017 campaign.
Patton Kizzire
Kizzire is another resident of Sea Island who would love to win this week. Arguably no one is coming into this event in better form. He won last week in Mayakoba and had top ten finishes in the two starts before that. The only question is whether there will be any letdown after the emotional high last week?
Scott Brown
Brown loves playing on short, easy courses that are near water (Mayakoba, Puerto Rico, etc.). He has top 20 finishes in three of his last four starts at Sea Island. He is coming into this event in good form finishing sixth last week at Mayakoba.
Longshots to Win
Beau Hossler 66-1 to win
Hossler has had some success on the island winning the 2016 Jones Cup at the nearby Ocean Forest Club. I’m hoping he can parlay his knowledge of playing in the area with his recent solid play and give a run at his maiden victory on Tour. It’s only a matter of when not if Hossler wins on Tour.
Chad Campbell 175-1 to win, 16-1 top ten
Campbell is my favorite bet of the week for a top ten at 16-1. He has great course history with finishes of 13th, 9th, 41st, 36th and 7th in the last five years. Campbell’s recent non-stellar play has lowered his odds significantly. I’m ok with that as Campbell showed solid play during the middle of last year and I expect him to return to form this week.
