Here’s a quick review of the four aces south of the border, which meant cervezas for everybody.
If you thought 4 Aces was just the name of Dustin Johnson’s juggernaut of a team in LIV Golf, you’d be wrong. There were four aces this week at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, too.
The last time there were four holes-in-one in a single PGA Tour event? That would be at the 2019 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. What is it about the par-3s at El Camaleon Golf Club in Riviera Maya, Mexico, that serves up aces and opens the bars?
Here’s a quick review of the four aces south of the border, which meant cervezas for everybody.
The first five champs won by either one shot or in a playoff, and four of the last five winners have survived playoffs.
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — The Golden Isles got a taste of what normal feels like post-pandemic when the Florida-Georgia football game on Oct. 30 played to full capacity, which meant visitors, buzz and business.
Step two for a normal fall comes this week with the 12th playing of the RSM Classic at the Sea Island Club’s Seaside and Plantation Courses, which begins on Thursday and will be aired on Golf Channel from 1-4 p.m. through Sunday.
Florida-Georgia week on the Isles is about a rollicking good time for football fans, with garish displays of school colors, trash-talking and yes, imbibing at Frat Beach, Brogen’s, the Beachcomber or Gnat’s Landing, then again on game day in the parking lots of Jacksonville’s TIAA Bank Field.
This is golf, as laid-back a sport as it gets. But this week will come with a sense of urgency as a field of 156 players will tackle the windswept courses to pick up some extra cash and FedEx Cup points before the Tour goes dark for six weeks until early January.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t just as important to the area — and to tournament host Davis Love III, who said his initial vision for a PGA Tour event at the historic resort has gone beyond the hopes he had in 2010 when the winner didn’t get a full boat of 500 FedEx Cup points and didn’t get an invitation to the Masters.
“It’s grown a lot more than we ever expected,” said Love, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and two-time Players Champion. “It’s exceeded expectations, but that’s what happens at Sea Island and with a great team in our [Davis Love] foundation office.”
The tournament was a big money-maker for charity from the start, most notably the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeast Georgia and Special Olympics. This week, the tournament announced it has passed $25 million in charity.
And the golf has been dramatic — the first five champions won by either one shot or in playoffs, and four of the last five winners have survived playoffs.
The only time the issue wasn’t in doubt late on Sunday was in 2016 when Kevin Kisner won by six shots.
The tournament was elevated in 2014 when the PGA Tour created its “wraparound schedule,” making the fall events a part of the FedEx Cup and dangling the carrot of a trip to Augusta National with a victory.
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“Guys have realized over the last few years that you need to get some points in the fall if you want to win at the end,” Love said. “Every point counts so it’s important for guys to get to play. Obviously, we see that in our field this year.”
There will be 14 major champions starting on Thursday, including Adam Scott, Jason Day, Justin Rose, Webb Simpson and Louis Oosthuizen, along with U.S. Ryder Cup player Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Robert Streb.
Like many PGA Tour events in 2020, the RSM Classic was conducted without fans as Streb birdied the second playoff hole to beat Kisner.
But the fans are back and so are the family-oriented activities for the players, caddies, volunteers and their families, ranging from a charity wiffleball game between the players and wives, Southern Soul barbecue on the practice range, horseback-riding and beach trips for the kids.
There are two pro-ams this week, on Monday and Wednesday.
“It’s nice having the people back,” said Streb, whose two PGA Tour titles have come at the RSM Classic. “That little bit of extra energy, I think it’s fun for the players, too, and obviously the fans are kind of itching to get back out on the course.”
Love said last year’s event was “weird” — from no fans, masked volunteers and an injury that cost him the pleasure of teeing it up in his own event.
“Obviously the whole world’s been weird for a year and a half,” he said. “But nice to have the fans back, nice to have our sponsors back. RSM already had one pro-am event and several events outside, but several fun events at night. It’s moving along and we’re excited that things are back to normal and our community is going to get to come out and participate this year.”
Davis Love III plays a tee shot on the third hole during the first round of the 2019 RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort Seaside Course. (Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
The RSM Classic brings another round of revenue for South Georgia businesses during the tournament week. The Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau has estimated the economic impact of the golf tournament at around $10 million, with weekly attendance between 25,000-30,000.
Not bad, for a tournament Love envisioned as one similar to the Tour’s late-summer event in Callaway Gardens, another notable Georgia resort.
“We wanted it to be family-friendly, one that everybody likes to come and has a great time, show off Sea Island, show our community hospitality,” he said. “It’s more than just a golf tournament to them. It’s a family trip. Now we’ve got new young families like Trey Mullinax — can’t wait to get to Sea Island, can’t wait to go to Southern Soul Barbecue, can’t wait for his kids to see the ocean. That makes it even more special for us.”
Webb Simpson said his kids can’t wait for RSM week, mainly to visit the candy store at The Cloister.
“This is a destination spot for families to come and relax … there’s so much to do,” said Simpson, a father of five.
“Just a lot of good stuff here,” Streb said. “It’s been really good for me and my family, obviously a really cool venue and setup, and the Davis Love Foundation, they just run a great golf tournament.”
Consecutive winning weeks in Mexico and Houston, up 4.5 units over those two events, let’s keep it going.
After a week in Texas, the PGA Tour heads to the east coast for the RSM Classic. Robert Streb—yes, Robert Streb—returns as the defending champion after taking down Kevin Kisner in a playoff last season. Streb is in good form, recording a pair of top 10s in his last three starts.
Scottie Scheffler (+1200) enters the week as the betting favorite, and like Streb, is in fantastic form. After turning in a solo fourth in Mexico, the Texan was a red-hot Jason Kokrak away from capturing his first Tour win in Houston last week (Scheffler finished T-2).
Both courses will be used on Thursday and Friday, while weekend play will be exclusively on the Seaside course.
Weather
Day
Conditions
Chance of rain
Wind and direction
Tuesday
Sunny
1 percent
7 MPH (SE)
Wednesday
Mostly Sunny
7 percent
7 MPH (ENE)
Thursday
Partly Cloudy
19 percent
6 PMH (SE)
Friday
Partly Cloudy
9 percent
18 MPH (NNE)
Saturday
Partly Cloudy
17 percent
17 MPH (NE)
Sunday
Partly Cloudy
14 percent
13 MPH (NNE)
Key stats
Driving accuracy: I said it a few weeks ago, but on short golf courses, it’s important to find the fairway. Data Golf agrees with me, as it lists driving accuracy as the most important stat for the week.
Putting (Bermuda): If you listen to Twilight 9, or if you read the in-depth previews every week, you know what’s coming next. Some guys hate Bermuda greens, some love them. Just look at Kisner’s record at this place — dude loves Bermuda more than anyone on Earth.
Data Golf Information
Course Fit (compares golf courses based on the degree to which different golfer attributes — such as driving distance — to predict who performs well at each course – DataGolf): 1. TPC Twin Cities, 2. The Concession Golf Club, 3. Detroit Golf Club
Trending (among the players in the field): 1. Cameron Smith (last three starts: T-14, T-9, T-15), 2. Talor Gooch (T-5, T-11, 60), 3. Scottie Scheffler (T-38, 4, T-2)
Percent chance to win (based on course history, fit, trending, etc.): 1. Scottie Scheffler (5 percent), 2. Louis Oosthuizen (4.4 percent), 3. Cameron Smith (4.3 percent)
Scottie Scheffler plays his shot from the 14th tee during the second round of the Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course on November 12, 2021, in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
He’s going back on the card. He’s hot. I refuse to be off the Scheffler bandwagon when he finally gets it done. He led going into the final round in Mexico, but couldn’t overcome Kokrak, finishing T-2.
Scheffler has made just one start at the RSM Classic, but he cashed a T-5. A week before his runner-up in his home state, Scheffler finished solo 4th in Mexico.
Russell Henley — Top 20 (+150)
Russell Henley watches his tee shot on the sixteenth hole during the third round of the Wyndham Championship. Photo by Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
When he’s on a heater, you have to bet the heater. He played well in Houston and cashed a T-7. He finished T-30 at this event last season, but grabbed consecutive top 10s in 2016 and 2015. Not much else to say, let’s go, Henley.
Robert Streb — Top 20 (+320)
Robert Streb celebrates with the trophy after winning in a sudden-death playoff against Kevin Kisner during the final round of The RSM Classic at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club on November 22, 2020, in St Simons Island, Georgia. Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Value play! And what a value play it is. Streb is in great form with two top 10s in his last three starts. He’s won at this golf course twice, his only wins on Tour, including last season. Form + course history = top 20? I think so.
2015 champion Kevin Kisner leads our fantasy golf rankings.
After a week in Houston, the PGA Tour heads to the east coast for the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Last year, Robert Streb was able to take home the hardware after making birdie on the second playoff hole to win over 2015 champion, Kevin Kisner.
Scottie Scheffler (+1200) is the betting favorite fresh off the heels of a runner-up finish to Jason Kokrak last week at the Houston Open. The Texan is still looking for his first PGA Tour win, but with the way he’s been playing, it looks to be coming soon.
Like the Farmers Insurance Open, the RSM Classic utilizes two golf courses over the first two days: The Seaside course (par 70, 7,005), and the Plantation course (par 72, 7,060). The weekend, however, will be played on the Seaside course.
Kevin Kisner plays his shot from the 14th tee during the final round of The RSM Classic at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club on November 22, 2020, in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
It wouldn’t be right to start this list with anyone else. In his last six appearances at Sea Island, Kisner has missed the cut twice. But, when he’s made it to the weekend, he hasn’t finish outside the top 10. That record includes a win, a solo runner-up, and a tie for fourth. He’s only played in two events so far this season, with a missed cut at the Shriners, and a tie for 54th in Vegas at the CJ Cup.
Scottie Scheffler (+1200)
Just another name that simply had to be on this list. Scheffler is playing fantastic golf with a T-2 in Houston, and a week before in Mexico, posted a T-4. The Ryder Cupper played in this event back in 2019, his only appearance in the RSM, and finished T-5.
Webb Simpson (+1300)
This just feels like an event Simpson will win at some point. The 2018 Players champion has teed it up in just three events this season, but played well in Las Vegas resulting in a T-14 at the CJ Cup. He was the solo runner-up here in 2019, and finished solo third in 2018.
Cameron Smith (+1500)
Cameron Smith looks on from the 13th fairway during a practice round of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)
I said it last week. He’s due. Smith followed his top 10 at the CJ Cup with a T-15 at the Houston Open. He’s never played in the RSM Classic, but his game travels. Good iron play, and the ability to roll the rock fits perfectly at the Seaside course.
Robert Streb (+7000)
Don’t look now, but the defending champion is trending in the right direction prior to this week’s title defense: T-9 at the CJ Cup in a loaded field, and a T-7 at the Houston Open. Streb has two wins on the PGA Tour, both at Sea Island.
Doug Ghim (+10000)
One of the value picks for the week. Ghim cashed in a top 30 performance in Houston over the weekend, and has made all but one cut in five starts this season. Last year, Ghim grabbed a top 20 at this event.
Corey Conners (+2000)
The Canadian hasn’t played much golf this season with his last start coming more than a month ago at the Shriners (T-40). Conners is three-for-three making the weekend at the RSM, highlighted by a T-10 last season. His game travels as well as anyone on Tour, so don’t be surprised if he makes a run in Georgia.
Denny McCarthy (+9000)
Another value play for you. McCarthy is off to a hot start to his 2021-22 campaign with three top 20s in his last five events. The Florida resident missed the cut at the RSM last season, but cashed in a top 10 in 2019.
Russell Henley (+2000)
Russell Henley of the United States lines up a putt on the 17th green during the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba on El Camaleon golf course on November 06, 2021, in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Henley is playing really good golf. He started his season with back-to-back top 25 finishes, and is coming off a top 10 at the Houston Open. His results at the RSM have been a mixed bag with consecutive missed cuts in 2018 and 2019, but last season broke the streak with a T-30. Henley finished T-10 in 2016, and T-6 in 2015.
Luke List (+7000)
When List has made it to the weekend this season on Tour, he’s finished inside the top 20 three of four times. He’s missed two cuts, but in both instances, was under par over his first two rounds. Back in 2018, List finished T-4 at the RSM. The Georgia resident should feel right at home this week.
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Appropriately, Streb went on a heater to start this week’s PGA Tour stop in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – Talk about a heater.
Robert Streb might have wanted to be sitting at a blackjack table on the Las Vegas Strip Thursday morning considering how hot he was running, but the emerald felt at the Summit worked out just fine for his blistering ways.
With no wind whistling about this sun-drenched desert layout, and his hot hand working off the tees, from the fairways and on the greens, Streb lit up the scoreboard with a record-tying start in the CJ Cup.
The two-time PGA Tour winner started birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie before missing a 13-footer for birdie on the par-3 seventh. He got up and down for par from just off the green on the eighth hole and two-putted for par from 26 feet on the ninth to make the turn with a 7-under 29.
He leads by three shots in the early going.
With his five birdies and an eagle, Streb joined Brandt Snedeker (first round of the 2007 Farmers Insurance Open) as the only two players to start a PGA Tour event 7 under through six holes in the ShotLink era.
Streb also made a run at Corey Pavin’s nine-hole PGA Tour record. Pavin shot 9-under 26 on the front nine in the first round of the 2005 U.S. Bank Championship.
He made birdie putts of 7, 6, 17, 4 and 3 feet and canned a 12-footer for eagle on the third hole. Streb, who won the 2015 McGladrey Classic and 2021 RSM Classic, didn’t miss a fairway in regulation and missed just one green in regulation on the front nine.
Streb’s lowest round on the PGA Tour is 63, which he has shot five times.
Stewart Cink ended an 11-year winless streak at the Safeway Open and he’s not alone in getting off the schneid during the 2020-21 season.
That winning feeling never grows old.
Robert Streb, 33, was the most recent PGA Tour winner, nearly holing out his approach to win a playoff over Kevin Kisner at the RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort. It was his first victory in six years and 165 starts. … since the 2014 RSM Classic, or what was then known as the McGladrey Classic.
It continued a current trend of Tour winners finding the winner’s circle after a long dry spell.
Streb’s victory drought was nothing compared to Stewart Cink, who was ranked No. 319 in the world when he claimed the season opener at the Safeway Open. Cink was the first and Streb the latest of five players in the first nine tournaments of the wrap-around season who were ranked outside the top 300 in the world at the time of their victory and hadn’t tasted victory in several years.
For Cink it had been 11 long years since he had won the 2009 British Open, while Martin Laird and Brian Gay had waited seven years respectively between wins (Laird at the Shriners Hospitals to 2013 Valero Texas Open and Gay at the Bermuda Championship to 2013 Humana Challenge). That itch for victory can make the reward even more gratifying, even if the payoff for all the hard work took only half the time for Hudson Swafford, who won the Corales Puntacana Open (2017 American Express) and Sergio Garcia, Sanderson Farms (2017 Masters).
Stewart Cink celebrates with the trophy after winning the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort on September 13, 2020 in Napa, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
“We’re all so close out here,” Cink said. “If you just elevate a couple of little areas in your game and just get a little bit better, then you find yourself in contention or winning. If you go the other way, you find yourself on the outside of the cut or having a bunch of 50th-place finishes. It’s just that close.”
40-somethings
Early-season winners also feature the 40-something brigade. Garcia (40), Cink (47) and Gay (48) turning back the clocks could be just the inspiration these golfers need to get over the hump and hoist another trophy:
Lucas Glover (41), last win: 2011 Wells Fargo Championship
Luke Donald, (42), last win: 2012 Transitions Championship
Kevin Streelman (42), last win: 2014 Travelers Championship
Rory Sabbatini (44), last win: 2011 Honda Classic
“It would be huge,” Sabbatini said of what win No. 7 would mean to him at this stage in his career. “I’m in that dwindling stage of my career. To be out here and still be able to compete is something I’m very happy about.”
A quartet of late 30-somethings also are trying to knock on victory’s door again. Hunter Mahan (38), a six-time Tour winner who reached No. 4 in the world in April 2012, hasn’t won since the 2014 Barclays while Camilo Villegas (38), has suffered a similar drought (2014 Wyndham Championship) and would be the sentimental choice after losing his daughter to cancer in July.
Has it really been since the 2012 Barclays that Nick Watney (39) has KO’d a field? And yet his time without a victory is eclipsed in this week’s Mayakoba field by K.J. Choi (50 – 2011 Players Championship), Bo Van Pelt (45), whose only title was at the long-defunct 2009 U.S. Bank Championship, and D.J. Trahan (39), who won so long ago that Bob Hope’s name still adorned the tournament title: 2008 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
Martin Laird celebrates with the trophy after winning the Shriners Hospitals For Children Open at TPC Summerlin on October 11, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada to end his seven-year winless drought. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
What pro may have the best chance to get off the schneid this week at the Mayakoba Golf Classic?
How about Harris English (31), who will try to pull a Robert Streb and win at the same tournament he last won only seven years later to top Streb’s six-year wait. It was at the 2013 Mayakoba where English captured his second Tour title and the world seemed like his oyster. The only other player 25 years old or younger at the time with two Tour titles was Rory McIlroy. English, however, took a step back as he went through a myriad of swing instructors looking for a quick fix. He revived his career last year and recorded his fifth top-10 finish in the past 12 months at the RSM Classic (T-6) since finishing fifth at Mayakoba a year ago. He’s surged to No. 33 in the world, which is counter to the trend of world No. 300 and above winning, but all that’s left for him to achieve is that elusive victory.
“If I keep getting myself in these positions, it’s going to happen,” English said.
Maybe even this week and at the site of his last triumph.
With no wind on Sunday, golfers attacked the Seaside Course in the final round. Only 12 of the 65 golfers were unable to break 70.
Cameron Tringale and Harris English roared through the final round of the RSM Classic on Sunday, each posting 8-under 62 at a windless Sea Island Resort’s Seaside Course to make a run to the top of the leaderboard.
The course could be had on Sunday as 53 of the 65 golfers shot in the 60s on the par-70 layout.
That included third-round leader Robert Streb, who shot a 68, and Kevin Kisner, who fired a 63. After Streb missed a birdie putt on 18, he and Kisner, two former RSM champs, went to a playoff.
After each golfer parred the first playoff hole, Streb almost holed out from the fairway with his second shot on 17, the ball rolling over the left side of the cup and stopping inches away. Kisner flew the green and needed to chip in for birdie to extend the event to a third playoff hole but could not.
Streb tapped in for birdie to nab his first PGA Tour win since he won the RSM in 2014 when the event was called the McGladrey Classic. He shot in the 60s all four days (65-63-67-68) after having done so just three times in 12 rounds this season entering the tournament.
Kisner, who is now 0-for-5 in playoffs, was seeking his fifth win on Tour.
Tringale finished solo third. Bernd Wiesberger and Andrew Landry finished T-4 at 17 under. English, Camilo Villegas, Kyle Stanley and Zach Johnson finished T-6 at 16 under.
Corey Conners and Patton Kizzire finished T-10 at 15 under.
The PGA Tour is off next week for Thanksgiving. The final official event on the 2020 calendar is Dec. 3-6 at the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico. The QBE Shootout, an unofficial event in Naples, Florida, is Dec. 11-13.
Robert Streb fired a 3-under 67 to take a three-stroke lead headed into the final round of the RSM Classic.
SAINT SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Six years ago, the night before the final round of the RSM Classic during which Robert Streb enjoyed a putting day for the ages at Sea Island Resort’s Seaside Course, he enjoyed ice cream at Dairy Queen. The flavor is long forgotten and that Dairy Queen is now a burger joint called Frosty’s (partially owned by Davis Love), but the next day Streb shot 63 and won his first and only PGA Tour title, one-putting 11 greens on his way to a playoff victory.
Six years later, Streb is poised to have another ice cream celebration. He has made sure to treat himself to ice cream every night this week – “probably a large,” he said – and he said he’d definitely be going after shooting 3-under 67 to take a three-stroke lead over Zach Johnson and Bronson Burgoon heading into the final round of the RSM Classic.
“I’ve just been doing like a chocolate-vanilla and caramel or something,” he said.
Six years ago when he was victorious at what was then called the McGladrey Classic, Streb’s wife Maggie was pregnant with their first child. They have added a son, David, who is 2½, and this is the first week the Streb family has joined him. To really make it a family affair, Streb also has his in-laws with him to lend a helping hand, and away from the course the Streb’s have enjoyed some beach time while staying amid the Golden Isles.
“My problem is when I hit the beach, I want to plop down with a cooler of beer,” he said.
Who can blame him? On a postcard-perfect breezy day that attracted bass-fishing rigs in and around the marshland, Streb got off to a nervy start, snap-hooking his opening tee shot into a native area before scrambling for par, and while it wasn’t pretty, he managed to par the first seven holes. Colombia’s Camilo Villegas briefly tied him for the lead at the par-5 eighth hole, but Streb answered with a birdie of his own and turned in 1-under 34. On No. 10, Streb wedged to 8 feet and, putting through his shadow, canned the birdie putt. When Villegas took three putts at the same hole, Streb’s lead stretched to three and he tacked on one last birdie at the par-5 15th to improve to 17-under 195, tying the record for the largest 54-hole lead in tournament history.
Streb, 33, had only shot in the 60s three times in 12 rounds this season entering the RSM, but now he’s done it three days in a row. He may need to turn the trick one more time to become the tournament’s first two-time winner. Local resident Zach Johnson (-14), who is seeking his 13th Tour title, tied Emiliano Grillo (-13) and Andrew Landry (-11) for the low round of the day with a 65. Johnson’s round included bookend birdies – a 42-foot birdie putt on the first hole and a 32-foot birdie putt at 18, that Johnson called, “a gift.” Kevin Kisner, who won the RSM Classic in 2015, posted a bogey-free 66 and will be going for broke tomorrow.
“Just can’t get the lead too far away,” he said. “I think we’re going to have less wind tomorrow and it’s going to be a shootout.”
Camilo Villegas got to 14 under before backing up to 12 under and posting an even-par 70.
Streb handled adversity well early in his round on Saturday and he’s definitely got good vibes at Sea Island, home of the only tournament where there is a champion’s banner hanging for his previous victory. He’d like to add another one of those – almost as much as he’d like to have another ice cream cone.
