Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: The Houston Open (Jason Kokrak)
THIS WEEK: The RSM Classic, Sea Island, Ga., Nov. 18-21
Course: Sea Island Golf Club; Seaside, Plantation Courses (Par 70, 7,005 yards)
Purse: $7.2M (Winner: $1.296M)
Defending Champion: Robert Streb
FedEx Cup Leader: Sam Burns
HOW TO WATCH
TV: Thursday-Friday, 12-3 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (Golf Channel)
PGA Tour Live: Thursday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (Featured Groups)
NOTES: This is the final PGA Tour event of the year, with the season resuming at the Tournament of Champions in January. … Both of Streb’s PGA Tour victories have come at Sea Island, the first being in 2014. … Among the numerous tour players who reside in Sea Island are Harris English, Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson, Brian Harman, Patton Kizzire, Keith Mitchell and J.T. Poston. … Team USA Presidents Cup captain Davis Love III is the tournament host. He is also playing after sitting out last year due to a neck injury. Love and his brother Mark redesigned the Plantation Course in 2019, while the Seaside Course was renovated by Tom Fazio. … Sponsor exemptions including Vaughn Taylor, Camilo Villegas, Ludvig Aberg and Davis Thompson. Villegas lost in a playoff in 2016 and finished T6 last year; Aberg plays for Texas Tech and is the third-ranked amateur in the world; Thompson is the son of tournament director Todd Thompson; Davis played for the United States in this year’s Walker Cup.
BEST BETS: Scottie Scheffler (+1000 at DraftKings) shot a course-record 62 in the second round last week following a fourth-place finish in Mexico the previous week. … Cameron Smith (+1400) has four top-10s during a streak of nine consecutive made cuts and is coming off a T15 last week. … Louis Oosthuizen (+1600) is the top-ranked player in the field at No. 9. He has put together an excellent year, but one lacking a win thus far. … Webb Simpson (+1800) lost in a playoff at Sea Island in 2019. He has slipped to No. 26 in the world but did finish T14 in his most recent start at The CJ Cup. … English (+2500) knows the course well but hasn’t finished four rounds in an event since the Tour Championship. … Adam Scott (+3500) is making his event debut and offers appealing odds. He is coming off a T54 following a T5 at The CJ Cup. … Kevin Kisner (+4000) set the tournament scoring record of 260 in 2015 and finished second last year in a playoff. … Mackenzie Hughes (+5000) won his lone tour event to date at Sea Island in 2016, winning a four-way playoff that finished on Monday due to darkness.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Hero World Challenge, Albany, New Providence, Bahamas, Dec. 2-5
LPGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Pelican Women’s Championship (Nelly Korda)
THIS WEEK: CME Group Tour Championship, Naples, Fla., Nov. 18-21
Course: Tiburon Golf Club (Par 72, 6,556 yards)
Purse: $5.0M (Winner: $1.5M)
Defending Champion: Jin Young Ko
Race to the CME Globe leader: Ko
HOW TO WATCH
TV: Thursday-Friday, 3-5 p.m. ET (Golf Channel; Saturday, 4-7 p.m. (GC, tape delayed); Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (NBC)
STREAMING: Thursday-Saturday, 2-5 p.m. ET; Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (NBC Sports app and golfchannel.com)
NOTES: This is the final event of 2021 and the season-long Race to the CME Globe. The field includes the top 60 players in the points standings competing in a 72-hole, no-cut event for the largest prize in women’s golf. … Ko won by five shots last year over 2019 champion Sei Young Kim and Charley Hull. Ko and Korda each have four victories this year, with Ko entering the finale with a slim 100-point advantage. … Hull holds the tournament scoring record of 19-under, 269 set in 2016. … Korda leads the tour in 2021 earnings ($2.24M) and scoring average (68.845). … Patty Tavatanakit has clinched the Rookie of the Year and Rolex Annika Major awards. … The average age of winners on tour this year is 25.29. … The event’s purse will increase to $7 million next year, with the winner earning $2 million. … Inbee Park is the only winner this year who is not in the field.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Charles Schwab Cup Championship (Phil Mickelson; Bernhard Langer won season-long title)
THIS WEEK: OFF.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: PNC Championship, Orlando, Dec. 17-19
–Field Level Media
