1. Zach Johnson, United States — Johnson, playing for the first time since the Presidents Cup early last month, is the highest-ranked player in RSM Classic field at No. 10 in the world. It is a home game for Johnson since he lives near the course. He has played in all five previous editions of the tournament, with a tie for 12th in 2010 his best result thanks to a 66-68-67 finish. He also tied for 16th in 2014, when he again finished strong with 68-68-67, but he missed the cut in 2011 and last year. Johnson (pictured) Matt Kuchar, Justinbis coming off a terrific season in which he finished sixth in the FedEx Cup standings, with his playoff victory in the Open Championship at St. Andrews the highlight of 10 results in the top 10.
2. Matt Kuchar, United States — Kuchar dropped one spot to No. 17 in the World Golf Rankings after he closed with a 5-over-par 76 to tie for 68th last week in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. However, he is another player who is at home this week for the RSM Classic, and he finished in the top 25 in all four of his previous appearances at Sea Island Resort. Kuchar’s best result was a tie for seventh two years ago with scores of 68-68-68-66, which left him four strokes behind winner Chris Kirk. Kuchar has not won a tournament this year, the first time that has happened since 2011, but he did have seven finishes in the top 10 during the 2014-15 season, and he has a PGA Tour-best 55 dating to 2010.
3. Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland — After he got back into the winner’s circle with a playoff victory over Russell Knox of Scotland and Jason Bohn in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico, McDowell will try to finish off what had been a dismal year with another strong effort this week in the RSM Classic. He is playing at Sea Island Resort for only the second time, and he shot 70-71–141 to miss the cut by two strokes in 2011. Usually, he is playing in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai at this time of the year, but with only one top-10 finish on the Euro Tour in 2015, he did not make it past the opening event of the Final Series. However, that led him to his third PGA Tour victory in Mexico.
4, Justin Thomas, United States — After finishing second in the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year voting for the 2014-15 season, Thomas earned his first victory on the circuit earlier this month when he won the CIMB Classic by one stroke over Adam Scott of Australia. That plus a tie for third in the Frys.com Open and a tie for 27th in the WGC-HSBC Champions have him second behind Russell Knox of Scotland in the early FedEx Cup point standings. Thomas is playing at Sea Island Resort for the third time. He has not had much success there yet, finishing 71st last year despite shooting 66-67 in the middle rounds, after shooting 73-75–148 to miss the cut by seven strokes two years ago.
5. Kevin Kisner, United States — After losing in three playoffs during the 2014-15 season, Kisner still is looking for his first PGA Tour victory. He came close last year at Sea Island Resort. He recorded scores of 69-68-66-65 and wound up in a tie for fourth in what was then the McGladrey Classic, finishing two strokes out of the playoff in which Robert Streb defeated Brendon de Jonge and Will MacKenzie. Kisner also was in the hunt all the way two weeks ago in the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, holding the 36-hole lead at 64-66 before playing the weekend in 70-70 to wind up second, two strokes behind champion Russell Knox of Scotland. The two biggest of his five pro victories came in the 2010 Mylan Classic and the 2013 Chile Classic on what is now the Web.com Tour.
6. Peter Malnati, United States — Another of the first-time PGA Tour winners in the early stages of the 2015-16 season, Malnati is coming off his victory two weeks ago in the Sanderson Farms Championship. He beat David Toms and William McGirt by one stroke in Jackson, Miss., then tied for 10th in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico. He proved he could win on the Web.com Tour by capturing the 2013 News Sentinel Open and the 2015 Brasil Champions, the latter during a season in which he finished fourth on the regular-season money list to earn his ticket back to the PGA Tour after also having status on the big tour in 2014. Malnati is playing at Sea Island Resort for the first time this week.
7. Bill Haas, United States — Playing for the first time since helping the United States retain the Presidents Cup in South Korea on the team captained by his father, Jay, Haas is making his third appearance in what is now the RSM Classic. In 2010, he carded scores of 67-69-65-66 to finish one stroke behind winner Heath Slocum, who pulled out the victory with the help of a 60-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 16th hole in the final round. Haas, who also posted four scores in the 60s at Sea Island Resort last year to tie for 20th, claimed his sixth victory on the PGA Tour in the Humana Challenge last February for one of his five finishes in the top 10 and 12 in the top 25 during the 2014-15 season.
8. Brendon de Jonge, Zimbabwe — After playing four events at the start of the 2015-16 season, de Jonge has only one top-20 finish to show for it, a tie for 13th in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. However, he is headed for a place — Sea Island Resort — where he has finished 16th or better in four of his five previous starts. Last year, de Jonge posted scores of 68-64-69-65 but lost to Robert Streb on the second hole of a playoff and remained winless on the PGA Tour. He also posted four scores in the 60s in 2012 and tied for fourth, four strokes behind champion Tommy Gainey. De Jonge’s only victory as a pro came in the 2008 Xerox Classic on what is now the Web.com Tour.
9. Russell Henley, United States — After winning the 2013 Sony Open in Hawaii and the 2014 Honda Classic for his first two PGA Tour victories, Henley had his best chance to win for a third consecutive season when he held the lead after two rounds in what was then the McGladrey Classic last November with scores of 68-63. He closed with 68-69 and wound up in a tie for fourth, two shots out of the playoff in which Robert Streb beat Brendon de Jonge of Zimbabwe and Will MacKenzie. In his only other start at Sea Island Resort, he tied for 65th in 2014. Henley, whose best result in the 2014-15 season was a tie for third in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January at Kapaula, is coming off a tie for 10th in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.
10. Davis Love III, United States — Love has double duty this week as he is the playing host of the RSM Classic. He admits that playing at home in Sea Island, Ga., and dealing with his tournament duties make it difficult at times, as he missed the cut twice in five appearances. However, in Love’s only top-10 finish in his event, he was tied for the 54-hole lead with Jim Furyk in 2012 before closing with a 71 to tie for fourth, four shots behind Tommy Gainey — who closed with a 60. Love showed that he can still compete with the young guns at age 51 when he captured the Wyndham Classic in August. However, it has to make him feel a little older that his son, Dru, a 21-year-old junior at the University of Alabama is in the field this week on a sponsor’s exemption.
–Courtesy of The Sports Xchange, TSX Golf Editor Tom LaMarre
