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Conditions were just a bit different in the second round of the RSM Classic as the low scores of yesterday were long in the rear-view mirror. With both the Plantation Course and the Seaside Course playing about four-strokes more difficult on Friday, players who were unable to decipher the high winds were sent packing while those who were able to were sent to the top of the leaderboard.
Most notable was Talor Gooch as the recently turned 30-year-old has been one of the top golfers in the early parts of the 2021-2022 season. Despite hitting a few speed bumps over the last 54-holes of the Houston Open, Gooch arrived to Sea Island in arguably the best form of his career. Collecting two top-5 finishes and two top-11 finishes already this fall, the Oklahoma State product appears well on his way to yet another quality result.
When asked why he believes the results are starting to stack up, Gooch said, “It’s just comfortable, man. Like I said, for the last month I keep getting asked this. Obviously, I’m playing well, but I think my game has made a turn for some good stuff in some ways. And I’ve been working my butt off for years, but especially the last six, eight months with driving the ball and working my butt off with putting. For my game, if I can get in the fairway, as simple as it sounds, if I can get in the fairway, it’s just a matter of how many putts I’m going to make. Hopefully we can keep making putts and see if we can do some good this weekend.”
Sharing the round of the day on the slightly more difficult Seaside Course, Gooch turned in a 5-under 65 to go along with yesterday’s 8-under 64. Standing at 13-under, Gooch is the favorite at PointsBet Sportsbook at +300 and will take the solo lead into the weekend for the first time in his career. That should be music to his ears as the last five winners of the RSM Classic have all been in the same position and of course were able to convert it into a victory.
Leading by one-stroke over John Huh and first-round leader Sebastian Munoz, Gooch will have his work cut out for him in order to capture his first victory on the PGA Tour. Also looking for his first victory is Taylor Moore, our outright addition from last night’s article.
Carding a round of 5-under 65 on the Seaside Course as well, Moore had the shot of the day when he made a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th. When asked to talk through this shot, the former Arkansas Razorback said, “Yeah, obviously really exciting. Honestly, it’s a pretty perfect club, 8-iron from about 178 with wind off the right. Just started at that right bunker and let the wind do its job, and got a fortunate bounce. It looked like kind of like a fringe bounce. Yeah, we were able to see it from the tee, which is also really cool. Very excited to see it go in and awesome to make my first hole-in-one out here.”
It’s hard to say I wish Moore had gotten, well, more out of his round given the hole-in-one and a chip-in birdie, but he easily could be sitting next to Gooch on the leaderboard. A couple three-putts robbed the 28-year-old of a really special day as he sits two-strokes off the lead at 11-under.
In the other markets, we split our three-balls with Russell Knox coming through for us in a stress-free manner. Sam Ryder was in position to do the same before making the turn to his inward half. I am not sure who grabbed his clubs given we have no Strokes Gained data, but a back-nine of 9-over 45 derailed any hope of a perfect day.
Since we were a bit early on an outright addition, we will stick to three-balls for the third round. I don’t see anything on the odds board I love outside of the top names, so it is an easy pass heading into the weekend at the RSM Classic.
Updated Odds to Win (Odds Via PointsBet):
+300: Talor Gooch
+700: Sebastian Munoz
+800: John Huh
+900: Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Moore
+1200: Corey Conners
+1400: Seamus Power
+2500: Russell Henley, Zach Johnson
+3000: Cameron Smith, Scott Stallings
+4000: Tom Hoge
+5000: Scottie Scheffler
+6000: Webb Simpson
+6600: Justin Rose
+8000: Aaron Rai, Chez Reavie, David Skinns, Lee Hodges, Luke List
+10000: Adam Hadwin, Brendan Steele, Jim Herman, Keith Mitchell, Lanto Griffin, Matthias Schwab, Russell Knox
Round 3 Plays:
Matt Kuchar (+190) over Bill Haas and Patrick Rodgers
Wagering against Rodgers in Round 2 proved to be a fool’s errand as he filled us with regret courtesy of an even-par 72. Eight-strokes worse than his Thursday score on the Seaside Course, the former Stanford standout’s poor ball-striking finally caught up to him. I am willing to chance his woes continue into the weekend as there did not look to be much improvement in his second round having hit 7-of-14 fairways and 12-of-18 greens in regulation.
Leaving us to choose between Haas and Kuchar to right Ryder’s wrong, I can’t help but lean on my pre-tournament infatuation of Kuchar. The irons have yet to show up, but he typically gets the job done in an unconventional way to begin with. Steady around-the-green and posting +1.44 Strokes Gained: Putting on the Seaside Course in Round 1, simply put I have more faith in the 43-year-old than I do in Haas, especially if the irons start to cooperate.
Russell Knox (+300) over Adam Hadwin and Cameron Smith
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it as we will be going back to the well with the Scot in the third round. With similar conditions forecasted for tomorrow, Knox’s ball-striking prowess will be put to the test facing off against a couple of short-game specialists in Hadwin and Smith.
Connecting on 13-of-14 fairways and 16-of-18 greens in regulation, the 36-year-old continued to strike the ball beautifully on Friday and leads the field in GIR through the first two rounds. Carding a bogey-free 4-under 68 in difficult conditions, I believe more of the same will be in store tomorrow.
As Hadwin – who was the lone player in this threesome to play the Seaside Course on Friday – ranked sixth in SG: Around-the-Green and SG: Putting in Round 2. Putting together a round of 2-under 68, the Canadian struggled with his ball-striking, primarily off-the-tee due to his inaccuracy. Missing nearly half the fairways, if Hadwin’s troubles continue, Knox should be able to handle him.
The main concern lies in Smith since he is more than capable of playing some of his best golf in difficult conditions. Hailing from Australia, the 28-year-old is used to firm, fast, windy days regardless of the situation. Our one saving grace is Smith’s irons and putter were off when he took to the Seaside Course on Thursday, perhaps signaling at some potential trouble. Grasping at straws, I understand it is a big ask for Knox, but this number is too long to not look in his direction once again.
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