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Scoring conditions could not have been better Thursday at Sea Island, as it did not matter which course you were on – the Seaside Course or the Plantation Course – birdies were bountiful. With both courses playing more than three-strokes under par, if one was sluggish out of the gates, a weekend with the family appears to be all but certain.
With winds up to 25 mph rolling in tomorrow, conditions will be vastly different for the second round of the RSM Classic. Players set to take on the inland Plantation Course on Friday will likely hold a slight edge as fewer holes are located on the water and trees are capable of shielding them from the elements.
One player who was able to dismantle the Seaside Course on Thursday was Sebastian Munoz. To the tune of 10-under 60, the Colombian tied Tommy Gainey’s tournament record en route to possessing the solo first-round lead. Ranking second in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and sixth in SG: Putting, the Olympian looked strong throughout the entirety of his bag.
When asked to comment on his play, Munoz said, “Really solid. I felt like I kind of let – I didn’t birdie either one or two and gladly hit a great shot on three, made that one and then kind of got it going on five, six, seven. We made the turn, Corey was I think 6-under through nine, I was five, so we were feeling it. We were kind of like feeding off each other. And that eagle on 15, kind of like made me like, was like all right, we can do this. Unfortunately, didn’t birdie 16 or 17, but really happy. Really, really happy.”
First in SG: Tee-to-Green was his playing competitor Corey Conners as the Canadian put together a round of 8-under 62. The two had it going all day and if not for an uncooperative putter, Conners’ round would have been even better as he posted -1.12 SG: Putting.
When asked if we should expect such a lethal pairing at Quail Hollow this summer for the Presidents Cup, Conners said, “I guess so, yeah. We kind of fed off each other, we both played great. He had a heck of a round. It was fun to be a part of the group.”
The current favorite at PointsBet Sportsbook, Conners is listed at +800 as he is scheduled to play the Plantation Course tomorrow. Making his fourth start in the RSM Classic this week, the 29-year-old has improved each year at Sea Island with finishes of T-37, T-23, and T-10 and appears well on his way to continuing this trend.
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Updated Odds to Win (Odds Via PointsBet):
+800: Corey Conners
+900: Scottie Scheffler
+1000: Russell Henley
+1200: Mackenzie Hughes, Sebastian Munoz, Talor Gooch
+1600: Chez Reavie
+2000: Cameron Smith, Jhonattan Vegas
+2500: Scott Stallings, Zach Johnson
+3000: Seamus Power, Tom Hoge
+4000: Patrick Rodgers
+5000: Hank Lebioda
+6000: Troy Merritt, Vincent Whaley, Webb Simpson
+7000: Greyson Sigg, Joel Dahmen, Justin Rose
Round 2 Plays (Odds Via PointsBet):
Russell Knox (+170) over Harry Higgs and Sepp Straka
With winds up, I am of the belief strong ball-strikers are the way to go when looking at second round plays. Throw in the fact Knox is from Scotland and well acclimated to the potential conditions and he was of immediate interest.
Ranking 14th in SG: Tee-to-Green among those who played the Seaside Course, Knox missed only one fairway and one green in his first-round. 10th in SG: Off-the-Tee and 16th in SG: Approach, the 36-year-old has continued to impress in the ball-striking department, only for the putter to let him down.
Nearly dead last in SG: Putting, he was able to outdo only Joseph Bramlett and Keegan Bradley on the Seaside greens, but that is not what we are banking on in this instance. Carding a round of 3-under 67, Knox did not take advantage of the two par-5’s on the par-70 layout. In his last couple of starts, he’s been quite good about converting his par-5 scoring opportunities, so I would expect him to right those wrongs on the Plantation Course tomorrow as he will face four such holes.
He will need to do so if he wants to get the better of Higgs and Straka again as the pair turned in rounds of even-par and 2-under respectively. Neither had the best history at Sea Island coming into the week and early exits are potentially in their futures.
Both flashed some form off-the-tee, but the iron-play was concerning. Higgs ranked last, losing nearly five-strokes on approach, while the big Austrian was a bit better, posting –1.63 SG: Approach. If this continues into tomorrow, Knox should have a path to victory with or without a cooperative flat stick.
Taylor Moore (+10000 to win):
The original plan was to write up a couple three-balls as I will be going to Sam Ryder in his at +209, but this line in particular made me question the strategery. Sitting at 6-under and only four-strokes off the lead, Moore hit 100% of the fairways and 88.89% of the greens in regulation in his first-round.
The wind will likely have more of an effect on those on the Seaside Course, which Moore will be facing, but that type of ball-striking should hold up to the test. One of the hottest players on the Korn Ferry Tour last summer, the 28-year-old carried the momentum into the beginning of his rookie campaign on the PGA Tour.
Collecting a top-20 finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship and top-25 finish at the Shriners Children’s Open, Moore has been inching towards contention on the big stage. Given the nature of tomorrow – and Saturday as conditions are forecasted to be similar – I don’t mind adding Moore right now as there should be plenty of movement on the leaderboard.
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