PGA DFS Core Plays: The RSM Classic
Top-ranked DFS player, Notorious, breaks down his favorite PGA DFS picks at various salary ranges for this week’s tournament. Who should you be building around? Find out below.
We have arrived at the final PGA Tour event of the year. While I am excited for a little break from golf, I am certainly looking forward to this week. We have ShotTracker back in our lives, well at least on one of the two courses. After two weeks out of the country, the PGA Tour heads to Georgia for The RSM Classic. This is an event that we have come to know very well over the years, and it typically draws a fairly strong field. It certainly helps that many professionals have houses on the island and train here.
The two courses in play this week are the Seaside Course and the Plantation Course at Sea Island Resort. Golfers will play each course in the first two rounds, and once the cut is made, the Seaside Course will host the final two rounds. The Seaside Course is a Par 70 that measures 7,005 yards, while the Plantation Course is a Par 72 that measures 7,060 yards. They are both easy by PGA Tour standards, but there are usually more birdies on the Plantation Course since it features four par 5s.
Given the length of the courses and the fact that water hazards are everywhere, this is not a course where driving distance is required. We’ll see many golfers club down on holes, especially on the Seaside Course. If you look at the past winners, this is more of a plodder’s course than a bomber’s course. Both the Seaside Course and the Plantation Course feature Bermuda-grass greens, while the Seaside course has wider fairways and larger greens.
In terms of course fit, I’m focusing less on statistics and more on golfers that play well on Bermuda, golfers that play well on shorter courses, and golfers that play well on Par 70s. Good iron play is always important, and given how easy the courses play each year, putting is critical. A combination of total driving, strokes gained approach, and strokes gained putting on Bermuda grass should come in handy this week.
PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Core Plays for The RSM Classic
Field Size:
- 156 golfers
Cut Rule:
- Top 65 and ties
Weather Forecasts
- Roth’s Forecast (link coming soon)
- Windfinder
- Accuweather
Golf Courses
- Sea Island – Seaside Course
- Location: St Simon’s Island, Georgia
- Par 70 — 7,005 yards
- Difficulty: 2022 (33rd), 2021 (33rd), 2020 (40th), 2019 (25th), 2018 (33rd)
- Fairway width: 42 yards wide on average
- Green size: 7,200 square feet
- Green type: Bermuda
- Water is in play on 13 holes
Event Notes
- We have a course rotation in play this week
- Golfers will play the Seaside and the Plantation courses the first two rounds
- Seaside is a Par 70 (two par 5s); Plantation is a Par 72 (four par 5s)
- The Seaside course will host the final two rounds after the cut
- Historically, this event has rewarded good iron play and putting
- Plenty of hazards in play this week, need to keep the ball in play
- Wind has a bigger impact on the Seaside course
What to Look For
- Strokes gained approach
- Strokes gained putting
- Total driving
- Birdie or better %
- Strokes gained around the green
Core Plays
Eric Cole
DK: $9,000 — FD: $11,100
Total Driving — 136
SG: APP — 3
Bogey Avoidance — 4
Birdie or Better % — 1
SG: Putting (Bermuda) — 22
Stat Rank — 4
Noto Rating — 86.9
Once again, I’m opting not to play Ludvig Aberg in my main lineup, and it’s not a great feeling. However, I like the balanced approach better this week and could see the winner coming from down the board a bit. Cole is one of my favorite stories in golf and comes into the week in elite form. In his last eight events, he hasn’t finished outside the top 35 and has had three top-4 finishes in his last four starts. He’s top 4 in this field in strokes gained approach, bogey avoidance, and birdie or better percentage. This is also one of the only courses that he’s seen for a second time, as he finished T39 last year. I’m betting him outright and loading up on him in DFS.
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