Power Rankings: The RSM Classic

Not that 10 months isn’t enough time for a PGA TOUR member to learn what he’s made of, but The RSM Classic presents the ultimate showdown with destiny. We’ll soon find out who’s up for the final challenge.

The last of 47 tournaments comprising the 2024 season is contested where it always has been: Sea Island Resort in Georgia. A full field of 156 is layers deep in everything from hanging on to Hail Marys because it all comes down to this.

Reviews of the Seaside and Plantation Courses, personal targets and more are detailed below the ranking of those projected to contend for the title.

Most weeks, focus is on who leads the FedExCup or the Official World Golf Ranking. This is not one of those weeks. The essence of the FedExCup Fall sets up like an extended final sprint to the tape in a race for which there are fewer prizes than participants. Experience is guaranteed, and it’s a bonus, but it’s also just a consolation prize for guys for whom this very well could be their last career PGA TOUR appearance as a member. It’s the cruelest of the cuts because there is no next week.

The pressure to perform as the game clock approaches triple zeroes is eased twofold, however. For one, Sea Island is as familiar as it is friendly. That’s not nothing at anytime, but especially right now. For another, both Seaside and Plantation are consistent and fair, which always is the objective, and both are scorable. Together, they are welcoming tracks with the checkered flag in view.

Seaside is a par 70 with two par 5s, and it tips at 7,005 yards. Plantation also is stock, but it’s a par 72 measuring just 7,060 yards. Half of the field plays each course once before the 36-hole cut of low 65 and ties falls. Thereafter, only Seaside will be used.

Through the first two rounds last year, both courses averaged exactly 1.584 strokes under par. When the wind laid down on the weekend, Seaside eventually came to rest at 67.584 across all four rounds. Sunshine and daytime highs in the mid-60s are on tap throughout this week with the freshest of the breezes pre-cut. With virtually no wind expected on Sunday, the final round of the season could be a wild sprint to the finish line. Of course, the most dastardly of the elements is subject to change.

Bermudagrass greens on both courses could touch 13 feet on the Stimpmeter, especially for the finale. They are not overseeded. Seaside’s thickest rough, which is overseeded, is allowed to grow to two inches. The same on Plantation is one-half an inch shorter and is not overseeded.

The wonder of the Golden Isles is overshadowed only by the wonder of what’s next.

For golfers who finish 51-60 in the FedExCup, they will earn exemptions into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational, both also known as the second and third Signature Events of the 2025 season, respectively. All golfers inside the top 125 will be equipped with fully exempt status for 2025 as well as an exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship.

Those who land at Nos. 126-150 in the FedExCup will be slotted with conditional status and extended the option to play the DP World Tour as availability allows. The first 40 available outside the top 125 can give the Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School a go to regain fully exempt status.

NOTE: ShotLink is utilized only on the Seaside Course.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

MONDAY: Power Rankings
TUESDAY: Sleepers
WEDNESDAY: Golfbet Insider
SUNDAY: Points and Payouts, Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle