Sleeper Picks: The RSM Classic

Michael NeSmith (+600 for a Top 20) … With a T14 (2019) and a T15 (2020) in his pair of trips to Sea Island, this is the ideal prop for the 28-year-old in his third season on the PGA TOUR. He’s exceptional tee to green but especially on approach, so he’s a threat when shotmaking is the priority. So far this season, he’s put four rounds together just once (for a T14 at TPC Summerlin), but he made early noise in Houston last week where he sat T7 at the midpoint before fading to T46 at the finish line on what was a stiff test. Scott Piercy (+450 for a Top 20) … Go figure. He last landed on this page for the Shriners in his backyard … and missed the cut. Although he’s had success at Vegas, perhaps stripping the distractions of being at home is better for the day job on the road. He’s fresh off a T19 in Houston where he led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. And while he’s scattered five starts at Sea Island over 11 years, he’s recorded three top 25s, including a T18 in 2020. Andrew Landry (+450 for a Top 10) … Like a predator, he’s tenacious when the top of the leaderboard is within view. Consider that only 16 of his 120 starts (13.33%) as a member of the PGA TOUR have resulted in a top 25, but 11 of the 16 (68.75%) were top 10s. That includes a pair of T4s at The RSM Classic (2017, 2020) as well as a T4 (Sanderson Farms) and a T7 (Mayakoba) already this season. Patton Kizzire (+450 for a Top 20) … Couldn’t roll this out with at least one Sea Island representative. The 35-year-old arrives having strung together eight red numbers, four each at The Summit Club and at Mayakoba, but despite that veneer, he finished outside the top 55 in both shootouts. The RSM Classic has been kinder to him, though. Since 2017, he’s 4-for-4 with a T15 (2018) and a T10 (2020). Troy Merritt (+400 for a Top 20) … The recently turned 36-year-old is just 11 paydays from 150 in his career that’s in its 11th season with over $11 million in earnings. In each of the last three completed seasons since his more recent of two PGA TOUR victories at the 2018 Barbasol Championship, he’s picked off exactly one runner-up finish. Yet, he rarely emerges as a projected threat in any given week. This isn’t to say that he isn’t, however. He’s already connected for a pair of top 20s among four top 30s on the new season, so while this prop feels like a swing for the fence, the wind is blowing out a bit with him at the plate. His best finish in eight appearances at Sea Island is a T23 in 2018. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. For live odds, visit betmgm.

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