RSM Classic: Five takes on the stakes as PGA Tour closes the season at the Sea Island Club

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — The RSM Classic has held multiple places on the PGA Tour's fall schedule in its 14-year history but in recent years has settled nicely into its spot the week before Thanksgiving.

But instead of being the end of the fall phase of the Tour's wraparound schedule format, the Sea Island Club is now Last Chance Gulch.

The PGA Tour is returning to a calendar year format for 2024 and in preparation for that changeover, established "FedEx Cup Fall" — a final opportunity for players below No. 125 on the FedEx Cup points list to regain their footing inside that threshold and retain their Tour cards for 2024.

British Invasion: Five past Open champions head field at Sea Island

There will be grinding. Players who lately have flocked to the idyllic Golden Isles for a relaxing week to finish up their schedule before the holidays may now be counting every birdie, agonizing over every bogey, watching leaderboards like a hawk and gulping stomach acid medicine at night.

Tournament host Davis Love III said he hopes those players can still find time to enjoy the amenities of Sea Island and the Golden Isles.

“You don't want to come in here worn out and grinding and trying to keep your job and not get to enjoy the islands,” he said. “It is a more relaxing place. I think I played well at Hilton Head because it wasn't the Masters. It was more relaxing and comfortable, and my family was there and happy. So sometimes when the family feels good, you play better. We've got a whole bunch of great young guys and we've got guys playing for position and I think it's going to be a great week."

It's also a week for "the Next Ten" — an opportunity for players to climb between Nos. 51 and 60 on the points list to get access to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational, the second and third Signature Events on the 2024 schedule that will offer more points and elevated purses of $20 million.

There's more at stake as 156 players tackle the Seaside and Plantation Course in the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday (the weekend field will play both days at Seaside): Tour cards for DP World Tour members, the last chance to impress the Tour membership who vote on season-ending awards and the usual rewards for winning a PGA Tour event — a two-year exemption and spots in The Players Championship, Sentry Tournament of Champions, the Masters and PGA Championship.

Zach Johnson, a two-time major champion who has made St. Simons his home since 2006, is playing in his 14th RSM Classic. He said strolling the fairways of the Sea Island courses and taking in the natural beauty never gets old for him.

"I probably do take it for granted on occasion," he said. "It's just spectacular. We're spoiled. If you're talking about these two facilities [they] get a lot of play but they're spectacular. I still call it the new Plantation, it's not that new anymore. I think it's a great compliment to Seaside. I think Seaside's one of the better golf courses we have onTour."

Here's a closer look at what's at stake this week at Sea Island:

Chasing No. 125

Players who finished 126th or below on the FedEx Cup points list after the regular season have been able to play in the seven-event FedEx Cup Fall series to get their status back. Carl Yuan, a native of China and a Jacksonville resident, is the current No. 125 player.

They're not leaving anything to chance.

All 20 players from No. 121 Doug Ghim to No. 140 Harrison Endycott are in this week's field.

Chasing Signature spots

Again, not many players are passing up the chance to either maintain or improve their position for what will be the most lucrative series of tournaments in PGA Tour history.

Of the 20 players from No. 51 to 70 on the FedEx Cup points list, 17 of them are in the RSM field. Only No. 51 Beau Hossler, No. 65 Erik van Rooyen and No. 68 S.H. Kim are not playing but Hossler has already clinched a spot among the top 60.

Finishing among the top 60 won't get a player in the first signature event, the Sentry Tournament of Champions. But winning the RSM Classic would.

Eric Cole hopes to trade birdies for votes

The race for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year could be decided this week, and it would be cause for celebration with one particular family.

Eric Cole, the son of former LPGA star Laura Baugh, is 43rd on the FedEx Cup standings and is the only PGA Tour rookie to reach the BMW Championship, the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Baugh, now teaching at The Palencia Club in St. Augustine, won the LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year 50 years ago in 1973. If Cole wins the vote of his peers for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, it would be a first for a mother-son combination in golf.

Cole has two runner-up finishes this season, and leads all rookies with six top 10s, more than $4.9 million in earnings, a 69.832 scoring average, and the Strokes gained: total index at 1.026 per round.

Cole also leads the entire PGA Tour with 526 birdies.

His main competitors may be two Tour rookies who have won events, Nico Echavarria (the Puerto Rico Open) and Vincent Norrman (the Barbasol Championship). Echavarria's victory was in a tournament opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Norrman's victory was opposite the Scottish Open.

"I think it would be very cool," Cole said of winning the same award on the PGA Tour his mother won on the LPGA. "It's something that would be really special and something that would be a cool thing to share with her."

PGA Tour workhorses finish a busy fall

Six players will have competed in all seven Fall events when the first round begins at Sea Island, and all but one of them improved their lot with the busy schedule

Tyson Alexander of Ponte Vedra Beach went from 104th after the Wyndham Championship, the final regular-season event, to 100th entering this week. Akshay Bhatia improved from 102nd to 89th and Justin Lower from 103rd to 98th.

Nick Hardy and Mark Hubbard also gave themselves chances to either stay or climb into the Nos. 51-60 barrier. Hardy dropped from 52nd to 56th but will likely stay within the top 60 by making the cut this week. Hubbard has improved from 67th to 61st.

Keep an eye on Dubai

This week is also the final DP World Event of the season, the DP World Championship in Dubai. The top 10 players on the final Race to Dubai rankings will earn status on the PGA Tour, if not otherwise exempt.

The series winner coming out of Dubai, if not otherwise eligible, also gets a spot in The Players Championship and will be exempt from re-shuffles.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: PGA Tour wraps its 2022-23 season at Golden Isles with RSM Classic