Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Butterfield Bermuda Championship (Rafael Campos)
THIS WEEK: The RSM Classic, St. Simons Island, Ga., Nov. 21-24
Course: Sea Island Golf Club (Seaside: Par 70, 7,005 Yards; Plantation: Par 72, 7,060 Yards)
Purse: $7.6M (Winner: $1.368M)
Defending Champion: Ludvig Aberg
FedEx Cup Champion: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 12-3 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (Golf Channel)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. ET
X: @TheRSMClassic
NOTES: This is the 47th and final event of the 2024 PGA Tour season. It is also the final of eight tournaments on the FedEx Cup Fall schedule, which finalizes the top 125 players retaining exempt status for 2025. Nos. 126-150 after the fall will retain conditional status.
–Players who finished Nos. 51-70 in the FedEx Cup have secured their tour cards but are competing for spots in the first two signature events after the season-opening The Sentry on Jan. 2-5. All 19 players from Nos. 122-140 in the FedExCup Fall standings entering the week are in the field:
No. 122 Sam Ryder
No. 123 Zac Blair
No. 124 Joel Dahmen
No. 125 Wesley Bryan
No. 126 Henrik Norlander
No. 127 Daniel Berger
No. 128 Hayden Springer
No. 129 Pierceson Coody
No. 120 S.H. Kim
No. 131 Dylan Wu
No. 132 Kevin Tway
No. 133 Matt Wallace
No. 124 Carl Yuan
No. 135 Garrick Higgo
No. 136 Alejandro Tosti
No. 137 Taylor Montgomery
No. 138 Michael Thorbjornsen
No. 139 Gary Woodland
No. 140 Kevin Streelman
AON NEXT 10: The top 10 players in the AON Next 10 following The RSM Classic receive spots in the first two designated events of 2025. Seven of the 10 players currently in position for one of the spots are in the field:
No. 51: Mackenzie Hughes
No. 52: Maverick McNealy
No. 53: Patrick Rodgers
No. 54: Harris English
No. 55: Seamus Power
No. 56: Ben Griffin
No. 57: Tom Kim
No. 58: Nick Taylor
No. 59: Nico Echavarria
No. 60: Justin Rose
BEST BETS: Aberg (+900 at DraftKings) is making his first start since finishing 16th at the Tour Championship as he defends his lone tour win to date following knee surgery earlier this fall. His winning score of 253 last year tied Justin Thomas from the 2017 Sony Open for the record low in a 72-hole event. … St. Simons resident Brian Harman (+2200) competes for the first time since playing for the winning United States team at the Presidents Cup. … Sea Island resident Davis Thompson (+2200) won earlier this year (John Deere Classic). … Fellow Sea Island resident Chris Kirk (+3500) began the year with a win at the Sentry, and has competed in The RSM Classic every year since its inception in 2010. … Luke Clanton (+4000) will make his eighth start on tour this year, and has three top-10s.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Hero World Challenge, Albany, Bahamas, Dec. 5-8
LPGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: The Annika driven by Gainbridge (Nelly Korda)
THIS WEEK: CME Group Tour Championship, Naples, Fla., Nov. 21-24
Course: Pelican Golf Club (Par 72, 6,700 Yards)
Purse: $11M (Winner: $4M)
Defending Champion: Amy Yang
Race to the CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 3-5 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday: 1-4 p.m. (NBC), 4-5 p.m. (Golf Channel)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. ET (ESPN+ Featured Groups), 2-3 p.m. (NBCSports.com); Saturday: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. (ESPN+ Featured Groups), 2-5 p.m. (NBCSports.com); Sunday: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (ESPN+ Featured Groups)
X: @CMEGroupLPGA
NOTES: The top 60 in The Race to the CME Globe qualified for the season-ending, no-cut event. The $4 million winner’s prize is the largest in the history of women’s golf, and every player in the field will be awarded at least $55,000. … Korda, who leads the points race and has won seven titles this year, has already clinched Player of the Year honors. Mao Saigo (934 points) and Jin Hee Im (868) are battling for Rookie of the Year. … Yang set the tournament scoring record of 27-under 261 in beating Alison Lee and Nasa Hataoka by three strokes last year. … There are two multiple-time event winners in the field: Lydia Ko (2014, 2022) and Jin Young Ko (2020-21). … This will mark Lexi Thompson’s final event as a full-time LPGA Tour member. … Four of 26 rookies qualified for the event: Nataliya Guseva, Jin Hee Im, Gabriela Ruffels and Mao Saigo.
RACE TO THE CME GLOBE POINTS
1. Nelly Korda, 4,235.819
2. Haeran Ryu, 2,870.392
3. Lydia Ko, 2,614.758
4. Ayaka Furue, 2,450.777
5. Ruoning Yin, 2,357.983
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Grant Thornton Invitational, Naples, Fla., Dec. 13-15
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
THIS WEEK: Season Complete
Charles Schwab Cup champion: Steven Alker
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, Ka’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii, Jan. 16-19
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
THIS WEEK: Season Complete
2024 Champions: Individual: Jon Rahm; Team: Ripper GC
NEXT TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf Promotions, Abu Dhabi, Dec. 8-10
–Field Level Media
