00:00All right. So it is the final event, right, Keith? So it means this is the last opportunity for guys to actually secure that top 100 status. Right. So a lot on the line for a lot of these guys. I don't think Harris English is one of them, although he appears to be the favorite. But is this one of those tournaments? If I recall, it's on two golf courses, not just one.
00:20Joe, you are sharp as ever on this Wednesday morning. Yes, we have two golf courses. We've done two golf courses here at the RSM Classic since 2015. We have the Seaside golf course, which is the one that we will play once over the first two rounds and then all weekend. And then the Plantation course, the guys will alternate between Plantation and Seaside for the first 36. We'll cut down to the top 65 in ties and then you get Seaside all weekend. Seaside is that par 70 layout that goes out into the marshland. It's beautiful.
00:49But you raise a good point, Joe. Last year and for many, many years, the cutoff for points in order to get your card for the next season has been 125. This is the first year we've cut it down to 100. There are a lot of guys sweating this thing out right now. And the guys that are here, other than the ones that live here, like a Harris English, are here because they need the points. So to get inside that top 100, if you haven't won or you don't have some sort of exemption for career money, you are definitely thinking about not only making the cut this week,
01:19but making a dent in that leaderboard.
01:21Course looks beautiful as we're rolling some of that B-roll footage there up on the screen. It looks great. You know, great time of the year here. Still have some of these events that really mean something to get your PGA Tour card, as we like to say. Keith, give us some keys this week and some golfers that you might be looking at here.
01:35Donnie, I've got some great nuggets for you this week. I tell you what, I sat down yesterday with the tours agronomist for this venue because there's always all sorts of weather going on here. But guess what? The wind is going to be light this year. The last couple of years, it's been rainy. It's been windy. It's been a tough week for these guys to compete.
01:50Not this year. We have perfect conditions. And the agronomist I talked to, the greens themselves, they're a little bit softer than they want them to be. And that means scoring. Vegas at the over-under at 21 and a half. I would smash the under.
02:04These guys are going to go about 25 under, maybe even more. They could go back to that Ludwig number from a couple of years ago at 29 under.
02:10But my specific keys for this week, number one, you've got to watch the par fours. You're going to play three rounds on a par 70 golf course. That means you're losing two par fives. You're gaining two par fours.
02:21Over the last 10 years, the guys that have won have gained over 10 strokes on the field on average on those par fours. The second thing is, is that everyone calls this a wedge fest. I just mentioned it's going to be a birdie barrage, right?
02:34But on the PGA Tour, guys, everyone's great with a wedge. So how are you going to differentiate yourself from the field?
02:41What we have found over time is that the six par fives that they'll play over the first two days and then the two that they'll play each round over the weekend and those long par threes, that's where these guys differentiate themselves on approach.
02:52If you're modeling this thing out, make sure you include those approaches over 200 yards.
02:56And then just like last week, just like the week before down in Mexico, we are on coastal grainy grass.
03:02Again, it's Bermuda grass, like in Bermuda last week. You've got to be a great putter here.
03:06Over the years, seven of the last 10 winners have gained more than four strokes on the field with their flat stick.
03:14So, Keith, this has historically been at least, I think, over the last 10 to 15 years.
03:20Guys get their first PGA Tour win at this tournament here.
03:24Do we have one of those guys on the field here today that gets his first?
03:29We absolutely have plenty of those guys.
03:31I mean, you have 18-year-old Blades Brown.
03:33You've got one of my early leans on the early line today, Pearson Cootie at 50 to 1, Joe, plus 5,000.
03:40He starts on the plantation course, which is kind of a cool thing.
03:44Seven of the last 10 winners of this event, guys, have started their tournament on the plantation and then went to Seaside on Friday.
03:50It's the easier of the two courses.
03:52He's going to go low early.
03:54You've got to look at his fall.
03:55He's got a 14th, a 3rd, a 31st, and a 22nd.
03:59The guys that have won here over the last couple of years, whether it's been their first victory or not, they've played a bunch in the fall.
04:05They've kind of led up to this moment and then captured the crown.
04:09I mean, there's no better driver in the field than Pearson Cootie.
04:13He's like number one or two on the tour strokes game.
04:15I mean, he's up there with Rory and the way he drives it.
04:17He putts it great.
04:18And the approach game has been sharp as of late in the fall.
04:21So, I'm going to go ahead and see you guys for the next couple of years.
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