Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling-tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator, Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network devoted to sports and sports betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on Twitter at @LasVegasGolfer, and you can read his picks below for the 2025 RSM Classic, which gets underway Thursday in St. Simons Island, Ga. Along with Kannon’s recommended plays, you’ll also see data from Chirp Golf, a mobile app that features both free-to-play and daily fantasy golf contests where you can win cash and prizes with each round and tournament.
If we were trying to make our way into the top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings, we’d have likely accomplished our goal. We had the runner-up in Utah, the fourth and eighth-place finishers in Cabo San Lucas, and two third-place finishers last week in Bermuda. While our Tour card for 2026 would certainly be secure, getting paid for that ever-elusive outright winner remains just barely outside our reach.
On to St. Simons Island and “Glory’s Last Shot.”
The RSM Classic at Sea Island is the final stop on the 2025 FedEx Cup Fall and the last chance for players to find themselves in the top 100 in the standings, which secures their full PGA Tour status for 2026. This is essentially a block party for a number of the players in this week’s field as they either live in the immediate or nearby area or practice at the Sea Island facilities on a regular basis.
These are two difficult situations to handicap. Do we want to land on a player that Is on the bubble as far as the top 100, figuring they’ll have plenty of motivation to play well this week? Or is that a lot of pressure to deal with? Can one simply “flip a switch” and suddenly play at a higher level because of what’s at stake? For the locals, is this merely a casual few days of golf, close to home, on a course they’re extremely familiar with?
Personally, I did not pay much attention to either of these situations. I am lucky enough to have played the Seaside Course at Sea Island a handful of years ago and have a feel for what it takes around here, no matter one’s place in the standings or place of residence. It is a shorter course, a par 70, at just a hair over 7,000 yards. Three of the four rounds will be played on this side while one round for each player on either Thursday or Friday will take place on the Plantation Course, the easier of the two, a short par 72, more inland, away from the coast.
The main defense here is the wind that will often kick up off the Atlantic Coast but the forecast this week is not calling for anything much over 10 mph on any of the four days. Golf oddsmaker, Jeff Sherman, at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas has set the winning score proposition bet at Under/Over 260.5, meaning 21.5 under par.
As far as skill sets, it’s all about finding the right spot in these relatively wide fairways, setting up a good angle of approach to these larger than average greens, and holing some putts with what ought to be another Fall Swing birdie-fest. Approach play from 100-175 yards will be key. Accuracy off the tee, Hole Proximity from this distance, and scoring on the 12 par 4s will be most important, in my opinion.
I feel the connectivity with the correlated courses is strong this week. Bermuda-based, shorter, coastal courses. Courses where accuracy trumps distance, hitting greens in regulation, and negotiating possible windy conditions. We tend to see many of the same names pop up on the leaderboards at all these courses. Specifically, I looked at Sedgefield Country Club (Wyndham Championship), Waialae CC (Sony Open), Colonial CC (Charles Schwab Challenge), Harbour Town (RBC Heritage), Port Royal (Bermuda Championship), and Pebble Beach.
Here’s to the golf gods shining upon us this week and finding that winner amidst many recent close calls. I stayed away from any of the favorites this week as 50-1 is the shortest price I played.
Nico Echavarria (50-1)
Already a two-time winner on Tour in his young career, Echavarria is one of the very best putters in this field and has recent runner-up finishes at the Sony Open and here at Sea Island in 2024. He is very steady across all the stats I considered and over the last 24 rounds, ranks 35th in Greens in Regulation Gained. In two of his last three starts, he’s finished 14th and ninth.
Seamus Power (65-1)
The Irishman is one of those players currently on the outside looking in at 130th in the FedEx Cup standings. He has made seven cuts in a row and finished 11th last week in Bermuda, a tournament he won in 2022. I love the short approach game for Power as he ranks top 5 in this field for Hole Proximity from 100-150 yards. He’s finished top-5 here twice, has been as high as third at Colonial, sixth and 12th at Harbour Town, and ninth, 15th, and 17th at Pebble Beach.
Mac Meissner (70-1)
It has been a nice run for the young player from nearby Charleston, S.C., as he hasn’t missed a cut since July. During that span, he finished runner-up at the Wyndham Championship back in August and was 12th there in 2024. He also owns a fifth place finish at Colonial and a 21st at the Sony Open. His approach game is excellent, ranking sixth in this field for SG: Approach over the last 24-rounds, third in Greens in Regulation Gained, and is fifth in Hole Proximity from 125-150 yards.
Stephan Jaeger (100-1)
Maybe it is the coastal connection because otherwise there is not much similarity between Sea Island and Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif. but it is interesting that the last two RSM Classic winners, Maverick McNealy and Ludvig Aberg, finished 2-1 respectively at the Genesis Invitational earlier this season when it was held at Torrey. Jaeger is another guy who has done very well at Torrey Pines — and has done so at some of this week’s correlated courses as well. He’s been top 30 here at Sea Island twice, top 20 at Harbour Town and Bermuda, top 15 at the Wyndham, and was third at the Sony Open to begin 2025. Over the last 24 rounds, he ranks top 40 in this field for better on the Par 4s, in Hole Proximity from 100-175 yards, and for SG: Putting (Bermudagrass).
Kris Ventura (100-1)
Sitting at 121st in the standings, Ventura is another player who is hard-charging toward that top-100 cut line. He has finished 21-11-27-34 in his last four FedEx Cup Fall events and was fourth earlier this season at Torrey Pines. He makes a bunch of birdies, hits greens in regulation, is an excellent putter, and ranks top-45 in this field for Hole Proximity from 100-175 yards. Ventura finished 16th at Colonial back in May of this season.
Lee Hodges (105-1)
A player at Alabama, Hodges is plenty familiar with golf in this part of the country and with Bermudagrass. He is also right on the borderline of the FedEx Cup standings, ranking 103rd coming into this event. He finished fifth here last year and was also 12th at the Charles Schwab in 2024. Earlier this season, Hodges finished 10th at the Sony Open. He is very accurate off the tee, hits greens in regulation and over the last 24 rounds, Hodges ranks top 25 in this field for Hole Proximity from 100-175 yards.
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