Patrick Rodgers and his team, after a season in which he finished 86th in the FedEx Cup standings, wanted more. So they number-crunched.
“Me and my coach, Jeff Smith, really had a good meeting after the playoffs and just kind of figured out where we needed to get better, where I’m falling short of sort of the elite players out here, and I feel like we’re implementing that playing week after week, and it’s showing up on the course,” Rodgers said last week.
“Where did you feel like you were maybe falling short?” a reporter asked.
“Yeah, I wasn’t behind Tour average, but obviously the elite players in the world are incredible tee to green,” Rodgers said. “Rory’s been driving it on another planet almost, he’s obviously the best player in the world off the tee, and that’s a huge advantage that I feel like I’m capable of getting somewhat close to. And then you see guys like J.T. and Collin Morikawa and Jon Rahm, the way they hit their approach shots and the way that they’re able to attack from the fairway, it’s a huge asset in their game, and I feel like if I can just kind of chip away getting a little bit closer to those guys, the way I putt it, I should be able to put together a nice year.”
“Should” quickly has become “is.”
Since early September, when the new PGA Tour season started, Rodgers has nearly bettered his finishes over all of his seven events — cut, tie for 54th, tie for 28th, tie for 16th, tie for third, tie for 27th, tie for 16th — and he’s in line for it to continue on Sunday in his eighth. After a third-round 64 on Saturday at Sea Island Golf Club, Rodgers shares a one-shot lead, at 14-under, with Ben Martin, and the two, along with Adam Svensson, will tee off in Sunday’s final grouping, at 11:06 a.m.
Just like Rodgers and his team drew it up.
“Yeah, it’s a fine line out here,” Rodgers said last week. “It takes a lot of patience. I can’t force a win out here on this Tour and I can’t control the conditions and the breaks or what anyone else does. If I do a good job of focusing on what I can control and getting lost in my process of playing, I back myself every time, I feel like I’ll have a good chance.”
Below are the final-round tee times. TV coverage will begin at 1 p.m. on Golf Channel.
2022 RSM Classic final-round tee times (All times ET)
Tee No. 1
9:05 a.m. — Martin Trainer, Hayden Buckley, J.J. Spaun
9:16 a.m. — Joel Dahmen, Denny McCarthy, Zac Blair
9:27 a.m. — Russell Knox, J.T. Poston, Robby Shelton
9:38 a.m. — Cole Hammer, Scott Stallings, Ben Griffin
