The opening round of The RSM Classic played out like pure cinema. With the wind calm all afternoon, golfers were free to swing away and attack pins without penalty. The fairways are wide, and the rough seemed non-existent, and so was the penalty for missing fairways. The little bite that Sea Island has wasn’t there on Thursday.

When the wind is up, the positional players typically shine. Not today. With nothing pushing tee shots offline and no real trouble waiting, the door swung wide open for the bombers. A glance at the leaderboard tells the whole story: if you aren’t long, you are likely lagging. If the weather holds, power off the tee will remain a premium.

Right now, we’ve got three tied at the top. Rico Hoey and Davis Thompson each posted matching 10-under 62s on the Plantation Course. But the round of the day belonged to Doug Ghim over on the host Seaside Course. Ghim fired a career-low 60, tying the tournament record and grabbing a share of the first-round lead for just the second time in his eight-year career. The first came earlier this year at the John Deere Classic, where he ultimately finished T31.

A strong week here would bump Ghim inside the top 100 in the FedExCup standings, securing full status for the 2026 PGA TOUR Season.

As we turn to Friday, 11 golfers sit within three shots of the leaders. On the odds board at FanDuel Sportsbook, Ghim (+600) and Hoey (+600) share the shortest number, trailed by Andrew Novak (+750), one off the pace. Co-leader Thompson checks in behind them at +850.

With plenty of firepower in the chase and plenty of golf left, no one is really out of it just yet.

Round 2 Matchup: Max McGreevy (-115) over Jacob Bridgeman

The pricing on the Max McGreevy vs. Jacob Bridgeman matchup feels built more on expectations than on recent performance. McGreevy is in a sneaky good stretch right now. Yes, he’s had some bumps along the way, but his last four starts have been great: T3, T56, T11, T33. That T3 at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship jumps off the page, and he carried that momentum straight into a bogey-free opening 64 today.

Bridgeman, on the other hand, remains a golfer everyone keeps waiting on to break through. The talent is undeniable, but the results have left us wanting more. He hasn’t posted a top-five finish since early July and has put up two shaky showings this fall. The issues are clear—an unreliable putter and some loose driving that’s putting him behind the eight-ball.

Season-long metrics still favor Bridgeman, but once you narrow the lens to the last four events, McGreevy owns the edge. He’s gained more than a full stroke per round on Bridgeman over that stretch.

With both heading to the more challenging Seaside course on Friday, the margin for error shrinks. If Bridgeman’s driver is off, McGreevy at -115 could be wrapped up shortly after making the turn.

Round 2 Score: Mackenzie Hughes Under 67.5 (-138)

Few golfers in the field have a better history around Sea Island than the 2016 champion, Mackenzie Hughes. His win eight years wasn’t some flash in the pan— it was the start of a pattern. Hughes has finished inside the top five here four times, including a pair of runner-up results, proving this track fits his eye perfectly.

He opened Thursday exactly the way he wanted, rolling in birdies on the first two holes of the Plantation Course. After that fast start, the pace cooled with six straight pars, and while he wrapped the day at 5-under, a closing bogey likely had him feeling he left some out there.

Hughes heads to the par-70 Seaside Course for Friday’s round, with conditions expected to mirror Thursday’s calm setup; there’s nothing in the forecast that should disrupt his rhythm. A score of 3-under or better is well within reach.

His blueprint for success at Sea Island is clear: keep the ball in the fairway, hit greens in regulation, and let one of the best putters in the field handle the rest. Statistically, he backs it up— gaining the 17th-most strokes while putting on Bermuda and ninth in putting inside 10 feet.

While Hughes is my favorite of the player round score markets posted at 67.5, there are quite a few that should have no issues hitting their under.

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