Heading for Sea Island: Eight major champions, five Players champions lead the RSM Classic field

With two days left to commit, the field for next week’s RSM Classic at the Sea Island Club on St. Simons Island, Ga., already includes eight major champions and five past Players champions.

Among the players who have committed are tournament host, two-time Players champion and PGA champion Davis Love III and other major champions such as Zach Johnson, Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Jason Day, Stewart Cink, Jason Dufner and Webb Simpson.

The field also includes Tony Finau, Kevin Kisner, Matt Kuchar and Si Woo Kim. First Coast players who have committed to this point are Russell Knox, Philip Knowles, Carl Yuan, Sam Ryder, Doc Redman and David Lingmerth.

One player who won’t be there is last year’s champion Talor Gooch, who jumped to LIV Golf and is under suspension by the PGA Tour. The 2018 champion, Charles Howell III, is also a LIV member and barred from PGA Tour competition.

Past champions in the field are Robert Streb, Tyler Duncan, Austin Cook, MacKenzie Hughes, Kisner and Chris Kirk.

Tickets are available by visiting rsmclassic.com.

Tiger wins PIP again

The rest of the PGA Tour is still chasing Tiger Woods – even though he played only nine rounds in three tournaments last season.

Woods won the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program for the second year in a row, topping FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy. The PIP uses an index to measure social media engagement and other metrics to determine a player's visibility.

McIlroy won two other events and returned to No. 1 on the world golf rankings.

The Tour won’t release the official PIP standings and earnings until after Thanksgiving but McIlroy told the Associated Press he was the runner-up to Woods and that his take will be $12 million.

McIroy won $8,654,566 in tournament earnings, $18 million for winning the FedEx Cup, $5.1 million (under the current exchange rate) and $1.7 million for finishing sixth in the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 for regular-season FedEx Cup points.

That contributed to a big season, financially, too. McIlroy's earnings, which include bonus money, came out to more than $45.4 million.

Woods played in the Masters, PGA Championship and the British Open. He made the Masters and PGA cuts but withdrew after the third round of the PGA and missed the cut at the British. They were the first starts he made since a severe car accident in February of 2021.

Mack moves up

Willie Mack III has won twice at the TPC Sawgrass on the Advocates Pro Tour’s Billy Horschel Invitational.

If he keeps up his progress, he may yet reach another tournament at the PGA Tour’s home course, The Players Championship.

Mack shot 66 in the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour qualifying tournament on Monday in Savannah and shot up the leaderboard to a tie for 12th. While he had conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour by just making the final stage at The Landings, he is now assured of eight starts when the season begins in January before the priority list is reshuffled.

Mack has won nearly 80 professional tournaments after a college career with 11 victories at Bethune-Cookman. While playing mini-tours, he often slept in his car to save money.

Mack was the APGA player of the year and has won eight times on that tour, which offers playing opportunities for minority golfers.

This will be the first time Mack has status on a PGA Tour-sanctioned circuit.

A bogey-free 74? Here’s how

Chris Crisologo of Canada didn’t make a bogey during the second round of the Korn Ferry qualifier.

He shot 74. That can be explained with a 13 at the par-4 13th hole.

When asked how he shot a 13, Crisologo told Golf Channel a variation of the old joke: “I lipped out for a 12.”

Crisologo was 4-under through his first 12 holes at the Marshwood Course at the Landings Club and then got the yips off the tee. He hit four tee shots into a penalty area on the left side of the hole. He finally found the fairway with a 4-iron on his ninth shot.

He birdied two more holes after that. He shot 72-72 in the final two rounds, finished in a tie for 101st, and will have conditional Korn Ferry status to start the season.

The Associated Press and golfweek.com contributed to this report.

PGA TOUR

Event: Cadence Houston Open, Thursday-Sunday, Memorial Park Golf Course, Houston.

At stake: $8.4 million purse ($1,512,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner).

Defending champion: Jason Kokrak.

TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m.).

Area players entered: Harris English, Zach Johnson, Philip Knowles, Russell Knox, David Lingmerth, Keith Mitchell, Trey Mullinax, Doc Redman, Greyson Sigg, Carl Yuan.

Notable: Kokrak defeated Scott Scheffler and Kevin Tway by two shots with a final-round 65. … Scheffler, Tony Finau, Justin Rose and Jason Day lead the field. … The Tour closes its fall schedule next week with the RSM Classic at the Sea Island Club.

LPGA TOUR

Event: Pelican Women’s Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Pelican Golf Club, Belleair.

At stake: $2 million purse ($262,500 to the winner).

Defending champion: Nelly Korda.

TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 7:30-10:30 p.m.).

Area players entered: None.

Notable: Korda overcame a triple-bogey on the 17th hole during the final round, birdied No. 18 to gain a four-way playoff, then birdied No. 18 again from 20 feet to beat Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson and Sei Young Kim.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

Event: Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Phoenix Country Club.

At stake: $2.5 million purse ($440,000 to the winner).

Defending champion: Phil Mickelson.

TV: Golf Channel (Friday-Sunday, 4-6:30 p.m.).

Area players entered: Jim Furyk.

Notable: Mickelson shot 65 in the final round and beat Stephen Alker by one shot. … Bernhard Langer won last week in Boca Raton to come within one victory (44) of Hale Irwin’s all-time record. Langer, 65, broke his own record as the oldest winner ever on the Champions Tour. … The winner of the season-long Schwab Cup will earn a $1 million annuity.

Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Zach Johnson, Justin Rose among major champions in the RSM Classic field