In what could have been a letdown week for the PGA Tour, a superstar emerged on the first day of the Sony Open and shares the lead going into Friday’s second round.

Jordan Spieth shot a 64 at Honolulu’s Waialae Country Club on Thursday and is locked up with Chris Kirk and Taylor Montgomery atop the leaderboard, one ahead of a group of six other golfers after play was suspended due to darkness. Though Spieth has won in Hawaii before at the Tournament of Champions, he has never won this particular event. A win here, however, could portend a monstrous 2023 for the three-time major winner.

Let’s take a look at his round along with what to expect the rest of the week.

The leaders

T1. Jordan Spieth, Chris Kirk, Taylor Montgomery (-6): Warning: This is going to be a very Spieth-heavy article (for obvious reasons). The good news for the Golden Child is that he’s leading a golf tournament. The bad news is that he nearly needed to lead the field in putting to do so. Spieth nearly had a perfectly clean card Thursday only sullying it with a bogey on the par-4 13th hole. He said after his round that the putter is starting to feel good again.

“Half my putts today were like, ‘Wow, I knew exactly where that was going.’ Some of them went in and some of them didn’t, and the others I didn’t and I made some of them,” Spieth said. “It’s just — but I know once I get to a certain feel through the ball that I can beat the field. I can be No. 1 in strokes gained for the week because I know what that feels like.

“So I’m just trying to get that way. It’s getting there, and that’s exciting.”

The numbers agree. Spieth’s 50-round rolling average in strokes gained putting is above PGA Tour average (0.0 SG) for the first time since the Texas Open last year. 

I’m not sure Spieth has anything to prove to anyone given that he’s already won three majors and 13 times before turning 30. But a win here and a little momentum rolling into a big time stretch of golf leading into the Masters would certainly elevate him in my mind back to somebody who could feasibly be the No. 1 player in the world by the end of the year. A long way to go, and he needs to hit it a bit better than he did today, but something is certainly brewing.

Other contenders

T4. Harris English, Denny McCarthy, Brendon Todd, David Lipsky, Rory Sabbatini (-5)

T11. Stewart Cink, K.J. Choi, Cam Davis (-4)

We could talk about English (which we do below), but how about Cink and Choi (combined age 101) in the mix at this event! Both shot 66s and both did it by gaining strokes in every statistical category, which is remarkable.

Also, Sabbatini’s scripting on Thursday was all-time.

Quote(s) of the day

Spieth had some gems after his 64. The first was about where his game is at compared to where it has been in recent years.

“I believe I can shoot 5 or 6 under each day out here,” Spieth said. “Not to say that that means it’ll happen, but there are other times I would be sitting there going, ‘How do I hold this shit together,’ to be honest. Seriously.”

I can’t think of a better way to sum up his entire career.

The second was a big-time flex following that quote about his game and the revelation that he and his family recently purchased an RV to travel around to PGA Tour events.

Q: When was the last time you flew coach?

Spieth: “The 27th — oh, coach, sorry, no. … I thought you said commercial.”

Sure, sure, sure.

Harris English resurfaces

Harris English was out for much of 2022 with an injury, and it’s clear that he’s had a difficult time bouncing back. In 15 starts since returning last June, English has just one top 10 finish (the Fortinet Championship in September). His 65 in Round 1 marked just the third time he’d gained at least 4.4 strokes on the field in a single round since the summer of 2021. English said after his round that this is as close to 100% as he’s felt in a long time so hopefully this is the start of a nice run for him in 2023.

2023 Sony Open updated odds and picks

• Jordan Spieth: 4-1
• Taylor Montgomery: 8-1
• Harris English: 14-1
• Chris Kirk: 18-1
• Denny McCarthy: 20-1
• Cam Davis: 20-1

This is a tough board. I don’t particularly love anybody on it, but if you made me choose, I think Davis at 20-1 is really interesting. He’s just two back and led the field from tee to green on Thursday. A big time year from him wouldn’t be a surprise at all, and it’s very easy to envision — even if his game doesn’t seemingly fit Waialae perfectly — to envision him starting to roll this weekend.

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The final official PGA Tour event of the calendar year brings a slightly subpar field, and it took a big hit on Tuesday when favorite Tony Finau withdrew from the 2022 RSM Classic. The tournament tees off Thursday at Sea Island Resort in St. Simons Island, Ga., and five of the top 40 players in the world and eight major champions are set to tee off. Brian Harman is the highest-ranked player in the RSM Classic 2022 field at 26th, followed by Sepp Straka (28th) and Seamus Power (30th). Past major winners include Webb Simpson, Jason Day and Justin Rose, and six past RSM Classic winners are scheduled to tee up this week. They include two-time winner Robert Streb (2014, 2020) and MacKenzie Hughes, who won in 2016 and was the runner-up last year. The tournament has gone to a playoff four of the seven years it has been played on the Seaside and Plantation courses, and the average winning score over that span is 20 under par.

The latest 2022 RSM Classic odds from Caesars Sportsbook list Harman as the 16-1 favorite, followed by Power (20-1), Tom Hoge (20-1) and Day (22-1).Taylor Montgomery (25-1) and Denny McCarthy (25-1) also are expected to be top contenders in the RSM Classic 2022 field, while Hughes is priced at 30-1 and Straka (65-1) and Streb (100-1) are longshots. Before you make any 2022 RSM Classic picks or bets, you really need to see the PGA Tour predictions, best bets and sleepers from SportsLine golf insider Patrick McDonald.

After spending time at FanSided and NBC Sports EDGE, McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in the spring of 2022. Now covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour. 

He takes a measured approach to his outright selections and finished the 2021-22 season up 42 units on those plays, having hit Cameron Smith (22-1) at the Tournament of Champions, Hudson Swafford (250-1) at The American Express, Joaquin Niemann (70-1) at the Genesis Invitational and Justin Thomas (66-1) live at the PGA Championship.

McDonald also nailed last week’s Houston Open. backing Finau at 25-1. “I was surprised to see Finau’s name below the likes of (Aaron) Wise and (Maverick) McNealy given his recent form,” the expert said, “but we will take it and ask questions later.” The 33-year-old simply went out and shot 65-62 in the first two rounds and ran away with his fifth tour victory.  

McDonald also has been on the money on his matchup plays, hitting eight of his past 15, and he is up more than 13 units on those picks this season. McDonald also hit a first-round leader at the Zozo Championship, backing 80-1 Brendan Steele. Anyone who followed McDonald’s advice cashed in huge.

Now, McDonald has studied the 2022 RSM Classic field and is locking in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. You can head to SportsLine now to see all his PGA picks and predictions. 

Top 2022 RSM Classic expert picks

One surprising prediction from McDonald: Montgomery will struggle on a course that is “a less-than-stellar statistical fit,” so the expert is fading him. The 27-year-old ran off 10 consecutive top-15 finishes dating back to his time on the Korn Ferry Tour. He led that tour in scoring average (68.36) last season, but the rookie comes in off a tie for 57th at last week’s Houston Open. Montgomery is an excellent putter, ranking 11th in strokes gained, but he wasn’t on last week, and now he heads to a course where his power off the tee will be neutralized.

On the other hand, Montgomery loves what he sees from Matt Kuchar, who is priced at 50-1 and could get a boost from playing at home. The 44-year-old is a longtime resident of St. Simons Island, and he has nine career PGA Tour victories. He has been playing well, going 27 under par over his three tournaments this season. He hasn’t finished lower than T-29 and is 13th in strokes gained approach and 17th tee to green. McDonald says Kuchar is striking the ball well, and “the return to Sea Island should hopefully bring his short game along.” See who else to pick at The RSM Classic here.

How to make 2022 RSM Classic golf picks

Before this week’s PGA Tour event at Sea Island, McDonald has locked in his best bets for the 2022 RSM Classic. He has several outright plays, including a huge longshot who would bring a monster payout of 150-1. You can only find out who it is, and see the rest of McDonald’s picks and PGA Tour analysis, at SportsLine.

So which 2022 RSM Classic picks should you target? Which golfer priced at a massive 150-1 could pull off a stunning victory this week at RSM Classic 2022? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald’s top picks for RSM Classic 2022, all from the expert who nailed last week’s Houston Open, and find out.

2022 RSM Classic odds, field, top contenders

See full RSM Classic 2022 picks, best bets, and predictions here. 

Brian Harman +1600 
Tom Hoge +2000 
Jason Day +2200 
Taylor Montgomery +2500 
Seamus Power +2500 
Keith Mitchell +3000 
Matthew NeSmith +3000 
Sahith Theegala +3000 
J.J. Spaun +3500 
Denny McCarthy +3500 
Joel Dahmen +4000 
Andrew Putnam +4000 
Taylor Moore +4500 
Patrick Rodgers +4500 
Taylor Pendrith +4500 
Matt Kuchar +4500 
Kevin Kisner +4500 
Justin Rose +4500 
Webb Simpson +5000 
Wyndham Clark +5000 
Scott Stallings +5000 
Mackenzie Hughes +5000 
Davis Riley +5000 
Will Gordon +6000 
Nick Hardy +6000 
Brendon Todd +6000 
Alex Smalley +6000 
Aaron Rai +6000 
Harris English +6500 
Chris Kirk +6500 
Trey Mullinax +8000 
Troy Merritt +8000 
Stephan Jaeger +8000 
Justin Lower +8000 
Hayden Buckley +8000 
J.T. Poston +8000 
Greyson Sigg +8000 
Dean Burmester +8000 
David Lipsky +8000 
Robby Shelton +10000 
S.H. Kim +10000 
Russell Knox +10000 
Sepp Straka +10000 
Lee Hodges +10000 
Francesco Molinari +10000 
Davis Thompson +10000 
Brandon Wu +10000 
Ben Griffin +10000 
Beau Hossler +10000 
Adam Svensson +10000 
Mark Hubbard +13000 
Scott Piercy +13000 
John Huh +13000 
Luke List +13000 
Justin Suh +13000 
Danny Willett +13000 
Cameron Percy +13000 
Cameron Champ +13000 
Ben Taylor +13000 
Adam Long +13000 
Zach Johnson +15000 
Sam Ryder +15000 
Patton Kizzire +15000 
Kevin Streelman +15000 
Kevin Yu +15000 
Carl Yuan +15000 
Austin Smotherman +15000 
Austin Cook +15000 
Adam Schenk +15000 
Ryan Armour +18000 
Matthew Wallace +18000 
Ryan Moore +18000 
Michael Thompson +18000 
Christopher Gotterup +18000 
Chesson Hadley +18000 
Callum Tarren +18000 
Zecheng Dou +20000 
Robert Streb +20000 
Matthias Schwab +20000 
Stewart Cink +20000 
Henrik Norlander +20000 
Harry Hall +20000 
Dylan Frittelli +20000 
David Lingmerth +20000 
Byeong Hun An +20000 
Tyson Alexander +25000 
Tyler Duncan +25000 
MJ Daffue +25000 
Rory Sabbatini +25000 
Sean O’Hair +25000 
Nate Lashley +25000 
Michael Gligic +25000 
Kelly Kraft +25000 
Joseph Bramlett +25000 
Garrick Higgo +25000 
Eric Cole +25000 
Charley Hoffman +25000 
Andrew Novak +25000 
Trevor Cone +30000 
Vaughn Taylor +30000 
Vincent Norrman +30000 
Philip Knowles +30000 
Peter Malnati +30000 
Nick Watney +30000 
Max McGreevy +30000 
Paul Haley +30000 
Sam Stevens +30000 
Matti Schmid +30000 
Harry Higgs +30000 
Harrison Endycott +30000 
Hank Lebioda +30000 
Brice Garnett +30000 
Brian Stuard +30000 
Zac Blair +40000 
Richy Werenski +40000 
Spencer Ralston +40000 
Michael Kim +40000 
Kyle Westmoreland +40000 
Kevin Roy +40000 
Kevin Tway +40000 
Nico Echavarria +40000 
Jonathan Byrd +40000 
Dylan Wu +40000 
Erik Barnes +40000 
Doc Redman +40000 
Cole Hammer +40000 
Chad Ramey +40000 
Carson Young +40000 
Camilo Villegas +40000 
Brian Gay +40000  
Ben Martin +40000 
Augusto Nunez +40000 
Andrew Landry +40000 
Anders Albertson +40000 
Aaron Baddeley +40000 
Trevor Werbylo +50000 
Tano Goya +50000 
Scott Harrington +50000 
Palmer Jackson +50000 
Tim Weinhart +50000 
Ryan Brehm +50000 
Martin Trainer +50000 
Jason Dufner +50000 
Jacob Bridgeman +50000 
Jim Herman +50000 
Davis Love III +50000 
Danny Lee +50000 
Chris Stroud +50000 
Brent Grant +50000 
Bill Haas +50000 
Brandon Matthews +50000

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Tony Finau will try to continue his recent dominance when he tees off Thursday in the 2022 RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort in Georgia. Finau comes into St. Simons Island fresh off a four-stroke victory at last week’s Houston Open, his third win in his past seven events. Finau will be trying to win consecutive tournaments for the second time in four months and will face a slightly subpar field that features six of the world’s top 40 players. Seven players made it to last year’s Tour Championship – Finau, Sepp Straka, Tom Hoge, Brian Harman, J.T. Poston, Sahith Theegala and Scott Stallings. Four of the past six RSM Classics have gone to a playoff, though Talor Gooch won last year by three strokes, going 22 under par. This is the final official PGA Tour event of the calendar year, with the Sentry Tournament of Champions next up Jan. 5-8.  

The latest 2022 RSM Classic odds list Finau as the 9-1 favorite, followed by Harman (18-1), Hoge (20-1) and Jason Day (22-1) . Power (25-1), Taylor Montgomery (25-1), Keith Mitchell (30-1) and Matthew NeSmith (30-1) also are expected to be RSM Classic top contenders. Before you make any 2022 RSM Classic picks or bets, you really need to see the PGA Tour predictions, best bets and sleepers from SportsLine golf insider Patrick McDonald.

After spending time at FanSided and NBC Sports EDGE, McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in the spring of 2022. Now covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour. 

He takes a measured approach to his outright selections and finished the 2021-22 season up 42 units on those plays, having hit Cameron Smith (22-1) at the Tournament of Champions, Hudson Swafford (250-1) at The American Express, Joaquin Niemann (70-1) at the Genesis Invitational and Justin Thomas (66-1) live at the PGA Championship.

McDonald also nailed last week’s Houston Open. backing Finau at 25-1. “I was surprised to see Finau’s name below the likes of (Aaron) Wise and (Maverick) McNealy given his recent form,” the expert said, “but we will take it and ask questions later.” The 33-year-old simply went out and shot 65-62 in the first two rounds and ran away with his fifth tour victory.  

McDonald also has been on the money on his matchup plays, hitting eight of his past 15, and he is up more than 13 units on those picks this season. McDonald also hit a first-round leader at the Zozo Championship, backing 80-1 Brendan Steele. Anyone who followed McDonald’s advice cashed in huge.

Now, McDonald has studied the 2022 RSM Classic field and is locking in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. You can head to SportsLine now to see all his PGA picks and predictions. 

Top 2022 RSM Classic expert picks

One shocking pick from McDonald this week: The expert is fading Montgomery even though the 27-year-old has finished in the top 10 in three of his six events this season. The problem is, the Sea Island layouts are short by tour standards, and Montgomery’s advantage is off the tee. He also was red-hot with the putter and ranks 11th in strokes gained putting, but he tied for 57th in Houston last week as the flat stick cooled off. Montgomery is 144th in strokes gained approach and 103rd tee to green, so McDonald says “Sea Island is a less-than-stellar statistical fit.”     

On the other hand, the expert knows Finau should continue to roll after he backed him last week despite him coming in off a missed cut. The 33-year-old is in the top five in every strokes gained category except around the green (55th) and is firing on all cylinders. Finau was top-15 off the tee, on approach and tee-to–green last season, when he was in the top 15 in six of his final nine events (including his back-to-back victories). He led the field in driving accuracy and greens in regulation in Houston and “has ascended into one of the best players in the world,” McDonald says. See who else to pick at The RSM Classic here.

How to make 2022 RSM Classic golf picks

Before this week’s PGA Tour event at Sea Island, McDonald has locked in his best bets for the 2022 RSM Classic. He has several outright plays, including a huge longshot who would bring a monster payout of 150-1. You can only find out who it is, and see the rest of McDonald’s picks and PGA Tour analysis, at SportsLine.

So which 2022 RSM Classic picks should you target? Which golfer priced at a massive 150-1 could pull off a stunning victory this week at RSM Classic 2022? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald’s top picks for RSM Classic 2022, all from the expert who nailed last week’s Houston Open, and find out.

2022 RSM Classic odds, field, top contenders

See full RSM Classic 2022 picks, best bets, and predictions here. 

Tony Finau +900 
Brian Harman +1800 
Tom Hoge +2000 
Jason Day +2200 
Taylor Montgomery +2500 
Seamus Power +2500 
Keith Mitchell +3000 
Matthew NeSmith +3000 
Sahith Theegala +3000 
J.J. Spaun +3500 
Denny McCarthy +3500 
Joel Dahmen +4000 
Andrew Putnam +4000 
Taylor Moore +4500 
Patrick Rodgers +4500 
Taylor Pendrith +4500 
Matt Kuchar +4500 
Kevin Kisner +4500 
Justin Rose +4500 
Webb Simpson +5000 
Wyndham Clark +5000 
Scott Stallings +5000 
Mackenzie Hughes +5000 
Davis Riley +5000 
Will Gordon +6000 
Nick Hardy +6000 
Brendon Todd +6000 
Alex Smalley +6000 
Aaron Rai +6000 
Harris English +6500 
Chris Kirk +6500 
Trey Mullinax +8000 
Troy Merritt +8000 
Stephan Jaeger +8000 
Justin Lower +8000 
Hayden Buckley +8000 
J.T. Poston +8000 
Greyson Sigg +8000 
Dean Burmester +8000 
David Lipsky +8000 
Robby Shelton +10000 
S.H. Kim +10000 
Russell Knox +10000 
Sepp Straka +10000 
Lee Hodges +10000 
Francesco Molinari +10000 
Davis Thompson +10000 
Brandon Wu +10000 
Ben Griffin +10000 
Beau Hossler +10000 
Adam Svensson +10000 
Mark Hubbard +13000 
Scott Piercy +13000 
John Huh +13000 
Luke List +13000 
Justin Suh +13000 
Danny Willett +13000 
Cameron Percy +13000 
Cameron Champ +13000 
Ben Taylor +13000 
Adam Long +13000 
Zach Johnson +15000 
Sam Ryder +15000 
Patton Kizzire +15000 
Kevin Streelman +15000 
Kevin Yu +15000 
Carl Yuan +15000 
Austin Smotherman +15000 
Austin Cook +15000 
Adam Schenk +15000 
Ryan Armour +18000 
Matthew Wallace +18000 
Ryan Moore +18000 
Michael Thompson +18000 
Christopher Gotterup +18000 
Chesson Hadley +18000 
Callum Tarren +18000 
Zecheng Dou +20000 
Robert Streb +20000 
Matthias Schwab +20000 
Stewart Cink +20000 
Henrik Norlander +20000 
Harry Hall +20000 
Dylan Frittelli +20000 
David Lingmerth +20000 
Byeong Hun An +20000 
Tyson Alexander +25000 
Tyler Duncan +25000 
MJ Daffue +25000 
Rory Sabbatini +25000 
Sean O’Hair +25000 
Nate Lashley +25000 
Michael Gligic +25000 
Kelly Kraft +25000 
Joseph Bramlett +25000 
Garrick Higgo +25000 
Eric Cole +25000 
Charley Hoffman +25000 
Andrew Novak +25000 
Trevor Cone +30000 
Vaughn Taylor +30000 
Vincent Norrman +30000 
Philip Knowles +30000 
Peter Malnati +30000 
Nick Watney +30000 
Max McGreevy +30000 
Paul Haley +30000 
Sam Stevens +30000 
Matti Schmid +30000 
Harry Higgs +30000 
Harrison Endycott +30000 
Hank Lebioda +30000 
Brice Garnett +30000 
Brian Stuard +30000 
Zac Blair +40000 
Richy Werenski +40000 
Spencer Ralston +40000 
Michael Kim +40000 
Kyle Westmoreland +40000 
Kevin Roy +40000 
Kevin Tway +40000 
Nico Echavarria +40000 
Jonathan Byrd +40000 
Dylan Wu +40000 
Erik Barnes +40000 
Doc Redman +40000 
Cole Hammer +40000 
Chad Ramey +40000 
Carson Young +40000 
Camilo Villegas +40000 
Brian Gay +40000  
Ben Martin +40000 
Augusto Nunez +40000 
Andrew Landry +40000 
Anders Albertson +40000 
Aaron Baddeley +40000 
Trevor Werbylo +50000 
Tano Goya +50000 
Scott Harrington +50000 
Palmer Jackson +50000 
Tim Weinhart +50000 
Ryan Brehm +50000 
Martin Trainer +50000 
Jason Dufner +50000 
Jacob Bridgeman +50000 
Jim Herman +50000 
Davis Love III +50000 
Danny Lee +50000 
Chris Stroud +50000 
Brent Grant +50000 
Bill Haas +50000 
Brandon Matthews +50000

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