by The weather turned colder and windier Thursday at Sea Island Golf Club.
The RSM Classic peloton was barely noticed.
Eight of the top 12 players in the rankings played bogey-free golf as two former Stanford stars, Maverick McNealy (62 at the par-70 Seaside Course) and Michael Thorbjornsen (64 at the par-72 Plantation) shared the lead. at 8 under in the PGA Tour’s marquee event of the FedEx Cup Fall and 2024 season.
Andrew Novak (65, Plantation), a resident of St. Simons Island, Ga., has a 7-under rating and Adrien Dumont de Chassart (64, Seaside), a resident of Ponte Vedra Beach via Belgium, and Chandler Phillips (66, Plantation) are tied for fourth at 6 under.
Two other St. Simons Island residents, Keith Mitchell and Harris English, are among seven players tied at 5 under. Both shot 67 at the Plantation.
McNealy and Thorbjornsen after elusive Tour titles
McNealy, a seventh-year professional who won the Haskins Award in 2015 as the nation’s top college golfer, and Thorbjorsen, a rookie who earned a Tour card for finishing atop the PGA Tour college rankings in June, both are looking for their first Tour victories.
Both birdied three of four par-3 holes on their respective courses, and McNealy added a chip-in eagle at the par-5 15th at Seaside. They rode winds gusting up to 30 mph to attack the putting surfaces, with McNealy hitting 15 greens and Thorbjornsen 16.
McNealy has finished in the top 17 in five of his last eight starts, and is coming off a tie for sixth and a tie for 17th in his last two, with six of the eight rounds in the 60s.
“I feel like we did everything really well,” said the world No. 67 player. “I drove it awesome, the iron play was about as good as it’s been all year. The last three tournaments it’s been really awesome and it’s the part of my game I wanted the most improve. I contributed today, I put everything together and there is really nothing weak there today.
Thorbjornsen finished tied for eighth on October 6 at the Sanderson Farms Championship, but had to withdraw to Utah before the second round when he sprained his ACL and LCL while stretching before hitting balls. He hasn’t played since.
Fortunately, the injury did not require surgery and Thorbjornsen has one more chance to force his way into the top 125 of the FedEx Cup points list and retain his card for the 2025 season.
Thorbjornsen, who wears a knee brace, said he was still able to get in some good practice sessions (including some swing changes) and spent a lot of time on his putting. He only needed 25 putts in the first round on the 16 greens he hit.
“I feel like I’ve done a really good job over the last few days or weeks, making some new swing changes,” he said. “I’ve also been working really hard on my putting with my coach. We’ve seen some good results and I’m a lot more confident with the ball and it showed today. I definitely made some putts.”
Mitchell plays like ‘completely different people’
Mitchell was lights out for his first 12 holes, standing on the fourth tee at Plantation at 7 under. He made bogey on three of his last six holes.
“A lot of ups and downs,” the former University of Georgia player said. “I felt like I was putting amazing on the front and then playing terrible on the back. I didn’t hit it well on the front, but I hit it good on the back . So my game kind of flipped, which is really just nine holes from two completely different people.”
This article was originally published on Florida Times-Union: RSM Classic leaderboard dominated by Maverick McNealy, Michael Thorbjornsen
