Wallace and Villegas lead at Sea Island

England's Matt Wallace carded eight birdies in a six-under-par 64 to grab a share of the lead at The RSM Classic alongside Colombian Camilo Villegas. The pair are a shot clear of a whole gaggle on five-under which includes major champion Keegan Bradley and the now Slovakian Rory Sabbatini.

Villegas who shot a bogey-free round of 64 recently took a break from the game following the tragic death of his daughter Mia from brain and spine cancer. Mia had loved rainbows and following her death; many players wore rainbow pins in her memory.
On arriving at the course on Thursday morning, Villegas saw a rainbow over the course which inspired him.
"When I got on the range and I saw a rainbow, hey, listen, here it is," said Villegas, "She loved colours and rainbows and my wife was all about it, and it was cool. It was a nice way to start the day."

Wallace who finished disappointingly at the Masters was without his regular caddy, Dave McNeilly, who had tested positive for Covid-19, coped well with the windy conditions at the Sea Island course. Two courses at the resort are used for the event, the other being the Plantation Course.
"That was tough. It was very windy. Hitting a five-iron from 155 yards and still being short – that was how windy it was out on that far side around 13, 14," Wallace commented after his round.
"But I played nice. I maybe mis-hit two shots out there today, so it was a good ball-striking day."

Wallace has been working hard on his putting, using the nearby Golf Performance Center at Sea Island which has a state-of-the-art putting studio.
"There was a bunch of stuff we did up in the lab, and I was very fortunate to get up there." Said Wallace, whose local caddie for the event, Jeffery Cammon, works at the centre. 
Players alternate between the Seaside Course and Plantation Course on Thursday and Friday, and then those that make the halfway cut battle it out on the Seaside Course over the weekend.