You might expect the field at a PGA Tour event the week after the Masters to look pretty weak. That won’t be the case this weekend at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town, though.
Five of the top 10 players in the world rankings will make the trip up the coast to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina to tackle the picturesque Harbour Town Golf Links. Taking away the Masters and The Players Championship, this is the fourth-strongest field we’ve seen this year, on par with the Waste Management Open in February.
This certainly is a different test than last week, and it’s not just because the pressure will be dialed down a few notches. Harbour Town is among the shorter tracks and plays to a par 71. It’s also a Pete Dye course, which we’ll hear plenty about this week, and there’s less of an emphasis on hitting it long this week. It’s a tight course with small green complexes, so accurate ball-strikers always are worth circling here.
“Coming from a place like Augusta where the greens are really big, a lot more slope, wide fairways, makes you focus in a little bit here,” Collin Morikawa told reporters this week, as quoted in a transcript. “You can’t get carried away with yourself and hit it 30 yards off line and be all right. Out here, 30 yards off line might be OB. So you got to pay attention, you got to be ready to hit some quality golf shots.”
Stewart Cink will try to defend his crown after missing the cut last week at Augusta, Ga.
Here are our quick picks for this week’s RBC Heritage. Odds are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbsook.
Favorite to back: Shane Lowry +1800
There are no shortage of options at the top of the board, but we’ll avoid the temptation to back someone like Justin Thomas or Morikawa and instead opt for the 2019 champion golfer of the year. Lowry is on some kind of a tear right now, finishing no worse than 13th in his last four starts, a run that also included two top-three finishes highlighted by last week’s T-3rd at Augusta. He has a pair of top-10 finishes here, and he ranks ninth in the field in total strokes gained on Pete Dye courses over the last 36 rounds.
Favorite to fade: Cameron Smith +1600
Somewhat surprisingly, Smith hasn’t been very good on Dye tracks recently, and he’s been a mixed back at Harbour Town with a pair of missed cuts and just one top-10 finish in six starts. And while only Scottie Scheffler has been better this season, it’s worth wondering what kind of bounce-back effort Smith can have after an emotional week at the Masters. He shot his best shot early to cut into the Scheffler’s lead before faltering and eventually crashing with a triple-bogey at the 12th on Sunday. We’re not going to be in the Smith market this week, especially not knowing if there might be some scar tissue from last week.
First-round leader: Billy Horschel +3500
There are probably better numbers out there, but Billy Ho is worth a look here. He’s a popular pick to win this week, but he’s tough to feel overly confident about for an outright at the same number over a four-day period in such a strong field. He ranks seventh in first-round scoring on Tour this season, and he’s really made some Thursday hay at the RBC. Horschel has been under par in the first round each of the last five years and is 17-under cumulative for those rounds.
Long shot to watch: Matt Kuchar +6500
The form appears to be coming back for Kuchar, who finished second at Valero two weeks ago and 16th in late March at the Valspar. And it’s not like he was horrendous at The Players where he missed the cut by one stroke. The biggest reason to back Kuchar is his course history. He’s never missed the cut at the RBC, with positive strokes gained in each of his 10 starts with a win in 2014. He also finished second in 2019, ninth in 2016 and fifth in 2015. It’s also the longest odds (most value) he’s had here in recent memory.
