RBC Heritage

The RBC Heritage is held at Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head Island, Sea Island, Georgia.  This event has a distinct profile when it comes to the type of golfers who have won here.

In the last 20 years we have winners here like Brian Gay, Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker, Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, Branden Grace, Webb Simpson, Stewart Cink, Jordan Spieth and Matt Fitzpatrick. These guys have all been ball striking experts, and for the most part extremely accurate off the tee.

RBC Heritage Tips

  • 2.5pts each-way P.Cantlay  20/1  (1/5 6) Paddypower, Unibet
  • 2.5pts each-way T.Fleetwood  20/1  (1/5 7)  WilliamHill
  • 1pt each-way C.Bezuidenhout 60/1  (1/5 7) WilliamHill, 888Sport
  • 1pt each-way S.Straka  80/1  (1/5 7) 888sport

 

Five of the first six home last year were inside the top 10 in strokes gained tee to green. Similar has played out in previous years also.

Here we have to look to those who make their gains from tee to green, but not necessarily by longer hitting off the tee.

They are small targets around here and scrambling comes into the equation more so than what it does on other courses.

Below is a look at the stats of some of the top performers in the previous three editions of this tournament.

 

Driving distance doesn't get you very far here so it may be a week to avoid some of the best in the game who make plenty of their gains through length off the tee.

Instead we have to look to those who scramble well. Four of those in the top five last year ranked inside the top 10 in that statistic, and the same played out the previous two years.

The staging of this event after the Masters is questionable and it'd be no surprise if the top end of the market struggle a little. 

RBC Heritage Previous Winners / Winning Score:

  • 2023 - M.Fitzpatrick (-17)
  • 2022 - J.Spieth (-13)
  • 2021 - S.Cink (-19)
  • 2020 - W.Simpson (-22)
  • 2019 - CT Pan (-12)

 

Patrick Cantlay at 20/1 (Six Places)

Ludvig Aberg remains a lively prospect in any field right now, but with his prowess off the tee not paying much dividends here he is maybe best left to another day. Instead at anything bigger than 16/1 I'm happy to play Patrick Cantlay.

In six appearances here Cantlay has shot at least a 66 on four of those outings. In 22 rounds he hasn't shot anything bigger than 72 and despite not having won here arrives with the most eye catching course form in the field.

There is no doubt he has struggled at times this season, but he has been a fast starter on numerous occasions and could have been much better off than 22nd at Augusta last week had his putter co-operated.

Beaten here in a playoff by Spieth in 2022, Cantlay has been outside the top five only once at the end of his last eight rounds here. Granted he isn't in the same form as what he has been on those occasions, but a trip to Harbour Town comes at the perfect time for him to rescue his season and land his first victory since August of 2022.

With four top three finishes in his six tries here Cantlay must be beaming at the prospect of teeing it up here and with McIlroy not firing, Scheffler a doubt after last week and almost double the price of Schauffele, he takes the headline selection this week.

2.5pts each-way P.Cantlay  20/1  (1/5 6) Paddypower, Unibet

Patrick Cantlay - 2.5pts e/w @ 20/1

Tommy Fleetwood at 20/1 (Seven Places)

It'd be no surprise to me should Mathieu Pavon continue on his merry way and Harbour Town should suit his capabilities. However, with Major season now in full swing it wouldn't surprise me should we see a few of the bigger names (bar Scheffler!) win one or two events in between now and the PGA and thereafter towards the US Open.

Homa and Morikawa will do well to go another four days towards the front end of a leaderboard whilst course specialist Spieth makes little appeal at the odds given his rollercoaster golf lately. Young and Zalatoris are interesting and both are playing well enough to get into the conversation here, but my preference is for Tommy Fleetwood who will no doubt prove popular this week in South Carolina.

The Englishman has ramped things up of late finishing 10th at the Genesis, 7th in Texas before his 3rd placed finish at Augusta.

It may pay to steer clear of Augusta contenders, but Fleetwood was never really one of them on Sunday and won't have burned up much mental fuel. Instead he will arrive confident at a venue on which he would look perfect among the roll call of winners.

He has a similar to long game to both Fitzpatrick and McDowell, two former European winners of this event and this may represent one of his best chances of the year to land that elusive stateside victory.

Fitzpatrick having his family by his side in emotional scenes last year may provide some inspiration to Fleetwood who missed his regular caddie on the bag last week at Augusta. He has the perfect game for this place and if the wind blows by the coast here then even better.

15th and 10th here the last two years are good warm ups for a bigger bid this time around and anything around 20/1 or bigger is fair.

2.5pts each-way T.Fleetwood  20/1  (1/5 7)  WilliamHill

Tommy Fleetwood - 2.5pts e/w @ 20/1

Christiaan Bezuidenhout at 60/1 (Seven Places)

Christiaan Bezuidenhout missed out on a place at the Masters and may benefit from arriving here fresher than most and on a course where he has played reasonably well on before.

There's no doubt a large tranche of the courses on the PGA Tour won't suit the South African due to their length, but when it comes to a more strategic layout that demands solid iron play and good scrambling then Bezuidenhout can come to the fore.

He has already come close to winning this term being narrowly picked off by the amateur Nick Dunlap in the Californian desert and his form since has been rock solid.

A top 20 at Pebble and a top 25 at Riviera have been followed up with 13th at Sawgrass, 9th at Copperhead and then 25th in his latest event in Texas.

He was the 4th best iron player in the field at the Players Championship and these performances have generally been compiled from his second shot onwards as he finds it difficult to make gains off the tee.

The importance of length or accuracy off the tee this week is minimal which gives Bezuidenhout a fair chance of getting into contention here at the weekend. 

1pt each-way C.Bezuidenhout 60/1  (1/5 7) WilliamHill, 888Sport

Christiaan Bezuidenhout - 1pt e/w @ 60/1

Sepp Straka at 80/1 (Seven Places)

Sepp Straka was around the 125/1 mark last week and anything around the 66s mark or bigger appeals this week given he managed a top 20 at Augusta.

Fitzpatrick finished 10th at the Masters before winning last year whilst two years previous Stewart Cink was 12th at Augusta before slipping on the second most famous Jacket in golf here at Harbour Town.

Generally prior to that a good performance wasn't needed at Augusta and maybe staying out of contention in the years first major was a slight advantage.

Straka is similar to Cink and Fitzpatrick in that he had a very respectable finish without taking too much out of himself in the process. The Austrian is a quality ball striker who was 5th in Greens in Regulation last week at Augusta.

His long game was in imperious form and any improvement with the putter should see him get into the mix here if his iron play holds up.

He has won around a tricky track before at PGA National and staying out of trouble here could give him another swipe at landing a third PGA Tour victory.

1pt each-way S.Straka  80/1  (1/5 7) 888sport

Sepp Straka - 1pt e/w @ 80/1