2020 RBC Heritage Preview

June 18 – June 21

Harbour Town Golf Links | Hilton Head Island, SC

Par 71 – 7,099 Yards

Defending: C.T. Pan

It was great to have sports back this weekend and we even got some free golf as Daniel Berger took down Colin Morikawa on the first playoff hole to win the Charles Schwab Challenge at -15. We had a solid leaderboard all week as DeChambeau, Rose, Schauffele, Reed and even Jordan Spieth returned from the break in good form. Time will tell if this was more of a course fit for Spieth or if he really did find his game (gained strokes off the tee, led the field in putting, but lost strokes on approach). A couple other stats that stand out before we move on: DeChambeau led the field in shots gained off the tee at 1.83 per round. Gary Woodland led the field on approach at 2.198 strokes gained while Brooks Koepka was dead last losing -1.225 strokes per round (Brooks gained off the tee and did putt well this week). Looked like we had a few top 5 and top 10s ready to cash heading into Sunday but late movement on the leaderboard kept us out of the money there. DFS lineups went a little better to keep the cash roll going, but no big winners.

This week we’re headed to Hilton Head for the RBC Heritage played at Harbour Town Golf Links. C.T. Pan won the tournament at -12 last year over Matt Kuchar (-11). We’re going to have another stacked field this week led by Rory McIlroy (+1000), Bryson DeChambeau (+1100), Justin Thomas (+1200), Jon Rahm (+1600), and Xander Schauffele (+1600).

Harbour Town is a shorter Par-71 at just 7,099 yards which makes this a very strategic course (although Bryson will probably just hit it over trees if he has to). Narrow fairways, small greens, and water hazards will make players think twice off the tee and on approach, not to mention the overhanging trees lining fairways and making angles that much more important. The course has very fast Bermuda greens which add to the difficulty. As seen at the bottom of the page, winning scores over 10 years have varied from -9 to -18. Other notables in this week’s field: Patrick Reed, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.

Harbour Town Golf Links | Hilton Head Island, SC

Par 71 – 7,099 Yards

The Course

Par 3’s: 200, 195, 192, 174

Par 4’s: 410, 469, 419, 473, 332, 451, 436, 430, 373, 434, 472

Par 5’s: 502, 549, 588

A few different strategies can work at Harbour Town but as highlighted from the winners below, good iron players and putters have risen to the top (Furyk, Kuchar, Snedker, Kisner, etc.). Similar to last week, the field isn’t usually this strong so take that into account when looking at course history.

The first thing that stands out here are the four Par 3’s in that 175-200 yard range. Based on last week’s finishes (also 4 par 3’s) and last year’s stats, these holes are going to be key in staying near the top of the leaderboard. Hatton, Rahm, Grace, Day and Spieth round out the top 5 on efficiency scoring from this distance. Next, with the three Par 5’s playing as the easiest holes on the course, Par 5 scoring is an area that could differentiate players. Lastly on the hole composition, there are six Par 4’s in the 400-450 yards range.

As with last week, these shorter courses emphasize iron play and makes SG: Approach one of the most important areas to look at (Berger 1.362 gained per round last week, Morikawa 1.585). With that in mind, last year’s tournament at Harbour Town saw players take the highest number of shots from 150-175 yards followed by 175-200 yards, making proximity stats from those distances key. Smaller, faster greens will also emphasize around the green numbers (probably a part of why Luke Donald plays well here) and putting this week. While accuracy off the tee is usually important on shorter tracks, it’s not necessarily a requirement as last year’s winner C.T. Pan hit just 51% of fairways off the tee last year and third place finisher Scott Piercy was at just 57%.

Scoring Holes: As noted a couple times, the three Par 5’s at Harbour Town provide the best chance for birdies, while not giving up many eagles (13 total eagles last year on par 5’s). Hole #2 (502 yards) and Hole #5 (549 yards) played almost a half stroke under par last year so players starting on the front nine will have a chance for some early birdies. Hole #9 is a reachable, but surrounded by hazards, par 4 at 332 yards that played .219 strokes under par last year; Bryson can probably hit iron into that one (half joking).

Problem Holes: Hole #18 is an awesome finishing hole as it plays the most difficult on the course (last year at .226 over par) and one of the toughest scoring holes in golf. It is a 472 yard par 4 that requires a great second shot, otherwise it could be costly as players finish their rounds. Hole #3 is another brutal par 4 at 469 yards that played .207 strokes over par last year. The par 3’s don’t give up as many birdies as other courses and will highlight which guys are hitting their mid irons best ranging from 174 to 200 yards.

Past Winners at the RBC Heritage

2019 – C.T. Pan (-12) def. Matt Kuchar (-11)

2018 – Satoshi Kodaira (-12) def. Si-Woo Kim (-12)

2017 – Wesley Bryan (-13) def. Luke Donald (-12)

2016 – Branden Grace (-9) def. Luke Donald; Russell Knox (-7)

2015 – Jim Furyk (-18) def. Kevin Kisner (-18)

2014 – Matt Kuchar (-11) def. Luke Donald (-10)

2013 – Greame McDowell (-9) def. Webb Simpson (-9)

2012 – Carl Pettersson (-14) def. Zach Johnson (-9)

2011 – Brandt Snedeker (-12) def. Luke Donald (-12)

2010 – Jim Furyk (-13) def. Brian Davis (-13)

Winner Odds

Winner odds to be added as they become available.

Golf Bets and DFS Picks to Follow