Danny Willett’s comeback win following Jordan Spieth’s epic collapse at The Masters is still fresh in our memories but the PGA Tour will forge on with a stop at Hilton Head in South Carolina for the RBC Heritage this week. It might seem hard to get enthusiastic about this week’s tournament after the events that unfolded this past week, but there will be $5.9 million in prize money on the line this week and plenty of cash available for golf fans that can accurately predict the outcome of this week’s RBC Heritage. And we do have some big names in the field headlined by tournament favorite Jason Day.
Event Details
Event: RBC Heritage
Category: PGA
Date: Apr 14-17
Location: Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, South Carolina
The 48th edition of the RBC Heritage should be an exciting event in its own right at the very least. Two of the last three tournaments ended in a playoff with Jim Furyk winning in a playoff in 2015 and Graeme McDowell winning in a playoff in 2013.
Past Five Winners
2015: Jim Furyk -18 (Playoff)
2014: Matt Kuchar -11
2013: Graeme McDowell -9 (Playoff)
2012: Carl Pettersson -14
2011: Brandt Snedeker -12
What To Know About The Course
The RBC Heritage will be completely different than The Masters in terms of what is required off the tee. Furyk ranked just 75th in Driving Distance when he won here a year ago but he tied for seventh in Driving Accuracy and that helped make the difference as he pulled out the victory. In fact, six of the seven winners at this tournament have ranked inside the top-10 in Driving Accuracy so that will be one of the most important statistics to keep an eye on when it comes to predicting a winner at Harbour Town. The winds should be fairly strong for the majority of the week so finding the greens will be very important. Meanwhile, each of the last four winners have ranked inside the top-10 in Greens In Regulation so putting will be a key stat as well.
The Field
It shouldn’t be a surprise that a number of the big guns elected to take the week following The Masters off. That said, this field is still be very impressive in its own right. Jason Day leads the list of contenders as the obvious betting favorite at +600 odds and there is a major drop off after him. Paul Casey and 2011 winner Brandt Snedeker are both listed at +1800 odds followed by the 2014 winner Matt Kuchar at +2000 and Zach Johnson at +2500 odds.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Paul Casey over Brandt Snedeker
Snedeker’s results at this tournament are all over the board. He missed the cut in 2009 and 2010 before winning the RBC Heritage in 2011 and he hasn’t finished better than 27th in his last four appearances here since. Meanwhile, Casey looked very good at The Masters last week and that should give him some confidence heading in to this week. He hasn’t finished higher than 11th at this course but he also hasn’t finished lower than 22nd in three appearances here so he seems like a trustworthy bet over Snedeker this week.
Top Five Pick: Jason Day
It’s hard to argue against banking on Day for a strong performance this week following a disappointing run at The Masters last week. Day has placed inside the top-11 in five of his seven starts this season including a top-10 finish last week that came on the heels of back-to-back wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC: Accenture Match Play so he has been extremely consistent overall. The fact that a 10th place finish at The Masters is considered a disappointment is testament to his ability so look for Day to bounce back and contend for the outright win as a lock to finish in the top five at the RBC Heritage Open.
Top 10 Odds To Win RBC Heritage Open
Jason Day +605
Paul Casey +1815
Brandt Snedeker +1850
Matt Kuchar +2050
Zach Johnson +2250
Matthew Fitzpatrick +2550
Kevin Kisner +2550
Justin Thomas +3050
Branden Grace +3550
Bill Haas +3550
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