After Jon Rahm cruised to the first Major of the year the PGA Tour season continues this week at Hilton Head Island. In this article I will be giving my RBC Heritage betting preview. This week’s stop is one of the most scenic courses the tour plays in the year with the lighthouse & harbour in the background of the approach to 18.
RBC Heritage is normally a weaker field with it being the week after Augusta, but it landed itself with elevated event status which means more prize money & guarantees of the top stars playing which shows on the strength of field this week. The field this week is the strongest that has ever assembled at the RBC heritage by some distance even with the last withdrawals of Rory, Zalatoris & Jason Day.
RBC HERITAGE BETTING – THE COURSE
This week’s course is a familiar one to the avid PGA Tour fan and for this RBC Heritage betting preview, I am not sure what much more I can say! The Harbour Town Golf Links located at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The Pete Dye design is a par 71 measuring 7191 yards in total length. This is made up of four par3s measuring between 192 & 200 yards, eleven par4s measuring between 332 & 473 yards & three par 5s measuring between 550 & 588 yards. The course is heavily tree lined with water in play on almost every hole. 54 bunkers are also awaiting any misplaced tee or approach shots. The fairways & rough are perennial ryegrass & the greens are poa overseed. The greens are smaller than tour average this week so precision approach play will be key round here. Precision is also required off the tee as the design of the fairways make approaches easier or harder depending on where they land, so finding the perfect spots off the tee to make the approaches easier will be crucial this week.
Weather Forecast
After last week’s miserable weather forecast let us hope this week’s golf is a ‘play suspended’ free zone…. Well, it could well be another potential Monday finish on the cards. It most certainly looks like the cut will be made on the Saturday. Thundery showers are expected on Friday morning & Sunday afternoon which even if there is lightning in the area play will be halted. The temperatures look set to be hot & humid throughout the weekend with temperatures averaging 24 degrees. The wind looks predicted to never getting above 15mph so it shouldn’t be playing too much havoc with golf shots. Fingers crossed we get four full days’ worth of play.
RBC HERITAGE BETTING – WINNERS
2022
Winner – Jordan Spieth
Score -13
Odds – 40-1
Off the tee 4th
Tee to Green 1st
Approach the Green 10th
Around the Green 5th
Putting 60th
2021
Winner – Stewart Cink
Score -19
Odds – 175-1
Off the tee 20th
Tee to Green 1st
Approach the Green 2nd
Around the Green 5th
Putting 25th
2020
Winner – Webb Simpson
Score -22
Odds – 28-1
Off the tee 34th
Tee to Green 7th
Approach the Green 8th
Around the Green 37th
Putting 2nd
2019
Winner – CT Pan
Score -12
Odds – 160-1
Off the tee 50th
Tee to Green 11th
Approach the Green 18th
Around the Green 7th
Putting 5th
2018
Winner – Satoshi Kodaira
Score -12
Odds – 200-1
Off the tee 6th
Tee to Green 7th
Approach the Green 7th
Around the Green 66th
Putting 16th
2017
Winner – Wesley Bryan
Score -13
Odds – 66-1
Off the tee 67th
Tee to Green 6th
Approach the Green 2nd
Around the Green 10th
Putting 11th
Average Winning Stats
Score -15
Odds – 111.5
Off the tee 30.1
Tee to Green 5.5
Approach the Green 9.1
Around the Green 22.5
Putting 19.8
Top 5 players playing this week per stokes gained categories.
Off the Tee; Scheffler, Cantlay, Buckley, Mitchel & Hovland
Approach; Hoge, Morikawa, Finau, Rahm & Homa
Tee to Green; Scheffler, Rahm, Morikawa, Finau & Homa
Around the Green; Thomas, Fleetwood, Wallace, Kuchar & Griffin
Putting; McNealy, Ryder, Montgomery, B.Taylor & Putnam
RBC HERITAGE BETTING – TIPS
Cameron Young 25-1 Skybet 2PTS 8 Places
Can this week be the maiden win on the PGA Tour for Cameron Young? Yes, it can & here is my thoughts why. He comes here fresh of a 7th placed finish at The Masters where he finished with a final round 68 which included a highlight reel monster putt eagle on the 13th. Young has been knocking on the door for quite a few months now picking up numerous top 10s in the process which has seen him rise to world no 13. The 25-year-old statistically has one of the best tee to green & approach the green stats on the tour which if you go off the winning average should bode well for him this week, he ranks 14h & 17th in these categories. Cameron will be able to rely on last year’s debut here where he finished T3 after opening with a 63 so he knows he is more than capable of shooting low numbers around here.
Strokes Gained Rank
Off the Tee 12th
Approach 17th
Tee to Green 14th
Around the Green 142nd
Putting 183rd (not a typo)
Form – 7/51/10/20/64
Course Form – 3
Tom Kim 45-1 William Hill 8 Places
Tom is a cracking Price this week at 45s. The field this week is class & even with the withdrawal of Rory I still feel he is overpriced here. He isn’t the longest of hitters averaging 295.5 which ranks him 118th on tour but his accuracy is where he will come good this week. He ranks 3rd in driving accuracy hitting 71.09% of fairways which will be vital to his approach shots around Harbour Links. The Koreans average drive means his approach shots will be roughly around 120-180 yards for his 2nd on the par 4s which he happens to be 4th & 7th for approaches from 150-175 & 125-150. The 20-year-old had a good week putting at Augusta which can only give him confidence going into this week. He had just three 3putts all week which on those greens is very respectable. If he gets it warm this week im sure he will have some say in the outcome come Sunday night.
Strokes Gained Rank
Off the Tee 57th
Approach 19th
Tee to Green 16th
Around the Green 39th
Putting 102nd
Form – 16/51/34/45/50
Course Form – Debut
Matt Kuchar 50-1 Skybet 8 Places
After his performance in his last two starts I can’t leave him out. A 3rd place finish at the Valero Texas Open & last 16 in the Match play have shown he is on the way back to his best. He also comes back to a course where he has won before back in 2014, very memorable for his hole out on the 72nd hole from the bunker. Kuch has played here nineteen times previously & has only ever missed one cut in that time in his very 1st start. In those nineteen starts he has had six top 10s & the victory with an average score of 69.73. Course form alone would be good enough this week for a 50-1 play but considering his recent form he is an auto pick.
Strokes Gained Rank
Off the Tee 69th
Approach 35th
Tee to Green 17th
Around the Green 6th
Putting 68th
Form – 3/MC/MC/8/32
Course Form – 3/18/41/2/23/11/9/5/1/35
Nick Taylor 175-1 William Hill 8 Places
Nick is having one of his best years on tour, it’s just missing a win. He has had four top 15 finishes this year which has seen him rise to world no 66 after starting higher than 250th. This week is known for having a high-priced winner’s take home the trophy & there no reason it can’t be Nick this week. The Canadian is one of the best putters on tour, he ranks 8th for putting average & 8th for putts per round. Scoring average wise he ranks 26th averaging 69.69 which shows how well of a year he is having. He went toe to toe with Scottie Scheffler at the WM Pheonix Open which will only fill him with confidence knowing he kept up with the then world no1.
Strokes Gained Rank
Off the Tee 94th
Approach 50th
Tee to Green 33rd
Around the Green 25th
Putting 40th
Form – 15/10/MC/MC/33
Course Form – MC/MC/DNP/58/MC
Other notables
Sahith Theegala – 9th on Masters debut with a cracking Tiger Woods esc shot on the 16th that will be shown for a few years. Sahith’s had a solid year & was the last guy of my list this week so hopefully it doesn’t come back to bite me.
Jimmy Walker – 22nd on his last start at a short track could be worth a top 20 top 40 bet.
Good Luck