RBC Heritage: Top 10 power rankings at Harbour Town
The PGA Tour season rolls on with a familiar post-Masters stop: The RBC Heritage at Harbour Town.
Nothing beats the tradition that oozes out of Augusta National for the Masters. But the RBC Heritage is celebrating its 50-year anniversary this year all at one location.
Harbour Town Golf Links and its iconic red- and white-striped lighthouse and plaid winner’s jacket have become familiar sights over the years. The family-friendly event is a peaceful reprieve from the high intensity of the week prior.
RBC has a large stable of golfers obligated to play this week. Still, there are a healthy number of domestic and international players keeping their games going for another week.
In fact, it was tougher to whittle this week’s rankings down to 10 than anticipated.
Four of the world’s top 10 are in South Carolina as well as eight of the top 20.
Harbour Town is a Pete Dye design known for its postage stamp sized greens and constricting tree-lined fairways. Even drives in the fairway can be penal if they’re not placed properly (i.e. behind overhanging branches).
The course measures 7,099 yards for a par 71 and is far from a bomber’s paradise. Finding the fairway is of utmost importance to be able to fire in a close approach. Average drive lengths tend to be some of the shortest on Tour here.
This is a coastal course and wind is usually a factor.
If you’re looking for stats to keep an eye on, I like strokes gained approaching the green, SG putting, and scrambling to be good indicators. Good putters on Bermuda greens are also handy.
Course history tends to hold up pretty well as we’ve seen Boo Weekley and Jim Furyk each win twice in the last 10 years and others consistently contend.
The last six RBC Heritages have been decided all by two strokes or fewer including three playoffs. Winning score tends to be in the low double-digits under par.
Let’s see who could eek out a win in South Carolina: