RBC Heritage 2021: Tournament preview and picks

The PGA Tour makes the short trip to Harbour Town this week for the RBC Heritage after an exhilarating Masters culminated with Hideki Matsuyama making history as the first Japanese-born player to win the green jacket.

Matsuyama produced a scintillating performance on moving day at the Masters after about an hour delay due to weather. The dominant display to finish his third round left Hideki with a handsome lead heading into Sunday, and his grasp on the green jacket never really loosened despite a late charge from Xander Schauffele that saw him pull within two shots of the lead for a brief moment.

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Hideki’s win will be etched into Masters history alongside the countless other remarkable moments and stories the famed tournament has treated us to throughout the years.

Players will be competing for a different jacket this week, the tartan jacket, at the iconic Harbour Town Golf Links and with the PGA Championship being held at nearby Kiawah Island next month many of the European contingents will be sticking around this week.

While not quite as strong as last year’s edition of the RBC Heritage that featured a stacked field upon golf’s return from the COVID-19 pause, this week’s current 135 man field remains significantly stronger than past editions.

Headlined by the World number one Dustin Johnson, the field this week includes five of the current top ten in the Official World Golf Ranking with Webb Simpson who is the defending champion after his win last year, Collin Morikawa, Tyrrell Hatton, and Patrick Cantlay also set to tee it up this week. Bryson DeChambeau was set to take part as well before he withdrew from the event earlier on Monday.

RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links

The tournament that began in 1969 pays homage to the sports great history, imparticular its Scottish heritage with the great game having been thought to have made its first appearance on U.S. soil within the nearby region.

The Pete Dye-designed Harbour Town is a PAR 71 coastal course that plays at right around 7,100 yards in length. The course puts a premium on driving accuracy with numerous forced layups required off the tee, and with some of the smallest greens on tour, it is very much a second shot course that rewards accuracy.

The course’s challenging18th finishing hole is one of the more well-known finishing holes in golf with its spectacular views of the Calibogue Sound and iconic lighthouse.

Past RBC Heritage Champions

2020: Webb Simpson (-22)

2019: C.T. Pan (-12)

2018: Satoshi Kodaira (-12)

2017: Wesley Bryan (-13)

2016: Branden Grace (-9)

2015: Jim Furyk (-18)

The Favorites at the RBC Heritage

The odds used in this article can be found be found online at Draftkings sportsbook at the time of writing, make sure to check what is available locally to you for the best odds and options.

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2020 RBC Heritage winner Webb Simpson +850 opens as a slight favorite this week with Dustin Johnson +1250 not far behind. Both players struggled on the greens at Augusta last week and will be looking to rebound with the flat stick at Harbour Town. Unsurprisingly both Simpson and Johnson have a terrific track record on Pete Dye course’s, though Dustin’s best finish at this event is just T16 in three tries.Another Pete Dye specialist Patrick Cantlay +1700 is joined by Matthew Fitzpatrick +1700 to close out the upper-tier of options at the RBC Heritage. Cantlay’s performance last week at Augusta was one of the more surprising performances of the week, after coming in with hot form the man with a good track record in his previous Masters appearances was a trendy pick to win last week. Patrick instead struggled a great deal on his way to just his second missed cut at Augusta National.

Cantlay has a nice history at Harbour Town with two top 5 finishes in three starts. It is a bit of a surprise to see Fitzpatrick’s name this high on the board, but he also has recorded decent results in his three previous starts at the RBC Heritage and comes into the event having played well of late.

The Mid-Tier

A handful of seven names begin in this range this week with names such as Collin Morikawa +2100, Tyrrell Hatton +2200, Daniel Berger +2300, and Paul Casey +2300 leading the way.

You can add Berger and Casey alongside Cantlay’s name in the group of players that disappointed at Augusta last week. Paul has struggled in his two previous starts at Harbour Town but he typically plays Pete Dye tracks well.

Morikawa will be looking for a better result at the RBC Heritage in his second start, while both Berger and Hatton played well at this event last year with each finishing inside of the top 5.

2014 RBC Heritage winner Matt Kuchar +4500 can be found in this range as well, he is joined by Abraham Ancer +3000, Sungjae Im +3500, and Sergio Garcia +4500, who all highlight the middle tier this week.

All four played at the Masters last week, with Ancer being the only one to make the weekend. Both Ancer and Garcia finished inside of the top 5 here last June, while Kuchar had his worst finish at the RBC Heritage last time out with a T41. Sungjae has yet to make the cut in each of his previous appearances at Harbour Town.

Picks to win the RBC Heritage

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Tyrrell Hatton +2200

The Englishman came close to winning the RBC Heritage last June on his way to a 3rd place finish in what was his third appearance at Harbour Town. While Hatton’s performance has been a bit up and down of late, he did make a charge up the leaderboard at the Masters on Sunday when he fired off a four-under-par 68 that was good for the second-best round of the day.

A course that puts an emphasis on second shots and the short game should suit Tyrrell nicely as he excels in both areas. In 2021 Hatton rates out top 10 in strokes gained approach and inside the top 50 in putting.

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Abraham Ancer +3000

Ancer has excelled on Pete Dye designs throughout his young career so far, and he rates out second best in the field on Pete Dye tracks over his past 24 rounds. The talented young player was runner-up at the RBC Heritage last year in his second appearance and on the three Pete Dye courses that events have been played so far in 2021 he has finished 5th, 22nd, and T18.

Abraham had another solid showing in his second Masters that resulted in a T26th place finish, a result that could have been even better if not for a two-stroke penalty he was assessed during his first round. The product out of Oklahoma University rates inside the top 5 in the field in accuracy off the tee, and inside the top 15 in approach.

Sergio Garcia +4500 made a charge up the leaderboard during his final round at Harbour Town last June that resulted in a 5th place finish. The Spaniard is typically one of the best ball strikers in the World when he is on and despite having missed the cut at the Masters last week has been playing some really great golf recently with finishes of 5th, 9th, and 32nd in his last three starts before last week.

Two of those results came on Pete Dye tracks and Garcia is another to have excelled on Dye designs before. If Garcia can get the putter to cooperate he should find himself in contention at this event once more.

Si Woo Kim +5000 stands out in the 50/1 range this week. Si Woo made headlines last week at Augusta for his incident with his putter when he snapped it in half and had to play the rest of his round putting with a fairway wood. The South Korean finished T12 and was amongst the leaders in ball striking for much of the tournament, and just like other names before him this week is another player who plays Pete Dye courses well.

Kim won the American Express earlier this year and finished top 10 at the PLAYERS last month, he also has finishes of 14th and 2nd at the RBC Heritage in previous starts.

Chris Kirk +6000 does not have the best recent history at this event, but since his last start at Harbour Town back in 2019 Kirk has completely revived his career. The 35-year-old has been playing great golf recently and he has recorded two top 10 finishes and two top 25 finishes in his last five starts. Kirk ranks inside the top 25 in the field in both tee to green and ball striking over his past 24 rounds.

Both Doug Ghim +12500 and Michael Thompson +12500 will be added as longshots this week with both being played in the top 10 and 20 markets as well. Thompson made the cut last week at the Masters to make it three cuts made in his last three starts, with one of those starts resulting in a top 20 finish back at the Honda Classic several weeks ago. Michael was 8th at Harbour Town last June and 10th here the year before that.

Ghim showed what he is capable of when playing at his best last month at the PLAYERS. Doug was well in contention heading into Sunday at TPC Sawgrass before struggling in his final round, an understandable result given the magnitude of the event. Doug has struggled in recent starts since, but after a week off should be ready to turn things back in the right direction again.

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The product out of Texas University is a fantastic Iron player and he ranks top 20 in the field in strokes gained approach, he has also shown promising signs during his past two starts on Pete Dye courses, both with his run of success at TPC Sawgrass, and a 5th place finish coming back at the American Express prior to that.

RBC Heritage Card

Tyrrell Hatton +2200

Abraham Ancer +3000

Sergio Garcia +4500

Si Woo Kim +5000

Chris Kirk +6000 (with top 10)

Doug Ghim +12500 (with top 10, top 20)

Michael Thompson +12500 (with top 10, top 20)

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