The PGA Tour makes its traditional move 150 miles from Augusta National Golf Club to Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina, for the RBC Heritage. From the bog lining the eighteenth fairway to the railroad ties enclosing the bunkers to the lighthouse watching over the property, Harbour Town offers stunning and familiar visual images.
The Pete Dye designed course opened in 1967 and has been the site of the RBC Heritage Classic since its inception in 1969 when Arnold Palmer won the inaugural event. With some of the tightest fairways and smallest greens on Tour, the Par 71 layout provides unique challenges to today’s players who are more familiar with wide landing areas and large putting surfaces.
The defending champion is Webb Simpson, who edged Abraham Ancer by a shot to capture his seventh PGA Tour event and his second of 2020. The 2018 Players champion and 2012 U.S. Open winner returns to Harbour Town after a tie for 12th in the Masters.
Veteran Matt Kuchar, who lives down the coast in Sea Island, Georgia, has had a lot of success at Hilton Head, including a win in 2014.
Betting Odds
November Masters champion and 2020 FedEx Cup winner Dustin Johnson is the betting favorite at +1000 odds. DJ hasn’t been playing well, missing the cut at the Masters and struggling with his putting stroke in recent tournaments.
Simpson is next in the odds at +1200, followed by Patrick Cantlay at +1600 and PGA champion Collin Morikawa with odds of +2000. The top five is rounded out by AT&T Pro-Am winner Daniel Berger at +2200.
Underdog Picks at Harbour Town
Brian Harman has been busy in the 2021 season, already competing in 16 events in the 2021 season with three top-ten finishes. The 34-year-old University of Georgia grad finished in a tie for 12th in the Masters and played really well in a third-place finish at The Players.
He’s only missed one cut and this season, and his highest finish in the Heritage is a tie for seventh in 2014. Harman plays the kind of game that should serve him well at the tight Pete Dye layout.
Veteran Matt Kuchar, who lives down the coast in Sea Island, Georgia, has had a lot of success at Hilton Head, including a win in 2014. He was also runner up in 2019 and has two other top-ten finishes in 2015 and 2016.
Kuchar has seen a bit of a resurgence and could post his tenth Tour victory this week in the RBC Heritage. An opening round 78 doomed his chances of making the cut at the Masters, but he seemed to find something in his game prior to his third-place finish in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play three weeks ago.
Thirty-seven year old veteran Kevin Kisner has missed two of his last three cuts, but he’s having a decent season and has one second place finish in the RSM Classic. Kisner missed the cut at the RBC Heritage last year but has finished in the top 11 three times since 2015 and has the experience necessary to contend at Harbour Town.
