There won’t be a post-Masters break for the world’s top players as they head to South Carolina for the 2023 RBC Heritage. In its 1st year as a designated event, the 55th RBC Heritage will feature its best field ever – led by Masters champion Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and last year’s winner, Jordan Spieth. Harbour Town Golf Links will once again host this great event, a tradition that’s lived on since the 1960s.
Below, we look at the 2023 RBC Heritage odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Rahm was the No. 1 player in last week’s Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and he delivered with a win at Augusta National. He’s the co-favorite with Scheffler at +750. Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Spieth and Collin Morikawa are also expected to contend. According to the PGA Tour, 28 of the top 30 players in the FedExCup standings are in the field this week following WDs from Rory McIlroy and Jason Day.
Harbour Town is a much shorter track than Augusta National, coming in at just 7,121 yards as a par 71. It’s also much narrower than what players saw at the Masters, featuring tight fairways and small greens. This puts an emphasis on accuracy off the tee and approaches into the greens. Spieth won last year at 13-under par, but the winning scores was 19-under in 2021 and 22-under in 2020.
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RBC Heritage – Expert picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 2:46 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+1800)
Morikawa didn’t really have a weakness at the Masters, gaining strokes on the field in every category, according to Data Golf. This course fits him even better than Augusta, too, forcing players to hit narrow fairways and tiny greens – a forte of Morikawa’s. He ranks 2nd on tour this season in strokes gained: approach (1.095) and is 4th tee-to-green (1.725). His lack of length off the tee won’t hurt him on this shorter course.
Cameron Young (+2000)
Young is really starting to gain some momentum, finishing runner-up at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and tied for 7th at the Masters on Sunday. In his tournament debut last year, he tied for 3rd at 12-under par, one shot behind Spieth. He’s 14th in strokes gained: tee-to-green this season and should excel again at Harbour Town. I love his chances to claim his 1st PGA Tour title this week.
Patrick Cantlay (+1200)
Cantlay is 7th in SG: tee-to-green this season and was 3rd in that category at the Masters, only to be let down by his putter – despite taking an excessive amount of time to read his putts on Sunday. He’s played this event 5 times, made the cut 4 times and has 4 top-10s. So, yeah. He likes this place.
RBC Heritage picks – Contenders
Tommy Fleetwood (+5500)
Fleetwood didn’t have a great ball-striking week at Augusta, but he ranks 12th in SG: tee-to-green, a key stat this week. He’s trending upward after tying for 3rd at the Valspar Championship and making the cut at the Masters, finishing 33rd despite not having his best stuff. He tied for 10th here last year and 25th in 2019.
Tyrrell Hatton (+4500)
Hatton’s odds have stretched quite a bit in recent weeks after playing poorly at the WGC Match Play (with a hand injury) and missing the cut at the Valero Texas Open where he was the favorite. However, he tied for 34th at the Masters and has made the cut 4 of 5 times here, with 3 top-30 finishes, including a T-3 in 2020. Now is a good time to buy low.
Russell Henley (+5000)
Henley had his best performance ever in a major on Sunday, tying for 4th at the Masters. It was his 2nd straight top-20 finish in a stroke-play event, tying for 19th a the Players Championship. He’s shown the ability to contend in big events this season and he’s one of the best iron players in the world, which bodes well at this event.
RBC Heritage picks – Long shots
Akshay Bhatia (+20000)
It’s a smaller sample size, but Bhatia ranks 13th on tour this season in SG: approach. He’s made the cut in 6 of his 7 PGA Tour starts so far and has 2 top-25s, including a runner-up at the Puerto Rico Open. He shot 63 at the Corales Puntacana Championship a few weeks ago en route to a T-24 finish.
Gary Woodland (+10000)
Woodland has been solid with his irons this season, ranking 20th in SG: approach. He finished 14th at the Masters despite an up-and-down round on Sunday, coming into good form as major season begins. He’s a former major champion and has made the cut in both of his starts in this event.
Sepp Straka (+12500)
Straka was in contention here last year, tying for 3rd and one shot out of a playoff. He’s 18th in SG: approach so if he can continue hitting greens at a high rate, he’ll have a lot of good birdie looks on these small greens at Harbour Town.
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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
- Prize money payouts for each player at the 2023 Masters at Augusta National
- Jon Rahm wins 2023 Masters at Augusta National, will return to world No. 1
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