The PGA Tour’s second event back after a 91-day break due to the coronavirus pandemic is the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links.
The PGA Tour’s second event back after a 91-day break due to the coronavirus pandemic is the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Of the 152 golfers in the field, there are 114 golfers who have won a PGA Tour event. That lineup includes the top five in the world: No. 1 Rory McIlroy, No. 2 Jon Rahm, No. 3 Brooks Koepka, No. 4 Justin Thomas and No. 5 Dustin Johnson.
The course plays as a par 71 and measures 7,099 yards. All 18 holes have water in play. The signature hole is the 472-yard par 4 with the iconic Harbour Town lighthouse serving as the backdrop.
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TV, streaming, radio information
All times are listed in ET.
Thursday, June 18
5:45-7:40 a.m.: Twitter
6:45 a.m.-6 p.m.: PGA Tour Live
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sirius XM
2-5 p.m.: Golf Channel
Friday, June 19
5:45-7:40 a.m.: Twitter
6:45 a.m.-6 p.m.: PGA Tour Live
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sirius XM
2-5 p.m.: Golf Channel
Rickie Fowler’s record at Harbour Town isn’t great, but the place is special to him, nonetheless.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Rickie Fowler’s return to the PGA Tour at last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge lasted two rounds.
His record in this week’s RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links suggests his stay here won’t last much longer.
Not that his resume of his playing days much matters to Fowler this week. Last week was last week. He flew in early from Texas and put in some extra work here at Harbour Town. And despite his record here, he holds good vibes here by the seaside. After all, he played his first PGA Tour event here in 2008 as an amateur.
He missed the cut that year. Two years later, he tied for eighth. But in 2011 and 2012 he missed the cut. He hasn’t played here since, mostly because the Masters was the week before the RBC Heritage. This year, however, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the RBC Heritage is in a perfect spot on the calendar.
“This is a special place to me here at Harbour Town,” Fowler said Tuesday after a practice round. “It’s great to be back. I love the golf course. It’s fun and different. It’s not just bombs away and find it. You’ve got to play to certain spots. The wind can play tricks around here in the trees. It’s just a fun place.”
Harbour Town is home to tight fairways, plenty of doglegs and hundreds of over-hanging trees that play mind games on sight lines and punish scores of drives and approach shots. The winds circulating above the trees adds to the puzzle, as do the smallish greens.
It’s a tough place for those making their debut. As for Fowler, he feels comfortable despite not playing here for seven years.
“It’s just a golf course that feels very tight and claustrophobic at times because in between the houses, a lot of times trees on both sides, you’re hitting through shoots and small greens with trees overhanging,” Fowler said. “You have to have an understanding where trees come into play with the shots into greens; it’s almost like a goalie sitting there at the green ready to swat your ball down.
“A lot of times when you’re on the golf course from 1 through 16, you never feel (the wind). So it may shock you as how much balls can get hurt or helped or pushed side to side because you’re down there in the trees and you don’t really feel what’s going on up there (above the trees).”
Fowler has gotten a good taste of high winds the past two days. And he’s sharpened his game since last week’s missed cut.
“I felt really good going into last week,” he said. “Unfortunately, just got a little out of sync. Didn’t drive well. Didn’t make very many putts. I was able to get some work in, and I’m feeling a lot better about where I stand going into this week.”
Here are the first-round tee times for the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
The PGA Tour continues the 2020 season this week with the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina. The event traditionally is played the week after the Masters, but was moved from that April 16-19 date this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Like last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, which marked the PGA Tour’s restart after a three-month break, no fans will be on site at the RBC Heritage. There were no positive coronavirus tests reported among players or caddies at Colonial for the Charles Schwab Challenge, which will go down as a big success for the Tour.
The RBC Heritage field is loaded, even though Tiger Woods won’t be teeing it up. The top five men in the Official World Golf Ranking, however, will be at Harbour Town. That lineup consists of No. 1 Rory McIlroy, No. 2 Jon Rahm, No. 3 Brooks Koepka, No. 4 Justin Thomas and No. 5 Dustin Johnson. There are 114 players in the field who have won a PGA Tour event.
The coronavirus pandemic had just started roiling across the U.S. and Pan simply wasn’t comfortable competing with all the uncertainty.
Before the day was out, PGA Tour officials announced the tournament would go on but without fans. Then hours later, the rest of the tournament was canceled altogether.
“It was a really tough decision. In my whole career, including junior golf, I’ve never withdrawn from a tournament,” Pan said Tuesday at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina, where he is the defending champion. “So back in March, that was a really tough decision for me, but for the safety of my family and myself, my wife and I, we think that’s the right call to pull myself out early.”
This week, Pan is back at Harbour Town with his wife Yingchun Lin, who will do more than just root on her husband on the course where he earned his first PGA Tour win.
“It’s my first victory, and it’s probably the one I will always remember. Actually, this morning I played the back nine, and my wife is on the bag this week,” Pan said. “She wasn’t here last year when I won. So I kind of told her how I played each hole and even each shot. I even showed her where the hole locations are and like the birdie putt on 16, the par save on 17 from the top bunker, and 18 I hit a great shot, the approach shot to 15 feet. So that was really fun to go through that again and having her in the ropes and caddying for me because she wasn’t here last year. So it’s great to be back.”
Travel accommodations back to Harbour Town were made with safety in mind, too.
“We’re still trying to be careful. My wife and I, we recently purchased an RV, so we don’t need to fly,” Pan said.
“When they announced the new schedule, it was quite a surprise to me that RBC is the second event on the schedule, so I was really happy to see that. My wife and I, we love this place. We love coming back here.”
The PGA Tour’s restarted season continues this week with the RBC Heritage. Here is the field, broken down by two rankings systems.
The PGA Tour’s restarted season continues this week with the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Like last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, no fans will be on site at Harbour Town.
Despite Tiger Woods being absent for the second week in a row, the field is still plenty strong. The top five players in the Official World Golf Ranking will tee it up along with four of the top five in the Golfweek/Sagarin Pro Rankings (only No. 4 Patrick Cantlay is missing from that group).
The field is broken down below according to each player’s ranking in the Golfweek/Sagarin and in the OWGR.
For the 2019-20 season, the average ranking of the winner heading into the week in which they won PGA Tour event has been 80.65 in the Golfweek/Sagarins and 111.57 in the OWGR.
Analyzing the best fantasy golf options for the 2020 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links.
The PGA Tour shifts to Hilton Head, S.C., for the 2020 RBC Heritage this week at Harbour Town Golf Links. Last week saw Daniel Berger outlast Collin Morikawa in a playoff for his first win since 2017 in the PGA Tour’s return from a nearly three-month hiatus. Below, we’ll look at the fantasy golf power rankings for the 2020 RBC Heritage.
Jun 14, 2020; Fort Worth, Texas; Branden Grace lines up a putt at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club. (Photo Credit: Raymond Carlin III – USA TODAY Sports)
Here are my top-30 fantasy golf rankings for the 2020 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links.
30. Luke List
List will return to the PGA Tour after winning in a strong field on the Korn Ferry Tour last week. He has some confidence, and his sixth-place finish at last year’s PGA Championship shows he can contend in strong fields at the highest level.
29. Rory Sabbatini
Sabbatini’s T-14 last week was his best finish in North America since a T-6 at the 2019 Wyndham Championship. He’s excellent on par 4s, especially Harbour Town’s most common range of 400-450 yards, and he tied for 10th last year.
28. Sergio Garcia
Garcia missed the cut last week, but he’s a good fit to Harbour Town, with top-10 field ranks in Greens in Regulation Gained and Bogey Avoidance over everyone’s last 100 rounds.
27. Abraham Ancer
Ancer tied for 14th last week while gaining 1.66 strokes per round on the field from tee-to-green, according to Data Golf. He enters the week at 22nd in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings.
26. Corey Conners
Conners had a much better than usual putting performance last week at Colonial Country Club, as he gained 0.57 strokes per round on the greens. He has three missed cuts here in his career, but the putter is typically his main weakness.
Jun 12, 2020; Fort Worth, Texas; Scottie Scheffler lines up a putt at the Charles Schwab Challenge. (Photo Credit: Raymond Carlin III – USA TODAY Sports)
25. Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler’s Sunday round of 73 dropped him down the leaderboard to a T-55 finish after opening with three sub-par rounds. He has a well-rounded game and has the iron play to hit these small greens.
24. J.T. Poston
Poston tied for 10th last week while gaining 1.27 strokes per round tee-to-green and 0.92 strokes per round putting. He tied for sixth in this event last year, albeit in a much weaker field.
23. Shane Lowry
Lowry tied for third last year in his second career appearance at this event. The Open Champion is 10th in this field in SG: Off-the-Tee over everyone’s last 100 rounds.
22. Bubba Watson
Watson picked up a T-7 last week for his third top-10 result of 2020 to match his total from 2019. He gained 1.45 strokes per round tee-to-green and 1.23 putting.
21. Jason Kokrak
Kokrak put together weekend rounds of 65 and 64 for a T-3 finish last week. He has gained 0.80 strokes per round across 25 career rounds at this venue.
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20. Jordan Spieth
Spieth was able to somewhat tame his driver last week, but he lost 0.35 strokes per round on approach while gaining 2.15 strokes putting. His T-10 finish was promising, but he’s still too erratic to trust on a weekly basis.
19. Tyrrell Hatton
Hatton returns to play following his first PGA Tour win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He looks to follow the lead of Berger in picking up his pre-break form.
18. Gary Woodland
Woodland faltered to a Sunday 70 for a ninth-place finish last week. He’s ninth in this field in SG: Off-the-Tee, and he gained 2.20 strokes per round on approach last week.
17. Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama had a T-5 at the Genesis Invitational and a T-6 at the WGC-Mexico Championship before a T-56 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He can avoid trouble and hit these greens.
Jun 12, 2020; Fort Worth, Texas; Sungjae Im lines up a putt at the Charles Schwab Challenge. (Photo Credit: Raymond Carlin III – USA TODAY Sports)
16. Sungjae Im
One of Im’s eight missed cuts in his last 44 international events came at this venue last year, but he’s coming off a T-10 at the Charles Schwab Challenge, where he also missed the cut in 2019. He’s 16th in this field in Bogey Avoidance and will score on the par 5s.
15. Tony Finau
Finau’s best trait for Harbour Town is a field rank of seventh in Greens in Regulation Gained. He gained 1.08 strokes off-the-tee last week while finishing in a tie for 23rd.
14. Brooks Koepka
Koepka will make his debut at Harbour Town amid one of his worst stretches in recent memory. The former world No. 1 enters the week 19th in the Golfweek rankings, but he’s ninth in this field in Bogey Avoidance and proximity from the key distance of 175-200 yards.
13. Daniel Berger
The reigning PGA Tour champ has made seven straight cuts with four consecutive top-10 finishes. He’s also riding a Tour-best streak of 28 rounds of par or better.
12. Dustin Johnson
Johnson tied for 16th here in 2018 and 28th last year. He’s second in the field in SG: Off-the-Tee and is a good bet to bounce back from last week’s missed cut.
11. Webb Simpson
Simpson also missed the cut last week, and slipped to No. 6 in the Golfweek rankings. He has gained 1.30 strokes per round over 38 rounds at Harbour Town, and he tied for fifth in 2018.
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10. Patrick Reed
Reed finished T-7 last week with four rounds in the 60s highlighted by Saturday’s 63. He was in great form before the break with a win at the WGC-Mexico Championship and seems to have picked right back up.
9. Justin Rose
Rose gained 1.59 strokes per round tee-to-green and 1.34 strokes per round with the putter last week. He’s an excellent ball-striker and avoids trouble areas.
8. Collin Morikawa
Morikawa was without weakness last week before losing to Berger in a playoff. Debuting at tough courses hasn’t proven to be an issue yet, as he continues his streak of no missed cuts as a professional.
7. Matt Kuchar
Kuchar, the 2019 runner-up, has three other top-11 finishes here in the last five years with nothing worse than a T-23. He played a field-high 60 rounds at Harbour Town while gaining 1.76 strokes per round on the field.
Jun 13, 2020; Fort Worth, Texas; Bryson DeChambeau reacts after putting for an eagle at the Charles Schwab Challenge. (Photo Credit: Raymond Carlin III – USA TODAY Sports)
6. Bryson DeChambeau
DeChambeau received plenty of air time last week due to his new, beefed-up look, but it certainly worked as he gained a tournament-best 2.65 strokes per round tee-to-green and 1.83 strokes per round off-the-tee.
5. Xander Schauffele
Schauffele gained 0.91 strokes per round with the putter, but you wouldn’t know it with his 17th-hole lip out costing him a chance at a playoff. He was among the best in the field off-the-tee and from tee-to-green. He’ll play here for the third year in a row.
4. Jon Rahm
Rahm was a disaster on the greens last week en route to a missed cut. He’s accurate off-the-tee and precise with the irons and is another good bet to bounce right back.
3. Justin Thomas
Thomas hasn’t played here since finishing T-11 in 2015 and 75th in 2016. It was his play off-the-tee last week which cost him, but he was able to gain 1.75 strokes per round on approach.
2. Rory McIlroy
McIlroy hasn’t played here since a 58th-place finish in 2009. He faltered with a plus-4 74 in Round 4 last week, but he leads this field in SG: Off-the-Tee, Bogey Avoidance and Greens in Regulation Gained over everyone’s last 100 rounds.
1. Branden Grace
The 2016 champ tied for seventh in 2015 and 11th in 2017. He opened the Charles Schwab Challenge with three straight rounds of 66 before Sunday’s 73 dropped him to T-19 to inflate his odds at Harbour Town.
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Analyzing the golf betting odds to win the 2020 RBC Heritage, with PGA Tour betting odds, picks, predictions and best bets.
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The 2020 RBC Heritage – which begins Thursday – comes on the heels of Daniel Berger’s resurgent playoff win over Collin Morikawa in the Charles Schwab Challenge last week as the PGA Tour resumed its 2019-20 schedule. Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, S.C., hosts another star-studded field including 114 PGA Tour winners. Below, we make our picks and best bets to win the RBC Heritage at BetMGM.
February 15, 2020; Pacific Palisades, Calif.; Matt Kuchar reacts after making a putt at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera CC. (Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez – USA TODAY Sports)
Kuchar comes off a missed cut in the first tournament back, but he’s still 27th in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings. He tied for second in a strong field at the Genesis Invitational earlier this season.
Kuchar was the runner-up here a year ago and has two other top-10 finishes in his last five trips to Harbour Town. He’s eighth in this field in Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermuda greens over his career.
New to sports betting? A $10 on Kuchar to win the RBC Heritage returns a profit of $400.
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Branden Grace (+5000)
Grace was right in the mix from Thursday-Saturday last week, as he opened the Charles Schwab Challenge with three straight rounds of 66. He fell down the leaderboard with a Sunday round of 73 to finish in a misleading tie for 19th.
The 2016 RBC Heritage champ tied for seventh in 2015 and 11th in 2017. He has gained 1.84 strokes per round on the field in 16 career rounds played here, according to Data Golf.
2020 RBC Heritage Betting Picks – Tier 2
Feb 27, 2020; Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Viktor Hovland lines up a putt during the first round of the Honda Classic at PGA National GC. (Photo Credit: Reinhold Matay – USA TODAY Sports)
Viktor Hovland (+6600)
Hovland, the winner of the 2020 Puerto Rico Open earlier this year, tied for 23rd in his return to competitive golf. He’ll debut at Harbour Town at 38th in the Golfweek rankings looking for his first win in a full-field event. He’s 34th in this field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and 40th in Par 4 Efficiency: 400-450 Yards over everyone’s last 100 rounds, according to Fantasy National.
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Bubba Watson (+6600)
Watson’s coming off a strong T-7 finish last week and remains a strong value play. He missed the cut in his lone career trip to Hilton Head, but he enters the week ranked third in the field in SG: Off-the-Tee over his last 100 rounds.
2020 RBC Heritage Betting Picks – Long shots
Feb 28, 2020; Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Luke List lines up a putt at the Honda Classic at PGA National GC. (Photo Credit: Reinhold Matay – USA TODAY Sports)
Luke List (+10000)
List is coming off a victory in an irregularly strong field on the Korn Ferry Tour last week. The PGA Tour veteran finished sixth at last year’s PGA Championship, showing an ability to compete in strong fields against the world’s best. He’s seventh in the field in SG: Off-the-Tee and has gained 1.07 strokes per round in 15 rounds at Harbour Town.
Sam Burns (+20000)
Burns finished ninth here in 2019 while gaining 2.40 strokes per round on the field. He hasn’t played since a T-36 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he ranks 12th in this field in SG: Putting on Bermuda over his career.
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Tiger Woods won’t be playing next week, but the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage field is still loaded with talent.
Tiger Woods didn’t head to Texas for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge as the PGA Tour resumed play after a 91-day break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He’s not going to South Carolina next week, either.
The game’s biggest star and reigning Masters champion didn’t commit to the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island by the 5 p.m. ET Friday deadline. The 15-time major champion didn’t publicly issue a statement.
Woods tied for 18th in 1999 in his lone appearance in the tournament. But speculation spread quickly earlier this week that Woods would restart his season in RBC Heritage after his yacht, Privacy, traveled up the Eastern Seaboard from North Palm Beach, Florida, to St. Simons Island, Georgia, just few hours south of Hilton Head Island.
But it’s a voyage that will not result in a start in the RBC Heritage.
Despite the absence of Woods, the field boasts a boatload of stars including the top 5 players in the world – No. 1 Rory McIlroy, No. 2 Jon Rahm, No. 3 Brooks Koepka, No. 4 Justin Thomas and No. 5 Dustin Johnson.
Rahm and Koepka will be making their tournament debuts. McIlroy played in the RBC Heritage just once, in 2009, when he tied for 58th. Thomas has made two starts in the tournament, tying for 11th in 2015 and finishing 75th in 2016. Johnson had made four starts, the two most recent coming the past two years when he tied for 16th and 28th.
Other top-10 players in the field are Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay and Webb Simpson. The star-power is further bolstered by 2014 winner Matt Kuchar, two-time winner Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Tony Finau, Kevin Kisner and Bubba Watson. As well, youngsters Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Matt Wolff.
C.T. Pan will defend his title.
In all, 112 players in the field have won a PGA Tour title – the most winners in a field in any tournament since 2000.
Woods last played in The Match: Champions for Charity on May 24, where he and Peyton Manning defeated Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady at The Medalist in Hobe Sound, Florida.
Woods last played on the PGA Tour on Feb. 16, when he shot a final-round 77 to finish in last place at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles. In his only other Tour start this year, he tied for ninth in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
The next tournament where Woods could make his first Tour start since February would be the Travelers Championship June 25-28 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. Woods, seeking a record 83rd PGA Tour title, has never played in the tournament.
Tiger Woods’ yacht is making its way to Georgia one week before the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island.
While golf fans will be treated to 16 of the world’s top 20 players this week when the PGA Tour returns to action with the Charles Schwab Challenge, they won’t get to see Tiger Woods back on the course just yet.
Yet being the operative word.
While there’s nothing official on when we’ll see the 15-time major champion next, the Big Cat’s yacht – named Privacy, funny enough – is making its way up the east coast.
As first reported by Riggs, host of Barstool Sports’ Fore Play podcast, Privacy left North Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday and arrived at St. Simons Island, Georgia, according to tracking from MarineTraffic.com Tuesday afternoon. Next week, Hilton Head Island will play host to the RBC Heritage at Harbor Town, located just a few hours north of St. Simons Island.
While the mental image of Woods in a captain’s hat is funny, it’s not entirely accurate. The last two times Privacy has been at an event – the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills and 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, both on Long Island – he sent the boat to the tournament and flew in later. It’s unknown if Woods made the trip on the yacht.
Woods has competed at Harbour Town Golf Links just once, a T-18 finish at the 1999 RBC Heritage. The 82-time winner on Tour and his fellow competitors have until 5 p.m. ET this Friday, June 12, to commit to playing.
The best of South Carolina’s Low Country and Grand Strand is all about long marsh views, moss dripping from oaks and beachside living. Think shrimp boils, pickup trucks and Southern accents. And golf courses. From Myrtle Beach at the north end of …
The best of South Carolina’s Low Country and Grand Strand is all about long marsh views, moss dripping from oaks and beachside living. Think shrimp boils, pickup trucks and Southern accents.
And golf courses.
From Myrtle Beach at the north end of the state’s beaches to Hilton Head Island near the southern end, it seems there are more fairways than back roads – and that’s saying something down here.
It’s no surprise to most traveling golfers that South Carolina has great golf. Myrtle Beach is a long-time staple with its nearly 100 courses. Halfway down the state’s coast, Kiawah Island Golf Resort has hosted a Ryder Cup in 1991 and a PGA Championship in 2012, and the course is slated to host that major championship again in 2021. Harbour Town Golf Links at Sea Pines hosts the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage each April.
What is somewhat surprising is that in a state that stretches inland some 250 miles with a diverse landscape that rolls up toward the Appalachian Mountains in the west, all the state’s top-ranked public-access courses are near the beach. Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list includes 15 courses in the Palmetto State, and each of them is near the coast.
My recent rounds on the top five on the list showcased the best of coastal South Carolina golf. Included with the highlights of my trip are comments from Golfweek’s Best raters, on whose opinions our comprehensive course-ranking system is built.
