After all the thrills and spills with long weather delays and trees falling down at The Masters, it’s back to business as usual on the PGA Tour with this week’s RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
This newly elevated and designated PGA Tour event will attract the big names who would usually be taking a break after Augusta. 28 of the Top 30 FedEx players will be in the 144 field and they will all be competing for a share of the $20M prize purse with the winner collecting the RBC Heritage title and a winner’s cheque for $3.6M.
Before I continue, Congratulations to Jon Rahm for winning The Masters at the weekend. The Spaniard becomes the first European to win both The US Open and The Masters. He won it in a canter in the end becoming unplayable again winning with four shots to spare over Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson.
My only returns were for Jordan Speith who finished T4th but it would have been interesting to see how Sam Burns would have faired when in contention but falling away after the bad weather and long delays came along.
Harbour Town Golf Links will be playing 7,121 yards (subject to change) long this week, it’s a rare par 71 links course on the PGA circuit and the key attribute will definitely involve accuracy from Tee to Green. These small Bermuda greens will require precision to hit the target and the weather conditions will also have a say with whirling winds to negotiate around this open layout.
Jordan Speith returns to defend his title when beating Patrick Cantlay in a playoff around here last year. His winning scorecard read 271,-13.
The weather is forecast to be sunny and warm for the most part but heavy rain is expected on Friday. Breezes will peak at around 15mph.
This event will be screened on Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Golf with live coverage starting at noon on Thursday.
Collin Morikawa 18/1 EW 1-5 places Bet365
For my first and main selection to win the RBC Heritage, I will single out Collin Morikawa 18/1 EW 1-5 places Bet365 or why not go for 16/1 EW 1-12 places Coral.
The 26-year-old wizard from Los Angeles will simply relish this week’s links challenge and arriving here fresh from a Top 10 finish at Augusta will give him even more confidence.
With four Top 10 finishes this year already, T10th The Masters, T6th The Genesis Invitational,3rd Farmers Insurance Open and runner-up at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, it surely has to be a matter of time before Morikawa makes a return to the winner’s podium and it could be this weekend at Hilton Head Island.
This links setup will definitely suit the two-time major champion’s game much more than Augusta National where he gained strokes in all four major categories.
Talking about stats, on the PGA Tour Morikawa currently ranks 9th in Approaches from 175-200 yards, 9th SG Total, 8th Greens in Regulation Percentage, 2nd in Driving Accuracy, 2nd SG Approach to Green and 1st Putting from 3ft.
It’s been a while since Collin Morikawa bagged the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai at the end of 2021, a year in which he also won The 149th Open Championship but the latter could be the biggest clue of all, another Sunday evening victory on a Links Course is about to happen again for Collin Morikawa, it’s another W for the Wizard.
Cameron Young 20/1 EW Bet365
For my next best selection I’m going to recommend Cameron Young 20/1 EW Bet365 or 18/1 EW Ladbrokes 1-10 places. The 25-year-old kid from New York is still looking for that maiden breakthrough title but has shown enough fine recent form to suggest that it may be about to happen anytime soon, possibly this weekend in South Carolina. A respectable T7th at The Masters last time out can be backed up with runner-up at the WGC Dell Technologies Matchplay prior to Augusta.
Young who is just as his name describes was also runner-up this year at the Saudi International and 10th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational to make that four Top 10 finishes in total having only played nine events. Another two of those were Top 20 finishes, T20th at The Genesis Invitational and T13th at the start of the year’s Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Naturally with all that fine form comes fine figures, on the PGA Tour Cameron Young ranks 8th in Approaches 125-150 yards, 5th Birdie or Better Conversion, 3rd in Birdie Average, 2nd in Driving Distance,2nd in Approaches from 150-175 yards and finally 2nd Consecutive Cuts Made.
With over half a dozen runner-up spots but without the victory now could be as good a time as any for Cameron Young to instead of knocking on the door, he could send it crashing down as he wins his maiden crown this Sunday evening.
It’s an elevated PGA event so perfect timing for Cameron Young to scoop the RBC Heritage along with the generous prize pot.
Patrick Cantlay 12/1 EW 1-12 places Coral
For my final outright selection this week I’m going to include Patrick Cantlay 12/1 EW 1-12 places Coral. The 31-year-old from Long Beach California could be the one they all have to beat this week at Harbour Town Links. Check this out, In five attempts around here, although without the W, Cantlay has enjoyed his golf at this venue finishing runner-up last year when beaten in a play off by Jordan Spieth, he’s also finished T3rd twice in 2017 & 2019 and T7th in 2018.
So yip, he’s finished no worse than 7th having played this event on five occasions, that’s truly phenomenal. After all the criticism about the slow play last weekend at The Masters, Patrick Cantlay the six-time PGA Champion could easily silence the critics and bag his first victory since claiming the BMW Championship last August at Wilmington.
Cantlay finished T14th at The Masters to make that five consecutive Top 20 finishes with three being Top 10s and two of them inside the Top 5. 3rd at The Genesis Invitation and T4th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational just a few weeks back are definitely worth a mention.
Patrick Cantlay will win in 2023 of that I’m sure and it could be as soon as this weekend when he brings out that trusted map that until now hasn’t let him down.
Course management certainly won’t be a problem and I’m thinking patience can pay off for Patrick Cantlay as he goes one better than last year when finally conquers this Harbour Town Links Golf Course.
Golf Bet Special
As most of you have probably noticed, I will be launching my own premium golf tips channel in the next few weeks and among the things you can expect there are these kind of Specials bets.
I will have lots more specials with details to follow but for now, I’m interested in Ben Martin’s Top 40 finish at 6/4 with Bet365.
Ben Martin only has to finish inside the top third of the field to collect and with his fine recent form, this looks very tempting in my book.
So all that’s left now is the match bet and for this week’s NAP I’m going to suggest that the defending champion Jordan Spieth gets the better of Viktor Hovland over 72 holes 10/11Nap Bet365.
RBC Heritage Betting Tips
- Collin Morikawa 18/1 EW 1-5 places Bet365
- Patrick Cantlay 12/1 EW 1-12 places Coral
- Cameron Young 20/1 EW Bet365
- Ben Martin Top 40 finish 6/4 Bet365
- Jordan Spieth to beat Viktor Hovland over 72 holes 10/11 Nap Bet365
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