Key stats and predictions for the RBC Heritage

Written by Mike Glasscott

Last year’s tartan jacket winner, Scottie Scheffler (+360), leads a field of 72 players for the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The Texan has posted seven of eight scores in the 60s and owns an aggregate of 31-under across the last two events (win-T11). On his march to victory last April, he squared one bogey and one double and won comfortably by three shots. He was the first champion in a decade to lead the field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Approach. The No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking co-led the field in Par-5 Scoring, becoming the sixth consecutive champion to rank inside the top 10.

Matt Fitzpatrick (+8000) needed extra holes in 2023 to knock off 2022 champion Jordan Spieth (+4000). Fitzpatrick also finished T4 in 2021 and will make his 11th appearance this week.

Spieth also needed a playoff for his victory, knocking out Ryder Cup teammate Patrick Cantlay (+1800) to conclude a breezy 2022 tournament. Spieth, who has played the weekend in all eight previous visits, owns five finishes of T12 or better and posted 62, one off the course record, in 2015. The Texan made only 14 birdies but circled three eagles in his 2022 win.

Players listed below are competing this week; 2025 ranking as of April 14.

RankPlayerBest Finish1Collin MorikawaT7, 20242J.J. SpaunT6, 20173Xander Schauffele45Sepp StrakaT3, 20226Scottie SchefflerWinner, 20247Shane LowryT3, 20228Justin ThomasT5, 20249Nick TaylorT22, 201710Viktor HovlandT21, 202011Tommy FleetwoodT10, 202212Tom HogeT18, 202415Bud CauleyT9, 2017

Like Pebble Beach, finding greens in regulation amid breezy conditions is the key to success this week. Tight driving conditions off the tee will cause for 3-woods and irons to safer, more intelligent spots. Pushing the angles near danger off the tee will reward players in the classic Pete Dye tradition of less stressful approaches. Confident iron players will attack flags when the numbers are in their favor and score. Others will be happy just finding the putting surfaces.

Making his eighth start, Cantlay is still searching for his first victory on Pete Dye’s Lowcountry challenge. The Californian ranks second on the all-time money list and has collected second- or third-place money five times in seven visits. His scoring average, 68.15, is almost three shots below par, and his smallest paycheck is T7. (His one missed cut came in 2012.) In the last three years, he’s shared third, finished solo third and lost in a playoff to Spieth. He’s an automatic play, regardless of format, this week.

Players listed below are competing this week; 2025 ranking.

RankPlayer1Scottie Scheffler2Michael Kim5Denny McCarthy9Nick Taylor10Collin Morikawa11Sepp Straka14Jason Day19J.J. Spaun23Russell Henley24Sam Stevens25Robert MacIntyre

Patience will be necessary to navigate the doglegs and water penalty areas on 18 holes and to attack the second-smallest greens on TOUR. The better players take their medicine when they miss fairways and greens. The 1 1/4 inches of rough will tempt recovery shots, but the better players, like in Augusta, know where to miss. Scrambling at Harbour Town is not difficult, but even the best players can’t scramble from 18 penalty areas. The overseeded greens are receptive to lag putts.

After not breaking 70 in four rounds on his debut in 2022, Sahith Theegala (+8000) owns an aggregate of 30 under and a pair of top-five paydays (second, T5) in the last two years. Circling 40 birdies in 2023 and 2024 combined, he owns a streak of seven loops in the 60s. In 12 career rounds, he has posted 71 or better 11 times.

• The field of 72 players includes 43 of the top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking.
• Seven of the last eight winners in April were 27 or 28 years old.
• The winners from 2023 and 2024 both posted 63 in Round 3.
• The par 71 will play 7,213 yards for the third straight season.
• The previous five winners are all major champions.
• In 2024, Scottie Scheffler joined Bernhard Langer as the only two players to win this event after donning the green jacket the week prior.
• Boo Weekley (2007, ’08) was the last player to win back-to-back events.
• None of the last four champions ranked inside the top 20 in SG: Putting.
• The scoring average of 69.351 in 2024 is the lowest April number since replacing the putting surfaces in 2016.
• Two of the last three winners required a playoff.
• The tournament scoring record is 20-under 267, set by Brian Gay in 2009.
• The course record, 61, was last accomplished by Troy Merritt in 2015.
• There is not a 36-hole cut this week.
• J.T. Poston (+7000): The North Carolina native is either red-hot or ice-cold on Hilton Head. Playing the last six seasons, he’s collected money in the top 10 four times, including T3 in 2022, yet has missed the cut in half of his last four visits.
• Brian Harman (+8000): The veteran has been in the field in every event since 2012 and cashed in 11 of 13 starts as a professional. His current streak of five paydays includes three of the last four T13 or better, including T7 in 2023, which matched his career-best result.
• Shane Lowry (+2800): The Irishman owns a perfect six-from-six in the April editions, including a pair of T3 paydays and a T9, but he finished T64-T67 in his last two visits.
• Sepp Straka (+4500): Sharing fifth in 2024, the Austrian led the field with 22 birdies, two more than he made in the 2022 edition, where he tied for third. He missed the cut in 2023.
• Collin Morikawa (+1200): Solo ninth in 2024 and T7 in 2021 are his best payoffs from four April tournaments. He’s never finished worse than T31.
• Xander Schauffele (+1400): The Californian returned to Harbour Town in 2023 for the first time since 2020 and earned fourth-place money. The 2024 edition included 64-67 in the middle two rounds, but a pair of 72s to open and close shuffled him to T18. Like Morikawa, he’s never failed to make the weekend.
• Tommy Fleetwood (+3300): Among 18 career rounds, he has posted 16 at 71 or better, yet T10 is the best payday.
• Justin Thomas (+2000): Never missing the weekend from six tries, Thomas closed with 65 in 2024, his best April Sunday round, and shared fifth as his best result.
• Wyndham Clark (+5500): Four of his last six rounds have produced 66 or better. Earning T3 in 2024 included playing the final 54 holes in 16-under-par, his best finish in six tries.
• Cam Davis (+27000): Making his fifth consecutive start, the Aussie ran T3 in 2022, followed by T7 in 2023, before T49 last year. From 16 career loops, he owns 14 rounds in red figures. Lovely longshot!

For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER today.