The RBC Heritage Predictions, Picks & Odds

• Traditional post-Masters after-party on Hilton Head Island
• Webb Simpson defends his trophy
• World No. 1 Dustin Johnson seeks first top 20 finish in five starts

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The RBC Heritage Odds

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The RBC Heritage Picks and Predictions

Si Woo Kim is the outright pick at +4500 with DraftKings Sportsbook

Kevin Na can land a top 10 at +350 with bet365

Back Matt Kuchar to beat Billy Horschel in their match bet at -112 with DraftKings Sportsbook

Picks:

Si Woo Kim each way in the outright +4500 with DraftKings Sportsbook

Kevin Na to make the top 10 +350 at bet365

Matt Kuchar over Billy Horschel -112 at DraftKings Sportsbook

How to Watch The RBC Heritage

The RBC Heritage Profile

The pressure is less than last week’s first major championship of the year, but this week’s golf course is, in its own way, every bit as much of a distinct challenge as Augusta National. Yes, it’s less high-intensity, but just as we could draw a line through the chances of many players last week, we can do the same again this week.

The funny thing is that the two groups have, to some degree, simply swapped roles. Augusta suits big-hitters who are unfussed by uneven stances on the fairways, hitting up and down hills, and wielding the flat-stick on huge, lightning-fast greens.

Harbour Town, in contrast, demands accuracy, the fairways are flat, and the putting surfaces tiny. In the 21st century, none of the world’s big-hitting elite has won at Harbour Town – it just doesn’t suit their games and many choose not even to tee it up. Instead, quality ball-strikers who can shape the ball, and also seaside specialists, have tended to triumph. Dustin Johnson is the favorite this week. He’s the World No. 1 so has to be, but in five attempts he’s failed to land a top 10.

Second favorite Webb Simpson is the defending champion and perfectly fits the profile of winners here: good on Bermuda greens, neat short game, tidy long game.

Patrick Cantlay is next in the betting and presents an intriguing question: he’s never finished outside the top seven in three tournament starts, but he hasn’t made the weekend in his last three starts.

Which wins? Course or current form? At the price, it’s not an answer trying to guess at. Instead here are three alternatives.

Si Woo Kim: A Case of Live or Let Dye

Earlier this season this column landed a big-priced win when we backed Korea’s Si Woo Kim to win The American Express and one of the keys prompts that week was his fondness for playing golf courses designed by Pete Dye.

He was a winner at TPC Sawgrass in 2017 (indeed, he’s never missed a cut there) and, when the Amex utilized a Dye design for three rounds rather than the traditional two, he backed up a top 10 he made there in 2016 with a third PGA Tour triumph.

Even more specifically, Kim finished T14th on debut at Harbour Town in 2016 and was then second in 2018.

When asked earlier this year what it was about Dye designs that suited him, he appeared to misunderstand the question, but he did say: “Whenever I have good memories of a course that is a big help and it makes me hungry. I focus on the memories and it drives me.”

After a little post-win hangover, Kim has picked up the pace again in recent weeks. He was tied ninth at TPC Sawgrass (more Dye form!), T23rd in the Texas Open, and then a fine T12th last week at the Masters. He’s got course form, designer form, and current form, in other words.

He’s the standout outright selection at DraftKings Sportsbook: +4500 for the win and +1100 for the place.

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Kevin Can Land Another Top 10

Earlier this season Kevin Na carded blistering weekend rounds of 61-65 to win the Sony Open at Waialae.

It feels great, he said. It’s a course I have a good chance at and there’s not too much of this left now. I have to take advantage of that. What a great feeling to win when I know I have a great chance.

Interesting thoughts, especially when combined with what he said of Harbour Town as far back as 2007: “I really like this golf course. I look forward to coming back. It’s a different mindset. I’ve been waiting for this week, I always do. It suits my game.”

He’s proved as much over a very long period. He’s played the event 13 times, landing seven top 20s and five of them were top 10s.

If he spins off that win in Hawaii, not to mention finishing T12th last week in the Masters, he’s a fine prospect to claim another top 10 at +350 with bet365.

Kuchar’s Course Form Can Better Horschel

DraftKings have paired Matt Kuchar and Billy Horschel this week and they’re offering us a straightforward choice between the form horse or the course specialist.

Since the start of 2020 Horschel holds all the aces, leading the match-up by the huge margin of 15-4, but even within that spell, Kuchar won their clash in this tournament. Indeed, he leads the Heritage head-to-head 6-2 and a look at their course records further emphasizes the point. Kuchar has not missed a cut in his last 16 starts there, landing 12 top 40s, eight of the top 20s.

Horschel, in contrast, has just two top 40 finishes in eight starts. Admittedly they were both top 10s, but his base level is way below Kuchar’s.

He’s priced -112 to maintain the Harbour Town dominance.