The RBC Heritage: Thomas Chases Tartan Bounce Back

• The tournament is the traditional post-Masters after-show party

• Harbour Town Golf Links favors specialists

• Jordan Spieth defends the tartan jacket awarded to the winner

The RBC Heritage Odds

Odds from BetMGM. Sign up today to take advantage of a $1000 site credit or check out more offers and promo codes for the best online sportsbooks.

The RBC Heritage Picks and Predictions

• Justin Thomas win at +2800 / top five at +600 with DraftKings Sportsbook

• Matt Kuchar top 20 at +210 with bet365

• Thomas Detry top 40 at +163 with bet365

After last week’s fight for a green jacket at Augusta National, this week the world’s best golfers are focused on winning a tartan jacket.

That’s the prize on offer for the winner at Harbour Town Golf Links in a week of golf that is always more relaxed than the first major championship of the season.

There are plenty of other contrasts across this fortnight of action, however.

Last week the fairways were wide, this week they are tight; last week the holes were long, this week they are often short; last week the pressure was intense, this week there is typically an after-show party vibe.

It’s one of the more enjoyable weeks of the year for the players and punters like it too because certain types of players thrive.

In the past, the favorites have often not hit the top but that’s because few elite performers entered after Masters exertions and that has changed this year with the event part of the new designated schedule which means it has a prize fund that tops last week at Augusta.

Course Report

Harbour Town Golf Links is a Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus co-creation that demands a conservative and straight long game with tee shots needing to be threaded through narrow corridors of trees while only accurate approaches will catch the small Bermuda grass greens.

The Hilton Head Island location also provides a breezy test and golfers who thrive here often perform well on similar courses - think of Waialae, El Camaleon, and even TPC Southwind.

The Favorites

How will Jon Rahm react to his Masters' triumph last week?

The exhausting physical and mental experience was exaggerated by the delays and 30 holes on Sunday. 

He’s played the course once, in 2020, when he struggled in round one before improving to 33rd over the weekend.

Scottie Scheffler cut a frustrated figure last week but 10th was a better effort than recent champions have managed when defending the green jacket.

He’s a tournament debutant but he has two victories on Pete Dye courses including last month’s PLAYERS Championship (at TPC Sawgrass).

Patrick Cantlay’s finishing position at last week’s Masters (14th) was not his best in a major but it was the first time he entered the final round in the top five so it was the first time he gave himself a chance of winning.

He owns a very fine course record that includes a trio of top-three finishes in just five starts.

JT Can Bounce Back

Twelve months ago Jordan Spieth left Augusta National distraught that he had missed the cut and his immediate response was superb.

Having spurned the chance to win a green jacket he promptly won the tartan jacket at Harbour Town.

Justin Thomas was bereft after missing the final 36 holes last week and he will take comfort in the inspiration of what his best buddy Spieth achieved in 2022.

He’s won the PLAYERS Championship on Dye’s TPC Sawgrass design and he’s also recorded wins at Waialae and TPC Southwind - both of them good pointers for this week.

He has a solid course record: 4-for-4 at making the weekend with 11th and eighth his best finishes.

Back Thomas with DraftKings Sportsbook: +2800 for the win and +600 for the top five.

Kuchar to Make It Count

Veteran Matt Kuchar has developed the very nice knack of peaking on the weeks when he knows his game is not disadvantaged by a long driving test.

In the last five years alone he has collected multiple top 20 finishes at TPC San Antonio, El Camaleon, Waialae, Riviera and TPC Scottsdale.

There is also another course to add to that list: Harbour Town.

He was a winner of this event in 2014 and since, and including, then he has landed seven top 20s in just nine starts - and in one of the exceptions he was just one shot outside the top 20.

He also owns four top 20s in his eight starts for the year and crucially they’ve all come on courses that suit him.

The win seems unlikely but take the hint - the top 20 at +210 at bet365 is a very solid option.

Stick With Detry

The top 20 and top 40 markets have been good to us in 2023.

We had a winner last week with Xander Schauffele’s top 20 and now it’s time to return to another winning strategy in the shape of Belgium’s Thomas Detry.

Throughout his fledgling PGA Tour career he has registered 18 top 40s in 24 starts with three of the exceptions being major championships.

This season alone he has 10 top 40s in 13 appearances.

He’s a value call to land yet another at +163 with bet365.

How to Watch RBC Heritage

• Tournament: The RBC Heritage

• Location: Harbour Town Golf Links, South Carolina

• Date: THURSDAY APR. 13 - SUNDAY APR. 16

• How to watch: THURSDAY-FRIDAY 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). SATURDAY-SUNDAY 1-3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) and 3-6 p.m. (CBS). And all four days on Sky Sports.