2020 RBC Heritage Betting Preview & Predictions

Last week was fun, wasn’t it? We finally got to see a full live golf tournament being played and even more exciting was that it went to a playoff. Daniel Berger won the Charles Schwab Challenge by beating Collin Morikawa in the playoff. There were no fans at the event, but unless it is the 18th hole, we barely even notice the fans. Still, we had live golf and the player are back at it this week as they will compete in the RBC Heritage. The event will be played from June 18th to the 21st and it will take place at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Last week, I had Xander Schauffele to win it all and he did lead the tournament at times, but a shot in the water late in the tourney had him finish 3rd. Who will I select to win the RBC Heritage? I guess you’ll have to keep reading to find out.

Top 15 RBC Heritage Odds (Courtesy of Betonline.ag)

1101Rory McIlroy +1100

1104Bryson DeChambeau +1200

1103Jon Rahm +1600

1102Justin Thomas +1600

1105Xander Schauffele +1800

1107Collin Morikawa +2500

1109Justin Rose +2500

1111Patrick Reed +2500

1106Sungjae Im +2500

1110Hideki Matsuyama +2800

1112Jordan Spieth +2800

1108Webb Simpson +2800

1114Brooks Koepka +3300

1116Daniel Berger +3300

1115 Gary Woodland +3300

Last week, the players took aim at Colonial Country Club and that is a far different course than they will see this week. Harbour Town Golf Links is a course that requires precision off the tee, whereas it was bombs away at the Colonial. You could use the driver on just about every whole last week, but if you do that here it would be suicide. This course does not favor the big hitters but more the finesse player off the tee. They did widen the fairways at Harbour Town but still, the trees will provide many obstacles for the players. Good driving accuracy is key here.

Rory McIlroy was the favorite last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge and he was in contention after three rounds but he shot a 74 in the final frame to finish at six-under-par and in 32nd place. It was not what the top golfer in the world was expecting after the long break. McIlroy is the favorite in this tournament as well and I do not see him winning it. He will look to make amends for his final round meltdown last week but it just will not be enough. I will have more on Rory in my props.

Daniel Berger won his first match in three years last week and he was rookie of the year back in 2015 but I see this as a letdown spot for him. Berger has gon through a wrist injury that shelved him for a year and he finally broke through with a win. There is no way he will be able to stay mentally tough for all four rounds.

As I stated above, good driving accuracy is key here and I feel that this course does not set up well for Bryson DeChambeau. I have read that some out there do like him here but he is 1st in driving distance and 121st in driving accuracy. The big hitters do not do well on this course and that has scared me off of Bryson this week, even though he has been playing very well overall.

Patrick Reed is one of the best in the world right now as he sits 6th in the world rankings and 4th in the FedEx Cup standings but this is not a course that sets up well for him. Reed is a good scrambler and 2nd on the tour in putting but he is 189th in driving accuracy and 177th in greens in regulation. Those are not good numbers for this course.

Those are some golfers I will not be looking at to win it all, along with Xander Schauffele of Collin Morikawa as I believe both of their heads will not be in the game after blowing their chances to win last week. Now, let’s move on to my predictions, including props and a golfer or two to watch.

A Few Props That I Like:

Rory McIlroy -135 over Bryson DeChambeau (Tournament): I do not like Rory to win the tournament but I like him in this matchup. I already stated that this is not a good course for DeChambeau as he is a long hitter off the team and just 121st on the tour in driving accuracy. You do not need to bomb away on this one. I know that Rory is a 2nd in on the tour in driving distance and 180th in driving accuracy but he is 3rd around the green and 6th off the tee. I also will look for Rory to bounce back from that tough 4th round a week ago. Despite finishing 32nd last week, Rory is still the favorite this week and I will look for him to win this matchup.

Matt Kuchar -124 over Daniel Berger (Tournament): It will be odd seeing matt play and no crowd going Kuuuch… Kuuuch… Kuuuch. I do believe he is one to watch in this tournament overall as he won here back in 2014 and was 2nd last year. Matt is also 13th on tour in driving accuracy and 14th in putting, which are tow very solid rankings for this course. Daniel Berger is coming off of his first win in three years and that has to take something out of him for this tournament. He will not be able to duplicate last weeks showing and he will fall to Matt Kuchar in this matchup.

Kuchar To Finish In The Top 30 (+105)

Tony Finau -140 over Branden Grace (Tournament)

Two To Watch:

I already discussed Matt Kuchar as one to watch for the entire tournament. I also feel that Hideki Matsuyama could be one to watch. He did not play last week, which does put him at a disadvantage but Hideki is long overdue for a win and he is 13th in greens in regulation, 14th in birdie average11th around the green and 11th in approach to the green. He could be better at driving accuracy (127th) but I would keep an eye on him in this event.

One other to watch is Luke Donald as a huge long shot. Luke has never won here but he has finished in 2nd place, five times. He s not having a great year, but this is obviously a course that he likes. Donald is just 145th in driving accuracy but he is also 245th in driving distance. He is not a big hitter and that should allow him to hit more fairways in this one. Luke is also 15th around the green and 10th in approach to the green. He has made the cut in four of his five tournament starts this year and placed 11th at the Honda Classic back in March. That was his last tournament. I feel we could see a surprise from Luke Donald this week.

My Winner:

We have talked about some golfers I like and some I will be staying away from for the most part. The one that I like in this one is Sungjae IM. Sungjae won rookie of the year last year and he enters atop the FedEx standings. He is very much under the radar. IM is 17th in tee-to-green, 65th in driving accuracy, 30th in approach to the green and 29th in putting. He is also 6th in birdie average, 12th in scoring average, and 12th in sand save percentage. Sungjae has very solid numbers all the way around and this course does set up nicely for him. We also note that he has five Top 10 finishes this year, including three in a row. I say to take Sungjae IM at 25-1 to win it all.