Best Bets for the 2021 RBC Heritage

It’s no surprise that Bryson DeChambeau made a last-minute decision to sit this one out. Harbour Town Golf Links is the opposite of a bomber’s paradise and takes the driver out of a player’s hands-on multiple occasions.

Take a quick peek at the last eight winners of the RBC Heritage, and you’ll gain a better understanding of what we can expect this week.

Many plotters and relatively high scoring – save for the 2020 edition when the scoring conditions were pristine (played in June). Realigned on the schedule back to its customary date in April directly following the Masters, look for the Pete Dye design to show its teeth through the weekend.

Keeping that in mind, let’s dive into some RBC Heritage picks.

Let’s start with a couple of RBC Heritage sleepers who probably aren’t on most people’s radars. Then again, each of the RBC Heritage winners between 2017-2019 were +10000 (or higher) longshots when they arrived in Hilton Head.

Dark horses can emerge at this golf tournament – here are two names worth a flier.

The top-ranked left-handed golfer in the world isn’t Bubba Watson or Phil Mickelson, nor is it Brian Harman. It’s a 24-year-old Scotsman who’s coming off a T9 at the Match Play and a T12 at the Masters.

Who made the most birdies at Augusta?

Robert MacIntyre. 21. pic.twitter.com/4AArZJ9iye

— GOLFTV (@GOLFTV) April 12, 2021

The fast riser in Europe is quickly becoming a household name in the states. Over his last 13 starts worldwide, Bob MacIntyre has made 12 cuts and racked up 7 top-20s. He’s 8^th on the European Tour in GIR.

Continue scrolling the RBC Heritage odds at the best golf betting sites, and you’ll spot J.T. Poston at +12500. It’s been an up-and-down year for the 27-year-old Western Carolina grad, but take solace knowing he landed 22^nd at TPC Sawgrass and knocked off Webb Simpson and Paul Casey at the WGC Match Play.

As for his record at Harbour Town Golf Links, that’s where things get intriguing.

The man ranked 6^th on the PGA Tour in SG: Putting has a couple of top-10s (T6 in 2019, T8 in 2020) in two appearances at this event. He’s yet to register an over-par round at this layout – let’s hope I’m not jinxing “The Postman.”

Featured as one of my top DFS picks for the 2021 RBC Heritage, Harris English strides into Hilton Head with a bit of momentum on his side. His blemish-free 64 to conclude the 2020 iteration is one reason to like his chances, however, English’s game seems to be rounding back into shape after a productive week at Augusta.

His T21 at the 2021 Masters was his first top-25 since winning at Kapalua in January, although he did finish 26^th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

In this head-to-head matchup between a couple of former Georgia Bulldogs, I’m happily siding with the one sitting in “plus-money” territory. Henley popped at the Honda Classic (T3), but the fact of the matter is he’s missed three of his last eight cuts and has accounted for just two top-25s among his last 10 starts.

Kevin Kisner has missed two of his last eight cuts and has hung up four top-25s among his last 10 starts.

Now let’s get to course history (They both MC’d here in 2020).

Henley played the RBC Heritage five times between 2014-2019. He missed the cut three times and never tallied a top-20.

Kisner played all six of the RBC Heritages between 2014-2019. Not only did he miss zero cuts – but he was in the hunt a handful of times. Kevin lost in a playoff in 2015, and he finished 11^th in 2017 and 7^th in 2018.

I’m convinced that backing “Kiz” at +105 in this spot is one of the best bets for the RBC Heritage.

Let’s set Tyrrell Hatton’s antics aside and focus on the substance.

He’s the 8^th-ranked player in the world who finished 3^rd at the 2020 RBC Heritage. After carding just one bogey over his final 61 holes last June at Harbour Town, we can all agree that this track suits his eye.

In terms of arriving at a golf tournament with momentum, Tyrell checks that box, too, having posted first top-20 at Augusta National. Worth noting – Hatton was outside of the top-40 early on Sunday before a brilliant stretch (-5 over his final 15 holes) propelled him to 18^th.

Hatton’s got good course history and solid form as of late, and it’s important when betting on the RBC Heritage to target a player who played last week.

In the 15 PGA Tour events that have been played since the 2021 opener in Maui, 12 of the 15 winners played the week before they won. The three who didn’t (Justin Thomas at THE PLAYERS, Billy Horschel at the Match Play, Joel Dahmen at Corales) were each coming off just a one-week break.