Tiny Hilton Head Island usually blooms with tourists and fans when the RBC Heritage comes to Harbour Town annually. But this year with the gallery empty, it will be for folks on TV only.
There are four rounds for the tournament, but the Showdown Challenge is just the scores from Round 1 of the event. It’s expected to be a pleasant 82 degrees tomorrow for the opening round with just a slight chance of rain. The course plays to 7,117 yards across a Par 71 layout, with three Par 5’s and four Par 4’s.
We make some picks for Round 1 below, and you can enter your lineups here.
Jordan Spieth ($8,500)
Has three top-12 finishes in four career starts at Harbour Town, and if he can start rolling the ball better he’ll be in contention. Spieth hadn’t put up a round in the 60’s on Thursday all year until last week, where he opened with a 65-65 on Thursday and Friday at Colonial. Both of these are ball strikers courses, and there’s too much value for one of the best players in the world to only be a whisker above the average roster player in price.
Xander Schauffele ($9,400)
On a ball-striker course, he’s one of the best. T3 last week at Colonial, and fifth on tour in greens in regulation at 72.93%. He was in the mix for a win before a bad bogey on the 15th last week, but that’s on Sunday; you just need him to score for you early, and should be one of the best values out there. Shot 68 and 71 in his only two starts here previously.
Louis Ooosthuizen ($7,600)
Hasn’t played here since 2015, but finished seventh in that event, his only appearance at Harbour Town. He put all four rounds in the 60’s, and opened with back-to-back-to-back 69’s last week at the Charles Schwab. It doesn’t seem the type of course that sets up well for the South African, but you can’t argue with success and sometimes a place just fits your eye. He’s got value here being this far down the salary cap board.
Matt Kuchar ($8,300)
Missed the cut last week, but here are his last six starts at Harbour Town: won, 5th, 9th, 11th, 23rd, 2nd. He broke 70 in all six of those starts. He finished second in The Genesis than Top 25 at the WGC event in Mexico before the break. He loves this course, and he can go low here. Just way too good to be under the average player in salary cap value.