Top picks from media members heading into RBC Heritage

The 2020 RBC Heritage gets underway at 6:45 a.m. at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Rory McIlroy is favored to win the tournament, but he stumbled last week and it could open the door for a deep field in the PGA Tour’s second tournament back.

There will be plenty to pick in the remaining rounds of the tournament, but heading in, DraftKings has put together a media picks tournament for best finishers. The sportsbook pools offered up ten trios, and each media member had to pick who would have the best finishing position for each group. You could pick one of the golfers or pick a tie.

The most popular pick is Matt Kuchar in group 5, with 7 of 9 picks. Three trios had the most popular play. The next most popular has 6 of 8 picks for Branden Grace in group 8 and Kevin Kisner in group 10.

Each person also offered a lock pick:

Rob Walters: “Bryson Dechambeau FTW”

David Fucillo: “Kuchar: He was runner-up last year, and has consistently played well in this tournament. Six years ago, he won the tournament, and in five appearances since, he’s finished 5th, 9th, 11th, 23rd, and 2nd.”

Kelley Bydlon: “Sungjae Im was red hot before the PGA Tour stoppage and doesn’t seem to have cooled off much during the break. Im quietly snuck into the top 10 last weekend at Colonial. His third straight top 10 on tour, including a win at the Honda Classic. I’ll continue to put my money down on Im up against just about anyone.”

Len Ziehm: “Xander Schauffele”

Derek Harper: “Going with Sungjae Im with three consecutive top-10s including a win over his past three events. Not sold on Jordan Spieth putting together four solid rounds. Justin Rose is coming off a strong week, but can he back it up as he transitions away from long-time coach Sean Foley.”

James McKern: “I’ll lock in Dustin Johnson because when he’s up and going he’s as close to unstoppable as possible.”

Stephen Hennessey: “Ian Poulter over Rickie Fowler and Billy Horschel: Ian Poulter’s track record at Harbour Town the past three years isn’t getting enough credit this week. He’s been T-10, T-7 and T-11 the past three years. That’s strong. Billy Horschel has some impressive strokes gained/putting numbers on Bermuda greens, but he lost strokes on his approaches last week, which doesn’t inspire confidence. Rickie is 110th in SG/putting on Pete Dye courses, and he looked lost last week. Poulter is a good Bermuda putter, thus an easy pick for me.”

Lou Monaco: “Kevin Kisner: SOUTH CAROLINA GUY COMES HOME - STEADY BALL STRIKER - UP TO TASK 2 or more tie”

John Brennan: “Reed. He is playing on Thurs and Fri with Brooks Koepka, who earlier this year accused Reed of cheating by grounding his club in a hazard.That kind of intensity can go two ways, with two alpha males, but Reed’s game is sharper right now and he wants this one badly.”

Here are the ten groups, followed by picks from the media members.

Group 1

Rory McIlroy
Bryson DeChambeau
Justin Thomas

Group 2

Jon Rahm
Xander Schauffele
Collin Morikawa

Group 3

Patrick Reed
Webb Simpson
Daniel Berger

Group 4

Justin Rose
Jordan Spieth
Sung-jae Im

Group 5

Matt Kuchar
Tyrell Hatton
Hideki Matsuyama

Group 6

Tony Finau
Dustin Johnson
Gary Woodland

Group 7

Matthew Fitzpatrick
Brooks Koepka
Bubba Watson

Group 8

Viktor Hovland
Jason Kokrak
Branden Grace

Group 9

Ian Poulter
Rickie Fowler
Billy Horschel

Group 10

Abraham Ancer
Kevin Kisner
Scottie Scheffler

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ/WV/PA) or 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN) or 1-800-522-4700 (NH/CO). NH/NJ/WV/IN/PA/CO only. 21+ (18+ NH). Eligibility Restrictions Apply. See website for details.