This Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
The Field
The RBC Heritage is the traditional follow-up event to the Masters. The event takes place on Hilton Head Island, which is just up the road from Augusta and located on the southeastern coast of the USA in South Carolina. The field often gets watered-down, with several top names wanting to take a break after the first major, but with the Heritage now getting signature event status (and a $20M prize purse), many of the top names in golf are again scheduled to attend in 2025. The field is currently set at 69 golfers as there has been a withdrawal already with Masters Champion Rory McIlroy deciding to take the week off to celebrate, rather than compete for the tartan jacket.
Scottie Scheffler ($13,100) is in the field as is both Ludvig Aberg ($11,000) and Collin Morikawa ($10,900). There is always the chance another top name withdraws, so be sure to keep an eye on the DK Live app for updates. Unlike some of the other signature events, the RBC doesn’t have a 50-man cut so all the players in the field will get in four rounds of play, an important fact to remember when building out PGA DFS lineups this week.
The Course
Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, South Carolina
Par 71, 7,099 yards, Greens: TifEagle Bermuda (poa overseed)
Harbour Town Golf Links is one of the more idyllic settings the players visit all year. The course was designed by Pete Dye and has some characteristics that make it quite unique, including some of the smallest Bermuda greens on the PGA TOUR (3,700 sq. ft. average) and narrow fairways that make placement off the tee crucial. Missing on the wrong side of the green or fairway can mean getting blocked out of an approach, or having little to no chance at an up and down.
The average driving distance of the field at Harbour Town is 10-15 yards less than the average stop on the PGA TOUR, however, it is worth noting that strokes gained off the tee is still important this week. Two of the past three winners have gained over 4.0 strokes OTT as being accurate and longer here can really set you up well on approach (and take the difficulty out of parts of this course). Even Matthew Fitzpatrick, the 2023 winner, gained 1.6 strokes on approach and he’s generally not the most accurate off-the-tee player.
The fact the course is set alongside the water also means wind plays a factor. Cooler and more gusty conditions have kept the scoring higher in two of the past three seasons, and three of the past seven winners have now failed to breach the 13-under mark for the week. The weather and small greens also tend to make strokes gained around the greens stats somewhat more important. Top finishers at Harbour Town have gained more strokes against the field in around-the-green stats than off-the-tee during the lifetime of this event and both Fitzpatrick and Spieth (the 2023 and 2022 winners) gained over 3.5 strokes ATG in the year of their wins.
As far as setup goes, Harbour Town contains a nice mix of challenging and easier-to-score holes. Two of the par 5s set up well under 550 yards in length and present extremely good birdie and eagle opportunities for the players (again, assuming their drives find the fairway). The par 4s include four that measure in-between 450-500 yards, with the 18th being one of the toughest of the bunch — as its green has no cover from wind and is set directly alongside the ocean.
Although the par 3s all measure in at a range of just 175-200 yards, a mix of small greens, water hazards, and overhanging trees make them all tough to manoeuvre. The par 3, 14th is on par with the 17th at Sawgrass in terms of toughness, and how your players navigate these holes will be important in determining whether or not they can compete this week.
2025 Weather Outlook: The weather this season doesn’t look like it will be a big ongoing concern. The highs for most of the event will be between 70-75 but there is almost no rain expected and winds should stay in the medium/moderate category for most of the event. Thursday starts off relatively calm with afternoon winds going up to 10-15mph in spots, so early starters could have a decent advantage on Day 1. Day 2 sees the wind pick up a bit with gusts potentially getting slightly stronger. As of now, Thursday AM looks like the calmest portion of the first two days so that could be a good spot to target for Daily Lineups or first-round leader bets.
Last Five winners
2024—Scottie Scheffler -19 (over Sahith Theegala -16)
2023—Matthew Fitzpatrick -17 (over Jordan Spieth playoff)
2022—Jordan Spieth -13 (over Patrick Cantlay playoff)
2021—Stewart Cink -19 (over Harold Varner III -15)
2020—Webb Simpson -22 (over Abraham Ancer -21)
Winning Trends
– Nine of the last 13 winners of The RBC Heritage had recorded TWO or more top-five (or better) finishes worldwide in the year of their victory before their win at Hilton Head.
– 10 of the last 13 winners had recorded a T23 or better in a previous season at this event before winning.
– The winner of The RBC Heritage has played in The Masters the week prior AND missed the cut four times over the last 12 seasons.
Winners Stats and Course Overview
Scottie Scheffler (19-under-par—2021)
2024 lead-in form (win-T2-win-win-T10)
SG: OTT— +5.2
SG: APP— +6.9
SG: TTG— +12.3
SG: ATG— +0.2
SG: PUTT— +0.1
- This is very much a second-shot course, so emphasizing approach stats this week is a good idea. 2020 runner-up Abraham Ancer gained an incredible +11.8 strokes on approach here en route to a 21-under par score, while 2021 winner, Stewart Cink, gained +8.5 strokes on approach and led the field in that stat.
- In 2022, Jordan Spieth put in another strong tee-to-green performance which exemplified just how important both ball-striking and around-the-green play can be, given that he won the event while losing multiple strokes putting.
- Scottie Scheffler last season had a similar result: He was essentially natural on the greens but gained 12.3 strokes tee to green
- Fitzpatrick’s 2023 performance was very similar to Spieth’s in that he gained almost all his strokes ATG and on Approach — while just being slightly above average off the tee and on the greens.
- Off the tee play isn’t about power here but it is still important. Accuracy is a must given the tighter fairways and need for solid placement: Players also tend to club down quite a bit to hit fairways so if you can maintain solid length while also being accurate you can gain quite a bit on the field (both Spieth ’22 and Scheffler ’24 gained over 4.0 strokes OTT)
Finding Values (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Odds to win are one factor to think about when picking players (but not the only thing, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.
Viktor Hovland +3000 and $9,000
Comparables:
- Jordan Spieth +4000 and $9,200
- Jason Day +3500 and $9,100
- Tommy Fleetwood +3000 and $9,400
Denny McCarthy +5000 and $7,900
Comparables:
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
HORSES FOR COURSES
1. Patrick Cantlay ($10,000; best finishes: 2nd-2022; T3-2024): Cantlay has typically excelled at this second-shot Pete Dye design. In five of his last six starts at Harbour Town, he’s finished 3rd or better and has a terrific record at Pete Dye venues in general. He didn’t fare well at Augusta but expect a bounceback this week as he searches for his first Harbour Town win.
2. JT Poston ($7,800; best finishes: T3-2022, T5-2024): Poston has the game to dominate on short, technical tracks. He’s now posted top-10 finishes at Harbour Town in four of the past five seasons. While he has missed the cut at this venue twice his upside at Harbour Town is undeniable.
3. Brian Harman ($7,600; best finishes: T9-2017, T7-2023): Harman continued his solid play at this event/venue last season, making the cut for the sixth time in seven seasons and posting another top 12. The three-time PGA TOUR winner has posted top-30 finishes at Hilton Head in six of the past eight seasons and remains a consistent DFS threat on these shorter setups.
4. Matthew Fitzpatrick ($7,200; best finishes: win-2023, T4-2021): While he doesn’t have a huge sample size of starts at this event Fitzpatrick has now finished first and T4 at Harbour Town in two of the past four seasons. The 2023 champion has expressed his love for this layout in the past as well.
5. Shane Lowry ($9,600; best finishes: T3-2022 and 2019): Lowry is coming off a disappointing Masters Sunday but he could rebound nicely this week. The Irishman has finished Top 10 at this event on multiple occasions, including 2022 when he finished T3.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Cash Games: Don’t overthink Cantlay
As I mentioned above, there isn’t a bigger course/player correlation out there than Patrick Cantlay at Harbour Town Golf Links. His rate of top-five finishes here is truly absurd and he’s not even playing that poorly coming in this season, despite a horrific week around the green at Augusta. At just 10k flat, his win equity this week is much higher than normal (and his floor is much higher as well) making him a solid core player to build around. Daniel Berger ($8,300) is another player with a great record at Harbour Town and at $£8.3k in price is easy to fit in as a second or third player in builds. His accuracy off the tee plays extremely well at these courses and makes him a very trustworthy player this week, overall. Harris English at $7,200 also has decent appeal coming off a great Masters finish, as does Tom Hoge ($7,000) who sets up perfectly for this venue.
Tournaments: Make up with MacIntyre
Robert MacIntyre ($8,500) was a large disappointment last week having missed the cut at an event where many figured he’d thrive. Still, the weekend of rest could be a great thing for his chances this week and the Scotsman was playing well coming into Augusta having finished Top-10 at Sawgrass in March, another Dye design. It’s doubtful he’ll be overly popular in larger field GPPs at 8.5k (he was in the low 7k range last week) making him a great target for large-field DFS tournaments. Akshay Bhatia ($7,700) is another player who had a poor Masters but also could rebound now that he’s back on a Dye course. He’s only a month removed from finishing top five at the PLAYERS on another Dye-designed venue. Further down, Lucas Glover ($6,900), Eric Cole ($6,400), Ryo Hisatsune ($6,300 – see below), and Chris Kirk ($6,100) all set up as solid sub-7k options for GPPs.
Top Recent Form
1. Corey Conners ($9,800; T8-T18): Conners had a tough Sunday but still managed another top 10 at Augusta. He’s now finished inside teh top 10 in four of his last five starts.
2. Scottie Scheffler ($13,100; T4-T2): Scheffler is starting to come on. The two-time Masters champ and last year’s Heritage winner gained 4.5 strokes ATG last week and has top-five finishes in each of his last two starts.
3. Bud Cauley ($7,500; T5-T4): Cauley is one of the few people who wasn’t in teh field at Augusta. Nonetheless, he has posted top-10 finishes in each of his last three starts. He’s gaining big on approach which should help him at Harbour Town.
4. Tom Hoge ($7,100; T14-T5): Hoge had a solid Masters, posting a T14. That comes off the heels of a T5 at the Valero the week before. Hoge was in teh top five at Harbour Town until the final hole knocked him way down and the venue suits his game nicely.
5. Ryan Gerard ($6,600; T2-T9): Gerard had an excellent Valero, finishing T2. He gained an incredible 7.6 strokes putting and 5.9 strokes ATG, so don’t be shocked if we get a little regression. Regardless, the veteran is playing well and should be pumped to tee things up against a signature field.
MY PICK: Tommy Fleetwood ($9,400)
Fleetwood is coming off a Masters that saw him place T21. The Englishman continued to strike the ball well off the tee gaining 2.7 strokes at Augusta, and was unreal around the greens gaining 6.1 strokes ATG for the week. A good sign for this week as Hilton Head is still a demanding, tight course that requires precision off the tee and around the greens. While his scrambling statistics from Augusta may not repeatable we should expect some positive regression on the greens from Fleetwood who lost 4.9 strokes on the greens at Augusta but has putted well at Hilton Head in past seasons, gaining 8.2 strokes on the greens in a career-best T10 finish at the venue back in 2022.
Last season Fleetwood came into this event off a T3 at the Masters and had a poor start as he couldn’t overcome. With a more relaxed outing at Augusta this season, there is a good chance we see him more ready to make a go of it at a course where he’s placed T15 and T10 in two of the past three seasons. At $9,400 his price should help keep his ownership somewhat depressed in larger field GPPs, making him a good tournament play to build around, and for betting his top 10 (+265) and top-five (+600) odds look like a reasonable way to get exposure on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
MY SLEEPER: Ryo Hisatsune ($6,300)
This season will be the first time 22-year-old Hisatsune tees it up at Hilton Head, but he enters this week having put up some big finishes of late and looks like a promising player to back for the rest of the year. The Japanese pro has finished top five in two of his last three starts, including a T4 at the tight Copperhead course which does have some similarities to Harbour Town Golf Links (small greens, tight fairways, doglegs, etc).
This style of setup does seem to suit Hisatune as he’s also put up a T3 at Sedgefield Country Club and a T6 at Narashino Country Club (host of the Zozo Championship), both shorter courses where players need to rely more on precision/placement off the tee than overall power. Considering he’s gaining off the tee and on approach consistently (and has gained over 2.0 strokes putting in three straight starts) it’s hard not to like the upside he brings for DFS purposes at just $6,300.
While this is a strong field, his +400 top 20 odds also make him a ripe placement target on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is wavegoodbye) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
