After watching Scottie Scheffler’s incredible run continue with the first major victory of his career at the Masters, next on the PGA TOUR schedule is the RBC Heritage. Harbour Town Golf Links (par 71, 7,121 yards) located in Hilton Head, South Carolina, has been the only home of this event since it was added to the PGA TOUR calendar back in 1959. At the 2021 RBC Heritage, Stewart Cink ran away with a four-stroke victory, finishing at -19.
Harbour Town was designed by the late Pete Dye and like most of the famous architect’s creations, this par 71 is a classic example of a second shot course. Cink ranked second in SG APP a year ago, and was the fourth Heritage champion over the last five years to rank T7 or better in the stat. Conversely, OTT stats are far less crucial at Harbour Town. As usual at a Dye design, using less than driver is the norm at this track, to better position yourself to attack the small greens and avoid trouble. In fact, the average drive at Harbour Town is an underwhelming 268 yards, which is nearly 20 yards lower than the average PGA TOUR venue. As a result, we shouldn’t in any way be focusing on OTT stats this week.
Speaking of these tiny greens, players stick these putting surfaces at nearly a 10% lower clip than the average PGA TOUR course. Missing these greens is inevitable, so on top of prioritizing top-notch iron players, we need to be targeting golfers who are crafty around the green. Including Cink last season, three of the past five victors in Hilton Head have finished top-10 in SG ARG during their wins. Unequivocally, the most crucial holes at Harbour Town are the par fours. Over the last decade, every Heritage winner has finished the event top-five in SG on the par fours, with five of these golfers leading their fields.
Since last year’s edition of the RBC Heritage, the Bermuda greens at Harbour Town have been overseeded and converted to POA Trivialis, and while it’s not a necessity, attacking players who have found success on this green type is a wise strategy. This season, we have seen this specific type of putting surface at the three courses for the American Express, TPC Sawgrass for the PLAYERS, TPC Scottsdale for the Phoenix Open, the Copperhead Course for the Valspar Championship and most recently at TPC San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open.
Usually, the following tournament after a major sees a notable drop off in talent, but the RBC Heritage actually presents a rather compelling field, with five of the top-10 ranked golfers in the world teeing it up. Overall, this is a field of 132 players and after the smaller cut at the Masters, we get back to the standard PGA TOUR top-65 and ties cut following the first 36 holes at the RBC Heritage.
Below, I have featured four of my favorite DraftKings value plays of the week that cost less than $7.5K.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Pitch + Putt [$250K to 1st]
Troy Merritt, $7,400
Merritt is coming off a T4 at the Valero, which was his 10th made cut and fifth top-25 finish in 13 starts this season. The 36-year-old has gained strokes with his irons in back-to-back starts and has produced two top-10 finishes in his last five appearances at Habour Town. To top it all off, Merritt has been great on POA Trivialis greens this season. Of the players in this field that have played at least 10 rounds at courses that are home to this particular green type this season, Merrit ranks seventh in SGP.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Merritt and Harold Varner III carry the same odds to win the RBC Heritage this weekend at +6500. However, Merritt costs $1,500 less for DFS, showing you how underpriced he is for his upside.
Dylan Frittelli, $7,400
Most notably with a T8 in 2020, Frittelli has never missed a cut at Harbour Town in three starts. As for his current form, the South African has made five consecutive cuts, while gaining positive strokes on APP at all of these events. Of these finishes, three have come inside the top-30, including a T8 at the Valero in his most recent start.
That week, Frittelli finished with an excellent 17/6 birdie to bogey ratio and ranked 11th in SGP on the POA Trivialis greens at TPC San Antonio. This obviously bodes extremely well for his return to Hilton Head and a Frittelli is a very tough value to overlook at this low salary.
Sebastian Munoz, $7,300
Editor’s Note: Sebastian Munoz (back) has withdrawn from the RBC Heritage.
You can’t go wrong with Munoz at this price. The 29-year-old has been competing on the weekend at eight of his past 10 standard stroke play events, with five top-30 finishes. As of late, Munoz’s ball striking has been pristine, ranking fourth in SGT2G and 20th in SG APP across his last 24 rounds. Also during this span, Munoz has shown promising skills as a scrambler, ranking 19th in SG ARG.
While the Columbian failed to make the cut at Harbour Town last season, he only missed the weekend by one stroke. The previous year, Munoz posted a T28 finish in his debut in Hilton Head. This time around, Munoz sports +275 odds on DraftKings Sportbook to record a top-20, which are very encouraging odds relative to his low DFS price tag.
Brian Stuard, $6,700
Stuard missed the cut at the Valero his last time out, but before this, the veteran had proceeded to the weekend in seven of his previous eight starts. During this run, Stuard flashed some terrific upside, supplying four top-25 finishes.
Thanks to the 39-year-old’s excellent flat stick and work around the greens, Stuard has made seven straight cuts at Harbour Town, with a pair of top-20 finishes over the last three years. Returning to the Dye layout this week, Stuard should bounce back with at least a made cut and come with minimal ownership following the letdown at the Valero.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Pitch + Putt [$250K to 1st]
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