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Harbour Town: A complete one-off
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Thomas [16/1] has skillset to conquer Heritage
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Time for Cantlay [20/1] to contend again
Tournament and Course Notes
With the dust starting to settle on a dramatic US Masters, the PGA Tour travels to South Carolina for its fifth Signature Event of 2025. Those who competed at Augusta will have journeyed 130 miles south-east, to set up camp on Hilton Head Island, home of the iconic Harbour Town Golf Links.
First held in 1969, the Heritage has always been played at Harbour Town Golf Links, which is a layout completely different from any other on the Tour schedule. Harbour Town is situated at Sea Pines Resort, on the south-west edge of Hilton Head Island. It is one of the shorter layouts on the PGA Tour calendar. However, thanks to its tight fairways and small greens, it is certainly no pushover.
Those who tee-up this week will discover there is little room for error. Putting surfaces are slick and much smaller than the Tour average and, if a golfer fails to find the correct section of fairway from the tee, there is every chance that their route to the flag will be blocked by overhanging trees.
Locating these small greens in regulation can be tricky. Ahead of the tournament in 2020, 10 fairways were slightly widened. Realistically, unless a player is particularly wild with either a driver or iron, water should not come into play on more than 10 holes.
This much-loved public course was designed by Pete Dye, in conjunction with Jack Nicklaus, and opened 58 years ago. The Harbour Town honours' board is littered with accurate iron players who also possessed the ability to scramble efficiently. Those who perform well this week, should also be considered as potential contenders for June's US Open.
Betfair Exchange market for the RBC Heritage
Good Course Form
One golfer whose name has seemingly disappeared from the top of leaderboards on Sunday afternoon, recently, is Patrick Cantlay 20/121.00.
The 33-year-old former world No 3 has not won on the PGA Tour for over 30 months, and appears to be in a 'minor' slump.
But he's still ranked No 16 in the world and he's also posted plenty of top 20s during the past 12 months.
However, that winning-edge seems to have deserted him for the time being.
This week's tournament offers him the chance of finding some form on a course he knows well, having registered five podiums at Harbour Town in seven starts.
The defending champ is world No 1 Scottie Scheffler 7/24.50, who is yet to taste victory in 2025.
That said, his seven outings this year have all yielded T25s, including three top-four finishes, the most recent of these at Augusta National on Sunday.
Among those with solid course histories is Sung Jae Im 40/141.00. The Korean travels to South Carolina on the back of tied-fifth in The Masters.
Betfair Sportsbook latest for the RBC Heritage
Good Current Form
World No 8 Justin Thomas 16/117.00 will feel disappointed with his performance at Augusta, but should still be upbeat heading to the Heritage.
Despite being stuck on 15 PGA Tour victories for nearly three years, he's certainly not playing badly.
There has been four top-10s on Tour this season, including a brace of podiums. He was fifth at Harbour Town 12 months ago.
And his impressive stats for the numerous PGA Tour categories relating to 'approaching the green' certainly bodes well for Thomas at Harbour Town.
Finally, Sepp Straka 40/141.00 would be a solid choice this week. The Austrian has posted two top-five finishes at Harbour Town during the last three years.
He's already won on the PGA Tour during 2025, along with six other T15s, so would be a decent each-way selection.
Stroke Averages
Lowest 12 At Harbour Town (2019-24)
Average .... (Rounds)
68.00: Patrick Cantlay (18)
68.13: Justin Thomas (16)
68.35: JT Poston (20)
68.44: Daniel Berger (16)
68.50: Tony Finau (12)
68.58: Justin Rose (12)
68.59: Matt Fitzpatrick (22)
68.63: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (16)
68.67: Patrick Rodgers (12)
68.75: Cameron Davis (16)
68.77: Brian Harman (22)
68.80: Collin Morikawa (20)
Min. No. of Rounds = 10
Only those entered this week are included in table
MC* - Missed Additional 54-Hole Cut
Note: List Contains Leading Reserves