RBC Heritage
Course: Harbour Town Golf Links (7,243 yards, par 71)
Purse: $20,000,000
Winner: $3,600,000 and 700 FedExCup Points
Tournament Preview
What a week it was at The Masters. It took 17 years for him to win at Augusta, and now Rory McIlroy became the first player since Tiger Woods (2001-02) to go back-to-back at The Masters. It was another rollercoaster week for McIlroy, who took a six-shot lead into the weekend before seeing it completely disappear after play on Saturday. The start to the final round was scratchy as well, but he fought back in a big way to regain control of the tournament and outlast Scottie Scheffler by a single stroke.
The Masters is the most mentally taxing event there is, especially if you are in contention for the win on the weekend. That said, a lot of these players will need to regroup and reset to get ready to play in another consequential tournament. The RBC Heritage is the fourth of eight Signature Events in the 2026 PGA Tour season. This will be the largest Signature Event yet with 82 players slated to tee it up. All of which are guaranteed four rounds with this event not having a 36-hole cut. The purse sits at $20 million with the winner taking home $3.6 million along with 700 FedExCup points.
McIlroy, as expected, will skip this event to celebrate his Masters victory. Justin Rose and Hideki Matsuyama are the other top players who are taking a week off after the first major of the year. Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele will all be in the field this week after they finished inside the Top 10 at The Masters. All of those players also rank inside the top 10 of the OWGR.
Justin Thomas ended a nearly three-year drought on the PGA Tour with his win last year at Harbour Town in a playoff over Andrew Novak. His good friend Jordan Spieth will be looking to end a four-year winless streak this week. Spieth won in a playoff here back in 2022 over Patrick Cantlay, then lost in a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick the following year. This will be the fourth straight year that the RBC Heritage gets Signature Event status. Scheffler won the other tournament in that stretch in 2024 just a week after he won The Masters for a second time.
After a perfect weather week in Augusta, the trend appears it will follow at Hilton Head Island. Temperatures for the four tournament rounds are projected to top out in the upper-70s and low-80s with very minimal threat of precipitation. Winds are expected to hover around 10 mph for most of the week. Harbour Town traditionally plays pretty soft, but maybe we see some browning out of the fairways and greens later in the week.
Recent Champions
2025 - Justin Thomas (-17)
2024 - Scottie Scheffler (-19)
2023 - Matt Fitzpatrick (-17)
2022 - Jordan Spieth (-13)
2021 - Stewart Cink (-19)
2020 - Webb Simpson (-22)
2019 - C.T. Pan (-12)
2018 - Satoshi Kodaira (-12)
2017 - Wesley Bryan (-13)
2016 - Branden Grace (-9)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/GIR Percentage
- SG: Around-the-Green/Scrambling
- SG: Putting/Putts per GIR
- Driving Accuracy/Proximity 125-175 Yards
Champion's Profile
We go from a course in Augusta that gives players a lot of room off the tee, to a course in Harbour Town where you can hit the fairway and be completely blocked out. Harbour Town is all about angles. You could leave the driver in the bag the whole round and have a great chance to shoot a better score than someone who hits driver on every hole. This is a place where the top shot-makers shine and anyone can contend because distance is not a huge factor.
I'll be looking heavily in the 125-150 and 150-175 yard proximity buckets this week, as a high majority of the second shots into these par-4s will come from those ranges. The greens are on the smaller end, but there isn't a lot of pitch. As long as you have a decent angle, most of the time players are able to take dead aim.
Because of the smaller greens, short game has to be put into the equation. The last four winners here of Spieth, Fitzpatrick, Scheffler and Thomas all have some of the best short games on Tour. That should tell you all you need to know about the importance of SG: Around-the-Green and scrambling. If the conditions are right, as they are expected to be this week, players will be able to ring up plenty of birdies. These greens are very flat and it will be mostly just about putting a good stroke on the ball. The top putters should have a good chance to make a move as well despite the smaller greens.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Matt Fitzpatrick ($11,800)
The Englishman tops my model this week. He loves this course and his game has never been better heading into this event. Fitzpatrick ranks third in driving accuracy, seventh in SG: Approach, second in GIR percentage and 14th in proximity from 150-175 yards. He is also 22nd in SG: Around-the-Green this season. I thought Fitzpatrick would do better than T18 at The Masters, but it really just came down to a balky putter. I think he'll figure it out on these familiar greens where he won back in 2023.
Russell Henley ($11,400)
Henley very well could have won the Green Jacket last week. He hit so many great iron shots and just couldn't cash in on the greens down the stretch. Henley's 2.4 strokes gained per round on approach at Augusta easily bested the field. Schauffele was second way back at 1.88 strokes gained per round. That elite iron play and the fact that he is one of the most accurate drivers will be rewarded at Harbour Town. Henley finished top-20 four of the last five years at the RBC Heritage.
Patrick Cantlay ($10,800)
There aren't many other instances of players having a better record at a specific course than Cantlay has at Harbour Town. He has owned this place with five top-3s and seven top-15s in eight starts. It's honestly shocking that he has never won here. It's somewhat similar to Luke Donald's record at Harbour Town that includes five runner-ups and a pair of T3s but no victories. Cantlay looks to be trending after a T7 at the Valspar and a T12 at The Masters. He had his best week of the season on approach and around the greens at Augusta.
The Middle Tier
Viktor Hovland ($10,200)
Hovland comes into the week with his confidence up after a final-round 67 at Augusta to surge into T18. He gained the most strokes on approach in the final round, continuing a trend of elite iron play this season. Hovland is 19th in SG: Approach this year and ranks top 10 in Prox. 125-150, Prox. 150-175 and Prox. 175-200. He also has taken some distance off in an effort to be much more accurate, which will play to his advantage at this course. Hovland owns five top-20 finishes so far this season and was T13 a year ago at Harbour Town.
Jacob Bridgeman ($9,700)
Bridgeman finished outside the top 20 for the first time all season last week, but I think we can give him a pass as Augusta National is very tough on first-timers. Harbour Town should be a good spot for him to return to that elite form. Bridgeman leads the PGA Tour in SG: Putting and is also top 25 on Tour in SG: Approach, GIR percentage, Prox. 100-125, Prox. 125-150 and Prox. 150-175. The man second in SG: Total feels very undervalued this week.
Ryo Hisatsune ($9,500)
Hisatsune will be well-rested after not playing The Masters, but his last showing went quite well when he finished T8 in San Antonio while leading the field in SG: Approach. Iron play will be very important this week and Hisatsune is 18th in SG: Approach and first in GIR percentage this season. When the putter gets going, Hisatsune contends as evidence by the five top-15 finishes in his last eight starts. He logged a T18 a year ago at Harbour Town.
The Long Shots
Ryan Gerard ($8,600)
Gerard's ball striking makes him a great option in the $8K range this week. He ranks top-20 this season in driving accuracy, SG: Approach, GIR percentage, Prox. 125-150 and Prox. 150-175. Gerard has also been pretty solid on the greens ranking 14th in putts per GIR. His results have been a bit inconsistent of late after a hot start to 2026, but I see Harbour Town as the perfect course for him to get back on track with a great finish.
Nick Taylor ($8,400)
Taylor graded out very well for me this week due to his combination of strong iron play and short game. Taylor ranks top 15 on Tour this season in Prox. 125-150, Prox. 150-175, SG: Around-the-Green and scrambling. He doesn't have a lot of high finishes, but Taylor is a reliable player that has only missed one cut and owns six top-30s. He has a ton of experience around Harbour Town, but just one top-25 finish. That said, his game is in a better spot now to be able to play well here.
Austin Smotherman ($7,400)
Ball striking is very important around Harbour Town and Smotherman very well might be the best one in the $7K range this week. He ranks 24th in SG: Off-the-Tee, 26th in driving accuracy, fifth in SG: Approach, 26th in GIR percentage and 13th in proximity. Smotherman has already racked up a few top finishes this year with three top-15s, including a runner-up at PGA National. If he has a decent putting week at Harbour Town look out.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
Every Signature Event has a very deep field and this week is no exception. That allows for all types of builds, and certainly makes a guy like Scottie Scheffler at $14,600 a lot easier to fit into lineups than he was a week ago at The Masters. There is also no cut at the RBC Heritage, which I do think allows you to take some chances. I tend to lean towards some of the guys who might be a little less consistent, but have shown the ability to really pop and score a high finish, rather than some of the players who are consistently finishing T22.
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