This article is part of our FantasyDraft PGA series.
RBC Heritage
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Harbour Town Golf Links - Par 71 - 7,099 yards
Field - 132 entrants
Purse - $6.7M
The Preview
The Masters buzz is wearing off, but it was another quality edition, punctuated by Patrick Reed's entrance into the exclusive green jacket club thanks to his efforts in holding off final-round surges from both Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth at Augusta National. The PGA Tour takes little time for reflection as a field of 132 heads to another unique venue, where Harbour Town Golf Links plays host to the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island. The recognizable 18th hole's beautiful backdrop features the Atlantic coast and Harbour Town Lighthouse nearly in line with the pin from the tee. Having been lucky enough to play here just one week prior to the 2015 edition of this event, I can tell you the wind coming off the ocean can be serious down the closing stretch of holes with little natural protection from the elements. The weather this week actually looks pretty mild and could lead to some scoring the first few days, but a chance of both thunderstorms and 20-MPH wind could be in store for Sunday's final round. Harbour Town is a short course with small Bermuda greens, so a combination of driving accuracy, GIR percentage, scrambling and SG: Putting should be statistics to highlight when making lineup selections. The field features World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, No. 13 Paul Casey and No. 16 Marc Leishman, but not a lot of other notable names, so a more balanced approach is advertised below.
Past Champions
2017 - Wesley Bryan
2016 - Branden Grace
2015 - Jim Furyk
2014 - Matt Kuchar
2013 - Graeme McDowell
2012 - Carl Pettersson
2011 - Brandt Snedeker
2010 - Jim Furyk
FantasyDraft Value Picks - based on $100,000 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Matt Kuchar - $16,200
The 2014 RBC Heritage champion has finished T11-T9-5 in three starts at Harbour Town since his win at the venue, and he is coming off a stretch of T28-T8-T9 from The Masters back through the Match Play. The 39-year-old owns five top-10s compared to just one missed cut in 14 career appearances at the event on Hilton Head Island, and he is currently 22nd on Tour in SG: Putting.
Cameron Smith - $15,400
Smith's breakout campaign continued with a T5 at The Masters following his loss in the quarterfinals of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, which helped him leap inside the top 40 in the OWGR for the first time in his career. The 24-year-old ranks 11th in scrambling, 24th in SG: Around-the-Green, and has finished T29-T15 in two RBC Heritage appearances.
Brian Harman - $15,200
Harman is top-25 in both the OWGR and FedExCup standings, so he could be a fairly popular option at this price as he ranks seventh in SG: Putting and fifth in GIR percentage. He's also put up a pair of top-10s at Harbour Town since 2014.
Glue Guys
Adam Hadwin - $15,100
Hadwin has risen to a career-best 41st in the OWGR after notching his fifth straight top-25 finish last week at The Masters, bringing his span of recent results to T24-T17-T12-T9-T6 since the Genesis Open. The Canadian has placed top-30 in each of the past two seasons at Harbour Town. He's currently perched at 23rd in SG: Approach and seventh in SG: Around-the-Green.
Luke Donald - $14,300
The horse for the course's recent form is very uninspiring with zero top-30s and five missed cuts in his last nine starts worldwide, but Donald has placed second or third in seven of his last nine appearances at Harbour Town. At just 189th in the FedExCup standings, Donald will be looking to perform well at the RBC Heritage once again, because he desperately needs plenty more points to secure his card for next season. Despite his poor play in 2017-18, he still ranks 25th in both SG: Putting and proximity from 50-125 yards.
Russell Knox - $14,200
Other than Kuchar and Donald, Knox's track record at Harbour Town throughout the past four seasons is tough to beat, with impressive results of T11-T2-T18-T9. He has racked up five top-30 finishes in 2018 and ranks 18th on Tour in GIR percentage. A T73 at the API followed by a missed cut in Houston could help drive down his potential ownership.
Bargain Bin
William McGirt - $13,600
McGirt has posted three top-10s at the RBC Heritage since 2014, with only a T31 in 2015 keeping him from making it four in a row. He missed the cut during his last start at the Houston Open, but had finished T26-T16-T33 from the Honda Classic through the API. McGirt's short game has been well above average as he ranks 26th in scrambling and 47th in SG: Putting.
Austin Cook - $12,900
Just about a two-hour drive southwest from Hilton Head along the Atlantic coast, Cook secured his first career victory on Tour at the RSM Classic hosted by Georgia's Sea Island Resort back in November. The coastal layout is similar to that of Harbour Town, where putting and scrambling have been key in determining success. Both venues also feature Bermudagrass, adding another layer of comfortability for Cook. The Arkansas native recently missed the cut in his Masters debut, but he's still 45th on Tour in SG: Around-the-Green, 29th in SG: Putting and 35th in driving accuracy.
Kevin Streelman - $12,700
The 39-year-old has finished T43 or better in all but two of his last 13 starts this season, while he also owns a top-three result at Harbour Town in 2013. The sneaky-good Streelman is second on Tour in GIR percentage, 14th in driving accuracy, 19th in SG: Tee-to-Green and third in scrambling. The flat stick would likely be the only concern with Streelman.
