PGA DFS Core Plays: RBC Heritage
Top-ranked DFS player, Notorious, breaks down his favorite PGA DFS picks at various salary ranges for this week’s tournament. Who should you be building around? Find out below.
I miss the Masters already.
While the year’s first major is in the rearview mirror, we have plenty of amazing golf tournaments coming up. While I wish the RBC Heritage wasn’t a week after the Masters, it should still be a solid event. This is another Signature Event for the PGA TOUR, but unlike the first couple that had limited fields of 70 golfers, this one does not feature a cut. This means that every golfer in the field is guaranteed to play all 4 rounds barring a withdrawal. There are two players we have to keep an eye on. Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns are both expecting the birth of a child in the next couple of weeks, and have both stated they would withdraw from the event if their respective wives go into labor.
As far as the course goes, Harbour Town Golf Links is a Par 71 that measures just over 7,200 yards. Like most Pete Dye designs, this course cannot be overpowered off the tee. Due to the narrow fairways, the lurking water hazards, the overhanging tree limbs, and the doglegs, this is more of a positional course off the tee. While accuracy is more important than distance, I’m not focusing too much of my attention on off-the-tee metrics. The longer hitters are going to club down on a lot of the holes, so focusing on driving accuracy can be misleading since most of the shots counted toward that statistic are with the driver.
Noto’s PGA Model Download & Video for the RBC Heritage
The greens at Harbour Town are extremely small (3,400 square feet) and feature bermudagrass with poa trivialis overseed. We’ve seen this same type of grass several times already this season. I do have those putting splits in this week’s model if you want to check those out. Given the fact that distance isn’t needed here and that the greens are so small, this course is all about approach play and scrambling. I am placing hefty weights on strokes gained approach and strokes gained around the green. Bogey avoidance is another statistic that I don’t mind looking at, as avoiding trouble is imperative if you want to contend at this course.
Course history is fairly predictive here each year, although it’s not nearly as predictive as courses like Riviera or Augusta National. In terms of the golfer profile that we are looking for, there really isn’t one that stands out. All types of golfers have had success at Harbour Town over the years. Outside of the key statistics that I have mentioned, I also like the idea of looking at the following comp courses: Colonial Country Club, Waialae Country Club, Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course), and Sedgefield Country Club. They all share similar characteristics as Harbour Town.
PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Core Plays for the RBC Heritage
Field Size:
- 70 golfers
Cut Rule:
- No cut
Weather Forecasts
- Roth’s Forecast (link coming soon)
- Windfinder
- Accuweather
Harbour Town Golf Links
- Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
- Par 71 — 7,213 yards
- Difficulty: 2023 (28th), 2022 (19th), 2021 (26th), 2020 (37th), 2019 (11th)
- Number of holes with water hazards: 18
- Fairway width in landing areas: 33 yards
- Green type: poa trivialis overseed
- Green size: 3,700 square feet
- 2023 tournament averages:
- - Driving distance = 279 yards
- - Driving accuracy = 65%
- - Greens in regulation = 63%
Event and Course Notes
- It’s strange to have a Signature Event the week after the Masters, but here we are
- Harbour Town is the polar opposite to Augusta National
- This course is short and features very narrow fairways
- This is a classical Carolina course that features tree-lined fairways and doglegs
- Like most Pete Dye designs, Harbour Town can’t be overpowered off the tee
- Golfers will club down on many holes, as accuracy is more important than distance
- The greens here are tiny (3,700 square feet) and difficult to hit on average
- The greens feature bermudagrass with poa trivialis overseed
- All types of golfers can contend here- bigger emphasis on short game this week
- Last 5 winners: Fitzpatrick (-17), Spieth (-13), Cink (-19), Simpson (-22), Pan (-12)
- Course comps: Colonial, Waialae, Innisbrook, Sedgefield
What to Look For
- Strokes gained approach
- Strokes gained around the green
- Bogey avoidance
- Good drive percentage
- Strokes gained putting
Core Plays
Shane Lowry
DraftKings: $8,500 / pOWN: 15%
FanDuel: $9,100 / pOWN: 15%
Good Drive Percentage: 9
Strokes Gained Approach: 7
Strokes Gained Around the Green: 28
Strokes Gained Putting: 59
Birdie or Better %: 55
Bogey Avoidance: 61
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