PGA 2019 RBC Heritage Odds, Preview and Prediction

Some of the world’s top golfers are headed to South Carolina’s annual PGA event, the RBC Heritage which will be held on April 15-21, 2019 at the famed Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

This year’s tournament will be the 51st edition of the RBC Heritage which is also known as the Heritage Classic or simply the Heritage. Arnold Palmer was the inaugural champion in 1969 while course designer Jack Nicklaus won in 1975. Davis Love III hold the most victories at the RBC Heritage with a total of five. Hale Irwin has three wins here while eight players have won the Heritage at least 2.

Last year, Satoshi Kodaira got his first Tour win at Harbour Town after defeating Si Woo Kim in a sudden death playoff. Kodaira had rallied from six shots down at the start of the round before sinking a 24 feet birdie at the par 3 17th hole which was the third hole of the sudden death playoff. Kodaira recorded a 63 in round 3 of the tournament and closed out with a five under 66 to win his first PGA tournament. He sank three straight birdies to open the final round and  made seven birdies overall in the final round to become the fifth consecutive winner to come from at least three stroked down after 54 holes to win the RBC Heritage golf tournament.

This year, Kodaira is set to defend his title against a still incomplete field. So far, seven RBC ambassadors have confirmed their participation in the 51st annual RBC Heritage golf tournament. These RBC team members are Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker, Graeme McDowell and Ryan Palmer who will all vie to become the next winner of the next tartan jacket.

Who are The Favorites?

The odds for the 2019 RBC Heritage golf tournament aren’t out yet but several of the world’s Top 50 golfers have already given their commitment to join the tournament. The field is led by world #1 and RBC ambassador Dustin Johnson.

This year marks the second time that DJ has returned to play for this stop of the tour in his home-state since 2009. Last year, Johnson’s addition to the RBC Heritage last year added luster to a field that included seven out of the Top 25 ranked golfers in the world. He finished at seven under par and T-16 last year.

16th ranked Matt Kuchar won the 2014 RBC Heritage in dramatic fashion, sinking a birdie off a bunker shot to record a final round score of 64 and a one stroke win. Kuchar has competed 15 times in this tournament and is off to a good start in 2019 with victories at the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Kuchar also finished 2nd in the recent THE Players championship.

Charlotte, North Carolina native Webb Simpson is also among the favorites as well. The world’s 24th ranked golfer was a runner-up here in 2013 after losing a sudden death playoff to Graeme McDowell. Simpson though only has two Top 10 finishes in 8 tournaments entered this year.

RBC ambassador and World #52 Jim Furyk is the all-time money list leader in this tournament and has won this twice. Furyk was a T-9 at the recent Honda Open and placed second to Rory McIlroy at 2019 THE Players Championship as well. This year will mark Furyk’s 19th start at Harbour Town.

Other players to watch include world #39 Billy Horschel who has two top 10 finishes this year and who was T-5 here last year. Charles Howell III is also off to a great start this year with four Top 10 finishes on the tour including a win at the RSM Classic. Louis Oosthuizen will be making his second appearance in this tournament. The world #25 was a T-7 here in 2015. Cameron Smith will be making his 4th appearance here and the world #28 Aussie has three Top 10 finishes on the tour this year.

Who Wins?

Heading to last year’s RBC Heritage tournament, Dustin Johnson had not finished under par in four previous rounds. Save for the 72 in last year’s third round at Harbour Town, DJ went under par in every round of the tournament. That said, he still finished five strokes behind the Kodaira.

Although Johnson is coming off a poor T-40 effort at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play where he was among 11 out of the Top 16 seeds who did not make it to Saturday. Overall though, Johnson has finished in the Top 7 in five out of the seven tournaments he’s played in this year including a win at the WGC-Mexico championships so that’s still an impressive start to 2019 for the world’s top ranked golfer. Easily, DJ would be the safest pick here.

Webb Simpson may not have started the season as well as Dustin Johnson has, but he’s had Six Top 20 finishes in 10 starts at the RBC Heritage tournament including last year’s 5th place finish and a second place finish in 2013. I like Simpson’s consistency in this tournament.

Another golfer who intrigues me heading to this tournament is world #568 Luke Donald of England who failed to make the cut last year but has seven Top 3 finishes in the previous 10 installments of the RBC Heritage tournament . Donald had led after 54 holes in three of those instances but has never won the tournament. The Englishman placed 2nd in 2018 and has played in just two PGA Tour events in 2019, finishing T-9 at the Valspar Championship after getting cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii last January.

I’d like to see the oddsboard first before giving my take on Luke Donald but if he comes at a good price, he’s worth a shot. Dustin Johnson is too given his stature and current form but the player I’d like to wager on is Webb Simpson who like Donald has an excellent track record here at Harbour Town.

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