After a historic Masters, the PGA Tour travels up the road to Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Harbour Town Golf Links has hosted this event for 30-plus years, and it remains one of the most recognizable and unique golf courses on the PGA Tour. The Pete Dye design has withstood the test of time, and it continues to challenge players despite being one of the shortest courses on the PGA Tour. It is a quintessential positional, less-than-driver course that features obstructive over-hanging tree limbs and small, heavily contoured greens surrounded by pot bunkers and mounding.
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Scottie Scheffler will look to defend his title and record his first victory of the 2025 PGA Tour season, and the field is stacked by an intriguing crop of challengers that includes Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Aberg, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele among others. The signature event will feature a small field of just 72 players, where all are guaranteed four rounds.
Courtesy of Rob Tipton false Public Harbour Town Golf Links Hilton Head Island, SC 4.5 42 Panelists
- Second 100 Greatest
- 100 Greatest Public
- Best In State
In the late 1960s, Jack Nicklaus landed the design contract for Harbour Town, then turned it over to his new partner, Pete Dye, who was determined to distinguish his work from that of rival Robert Trent Jones. Soon after Harbour Town opened in late November 1969 (with a victory by Arnold Palmer in the Heritage Classic), the course debuted on America’s 100 Greatest as one of the Top 10. It was a total departure for golf at the time. No mounds, no elevated tees, no elevated greens—just low-profile and abrupt change. Tiny greens hung atop railroad ties directly over water hazards. Trees blocked direct shots. Harbour Town gave Pete Dye national attention and put Jack Nicklaus, who made more than 100 inspection trips in collaborating with Dye, in the design business. Pete’s wife, Alice, also contributed, instructing workers on the size and shape of the unique 13th green, a sinister one edged by cypress planks. Explore our full review
Let’s dive into the DraftKings slate.
$10,000 range Play: Collin Morikawa, $10,900: 
JD Cuban
I have long felt that Harbour Town is a perfect golf course for Collin Morikawa’s skill-set, and he enters this week in some of the best ball-striking form of his career. Morikawa is coming off a 13th-place finish at the Masters where he gained 2.2 strokes off the tee and 5.4 strokes on approach, and I expect him to carry this momentum into a victory at the iconic Pete Dye design.
Fade: Justin Thomas, $10,200: 
JD Cuban
I was highly disappointed with Justin Thomas’ Masters performance, and despite some strong around-the-green play, his ball-striking was a mess. Thomas lost nearly three strokes off the tee and over a stroke on approach, and while he has some enticing course history at Harbour Town, the two-time major winner remains far more mistake prone from the other options in this price range.
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$9,000 range Play: Russell Henley, $9,700:
This is the perfect time to buy back in on Russell Henley after a surprise MC at the Masters. Henley was always going to be behind the eight ball at the Masters due to his lack of carry distance, but now he arrives at a course that accentuates his elite accuracy off the tee and short-to-middle iron play. I’m expecting a major bounce-back for the recent Arnold Palmer Invitational winner.
Fade: Jason Day, $9,100: 
Photo by Stephen Denton
While Jason Day looked phenomenal last week at Augusta National, this is an ideal opportunity to sell high. Day has rarely been in the $9,000 range all season, and I simply do not believe he possesses the safety as some of his similarly priced peers. He has also only played Harbour Town once since 2020, and I remain concerned with his ability to avoid the big miss off the tee.
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$8,000 range Play: Daniel Berger, $8,300: 
David Cannon
Daniel Berger put together another quietly strong Masters performance last week where he gained 1.4 strokes off the tee and 3.6 strokes on approach en route to a 21st-place finish. Berger has now recorded eight top-30 finishes in 10 starts this year on the PGA Tour, and he now returns to a golf course where he has recorded three top-25 finishes in five starts.
Fade: Robert MacIntyre, $8,500:
I was surprised to Robert MacIntyre struggle last week at the Masters, as I was enamored by the potential course fit. The Scotsman unfortunately lost four strokes on approach en route to a missed cut, and he is now traveling to a golf course that will curb two of his greatest weapons, power off the tee and long iron approach play.
$7,000 range Play: Si Woo Kim, $7,600: 
Kenneth Richmond
Si Woo Kim is a perfect fit for Harbour Town, and I actually love the fact that he is not coming off a grueling week at the Masters like many of his similarly priced peers. Kim has already recorded victories at Sedgefield, Waialae and TPC Sawgrass, three of my strongest comparative courses for this week, as well as a runner-up finish at Harbour Town. This is one of my favorite leverage plays on the slate.
Fade: Michael Kim, $7,500:
Michael Kim has certainly impressed this year, but I have major questions about his fit at Harbour Town and its claustrophobic nature off the tee. In six appearances at the Pete Dye design, Kim has failed to finish in the top 70, and while he has certainly improved as an overall golfer since his last trip to Hilton Head, I’m happy to let him beat me in this spot.
Jonathan Bachman
Similar to Si Woo Kim, Ryo Hisatsune has the benefit of not enduring a grueling week at Augusta National. We last saw him tee it up at the Valero Texas Open, where he gained strokes in all four major categories en route to a fifth-place finish. While Hisatsune has never played Harbour Town before, his accuracy off the tee and short-to-middle iron play makes him an intriguing salary saver at the bottom of the slate.
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Andy Lack is a PGA Tour writer and podcaster from New York City who now resides in Los Angeles. Andy is the founder and CEO of Inside Sports Network, a website devoted to the predictive quality of advanced analytics and golf course architecture. He came to Golf Digest’s betting panel after previously writing for Run Pure Sports, RickRunGood.com, the Score and GolfWRX. In his free time, Andy can likely be found on a golf course. Follow him on Twitter: @adplacksports
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
