The First Cut: PGA DFS Course & Player Breakdown For the RBC Heritage

The return to some normalcy is likely going to be a gradual process, rather than a sprint. Being able to sit down and write this article every Sunday sets my entire PGA DFS week in trying to determine the type of golfers I’m looking to roster.

If this is your first time reading the article, or you’ve simply forgotten all about PGA DFS, then I’ll give you a quick summary of what’s to come:

Tournament Intro
Course Breakdown and DFS Sweatsheet
Player Preview
Statistical Preview

Tournament Intro: RBC Heritage

It was an incredible first week back as many of the world’s best golfers were there competing for the win on Sunday. Sadly, at least for me, it was one of my all-time nemeses coming down with the win, Daniel Berger. As we shift over to the East Coast, just outside of Hilton Head, we find a tournament that has been an after-major staple for quite some time. Typically held the week after the masters, the RBC Heritage has its own unique identifiers, starting with the plaid jacket awarded to the winner. Funny enough, The Charles Schwab Challenge had something very similar.

This tournament as always been played at Harbour Town Golf Links, a beautiful set up around the bay and the Atlantic Ocean. No holes is more famous than the beautiful 18th that heads right into the lighthouse, a picturesque setting for any golf tournament. Its designer, Pete Dye, with help from Jack Nicklaus, made yet another masterful course here in Hilton Head. Like other Dye courses, the risk/reward of the tee shot will ultimately set you up for a good chance at a birdie, or face certain bogey or worse. The winners here have featured many short hitters over the last few years, so it’ll be fascinating to see what the big hitters this week do with it.

Tournament Format

There are 144 players with the top 65 and ties making the cut after 36 holes.

Course Commentary: Harbour Town Golf Links

Course Profile

Par and Yardage

Par 71: 7,100

Course Difficulty 2019

11/49: just over three-quarters of a stroke over par.

Hole Dispersion

Four par 3’s: 200, 195, 192, 174
11 par 4’s: 410, 469, 419, 473, 332, 451, 536, 430, 373, 434, 472
Three par 5’s: 502, 549, 588

Grass Types

Bermuda

Designer

Peter Dye

Facts and Figures

The back nine plays about one-fifth of a stroke harder than the front.

Off the Tee: Very similar to last week, this course is short and tight with the average drive around 275, which ranked third only behind Spyglass Hill and Pebble Beach on tour last season. In terms of accuracy, the fairways were 21st-hardest to hit at just over 60%.
Approach to the green: Greens in regulation was the sixth hardest to hit on tour last year at just over 58%. That’s likely due to the small greens, as proximity to the hole ranked 10th on tour last year. Also, similar to last week, the rough doesn’t seem to be terribly penal if golfers miss in the right spots, ranking 23rd and 19th in terms of proximity to the hole last year.
Around the Green: Scrambling percentage last year was one of the easiest on tour, converting 62.99 % of the time, good for 42nd out of 49 courses.
On the Green: With the scrambling percentage so high, it doesn’t surprise me to see this course as one of the easiest places to putt. It ranked 49/49 for one-putt percentage last year and 48th on the overall putting average.

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PGA DFS Sweatsheet and Commentary

Three par 5’s on the course account for 42% of the scoring, which isn’t a surprise with a large amount number of doubles or more on the other holes. There just aren’t a ton of other birdie chances. The best chance at a streak, which is hard to come by at this event, comes holes 14-16. The par 5’s on the front are sandwiched by the two toughest holes on that side, which yielded only 63 birdies total last year.

Player Preview for PGA DFS Lineups

The Expected Top-30 Players in the Field by OWGR and Corresponding Odds

This week, Hideki Matsuyama returns to action, along with Tyrrell Hatton, who before the break were two of the hottest players in the game. Outside of them, most others remain the same from last week with a solid field. We are still missing two huge names, however: Tiger Woods and Patrick Cantlay.

Previous Winners

Last week four of the five previous winners were able to make the cut.

2019: C.T. Pan: -12
2018: Satoshi Kodaira: -12
2017: Wesley Bryan: -13
2016: Branden Grace: -9
2015: Jim Furyk: -18

PGA DFS Statistical Comparison

Driving Accuracy vs. Driving Distance: Not one of those five guys listed above is in the top 125 of driving distance on the PGA Tour. Clearly, they don’t need to have the long ball to win here.
Strokes Gained Tee to Green Analysis: Last year’s winner, C.T. Pan, actually lost strokes tee to green, as did 2017 champion Wesley Bryan. Only Kodaira gained over a stroke off the tee and did it by fractions. The one common theme that every single one of these golfers had was at least 1.5 strokes gained with their approaches.
Putting; How good do they need to be here?: Only once did the winner in the last five years actually finish in the top five in strokes gained putting for the week. It was Pan last year. That tells me that this course heavily relies on a good approach game and consistent short game.