RBC Heritage Preview
After Scottie Scheffler triumphed in the first major championship of the season, all eyes are now on South Carolina as Harbour Town Links prepares for the RBC Heritage.
Historically, this is a very fun event that can produce unthinkable winners, with Stewart Cink recording his third victory of this tournament last year.
Whilst you might expect the field to be overwhelmingly weak following a major, there are several superstars who have committed to this competition.
The Previous Edition
Sometimes in golf, a win is swiftly followed by another one. For Stewart Cink – who went 11 years without a tour victory – that is exactly what happened.
After triumphing in the Fortinet Championship, he doubled his seasonal victories at Harbour Town Links after a calm display.
It marked Cink’s third victory of this event, with the previous wins coming in 2000 and then 2004.
The American effectively won the tournament after 36 holes, carding 63 on both days to open up a relatively stable lead.
A successive 69 followed before Cink closed his tournament out with a round of 70.
Harold Varner III threatened to dampen the leaders’ party but his excellent final outing of 66 was not enough to catch the 48-year-old, who finished four strokes ahead of both Varner and Emiliano Grillo in T2.
Course
When it comes to renowned figures involved in professional golf, there isn’t a better team than Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus – who collaborated to create Harbour Town Links.
Boasting a par of 71 and measuring over 7,100 yards, this won’t be the longest course that the tour will visit this year.
The venue has hosted the RBC Heritage since the 1960s and its fascinating challenge continues to attract players every year.
Featuring small greens, mossy oaks, difficult bunkers and narrow fairways, there is no course quite like Harbour Town Links.
Field
As the players recover from a Masters hangover, you would typically expect this field to be of weaker quality, but that doesn’t appear to be the case this year.
Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Cameron Smith, Lucas Glover and Patrick Cantlay will all feature in South Carolina.
Johnson heads into the event after a mixed trip to Augusta, having made the cut comfortably but failing to push on to trouble eventual winner Scheffler.
Morikawa, on the other hand, will be pleased how he finished this year’s Masters and will be desperate to record his first win of the season.
After an eventful opening round, Thomas will accept his final standing of T8 in Georgia, despite not really pushing on and applying pressure to the leaders.
Thomas’ last win came at The Players Championship in 2021, but he has finished within the top 10 on six occasions so far this campaign.
Smith will look to put the disappointment of his final round behind him, as he struggled to keep up with the impressive Scheffler.
His victory at Sawgrass earlier this year should give him all the confidence he needs as we enter the meat of the season.
Cantlay made the cut at Augusta but he quietly faltered across the weekend, finishing T39 after a third round 79.
The Californian finished last season in scintillating fashion, but he has failed to win since the Tour Championship at East Lake.
Other members of the field include Daniel Berger, Corey Conners, Abraham Ancer, Matt Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood and Henrik Stenson – who is making his first appearance since 2012.