The PGA Tour heads to South Carolina this week for the RBC Heritage. A field of 132 players will tackle Harbour Town Golf Links, where the winner is annually awarded a tartan jacket.
Be sure to join the all-new Golf Channel Fantasy Challenge - including a new One & Done game offering - to compete for prizes and form your own leagues, and log on to www.playfantasygolf.com to submit your picks for this week’s event.
Wesley Bryan won this event last year by one shot over Luke Donald. Here are 10 names to watch in Hilton Head:
1. Matt Kuchar: Kuchar has become Mr. Consistency on the PGA Tour, going more than a year since his last missed cut. He has finished T-28 or better each of the last three weeks, highlighted by a T-8 finish in Houston, and he has finished T-11 or better each of the last three years at this event following his dramatic victory in 2014.
2. Cameron Smith: The young Aussie won a team event last year, but he may be on the cusp of his first individual title in the U.S. following T-6 finishes in three of his last five starts. That run includes a T-5 finish last week in Augusta, and Smith has cracked the top 30 in each of his first two trips around Harbour Town.
3. Luke Donald: The former world No. 1 has fallen off the map, but always seems to rise to the occasion at this event regardless of form. While Donald has never won here, he has finished second or third a whopping seven times in the last nine years, including a playoff loss in 2011 and back-to-back runner-up finishes.
4. Adam Hadwin: The Canadian is quietly compiling a strong season, including three top-12 finishes in his last five starts and a brief flirtation with contending last week at the Masters. Hadwin, like many on this list, isn’t among the longest players on Tour but Harbour Town is a venue that values other assets as evidenced by his top-30 finishes each of the last two years.
5. Brian Harman: The former Georgia product should feel plenty comfortable in the lowcountry, and after a strong start to the season there’s reason to expect him to contend again. Harman already has seven top-10 finishes this season, most recently a Round of 16 exit in Austin, and he has cracked the top 10 twice in the last four years at this event.
6. Dustin Johnson: The current world No. 1 is returning to his roots, teeing it up a short drive from his former stomping grounds at Coastal Carolina for the first time since 2009. Johnson missed the cut that year, as he did in 2008, and he’ll be somewhat hamstrung by the cozy confines. But he still has plenty of game to contend, even on a tight layout.
7. Paul Casey: Casey went about his business last week, posting a solid T-15 finish despite making the cut on the number. He has played sparingly in Hilton Head, but he does have top-25 finishes in three of his last four trips and is still riding the momentum of last month’s comeback victory in Tampa.
8. Kevin Kisner: Like Harman, Kisner is a University of Georgia alum who usually plays his best on the grasses and courses of the southeast. That includes Harbour Town, where he lost in a playoff to Jim Furyk in 2015 and finished T-11 last year. Kisner finished T-28 last week in Augusta in his first start since a runner-up performance in the WGC-Dell Match Play.
9. Charley Hoffman: Hoffman thrilled with an ace during the final round of the Masters, and his T-12 finish was his third top-20 in his last four stroke-play starts. Hoffman has been equally consistent at this event, posting three top-15 finishes in a five-year span before last year’s missed cut.
10. Webb Simpson: Simpson lost in a playoff here to Graeme McDowell back in 2013, and his Heritage record includes four top-15s since 2010. While he hasn’t won in nearly five years, Simpson is among the Tour’s best this season on and around the greens, so don’t be surprised to see his name on the leaderboard come Sunday.
