Following a “brutally slow” final round on Sunday at the Masters, Patrick Cantlay has become public enemy No. 1 on Golf Twitter. But if you are looking for a RBC Heritage winner, you should ignore the noise and consider him this week at Harbour Town.
Here’s who we like the look of this week at the 2023 RBC Heritage.
To win outright
Anonymous Caddie: Jordan Spieth — Jordan seems to cost himself the Masters with a few holes every year, but Sunday was a phenomenal day for him — and he’s ready to defend his title from last year. The iron play is elite, the putter is getting better, so there’s no reason why he shouldn’t get a back-to-back win like so many players have done at other events in the past year.
Pat Mayo, analyst: Sungjae Im — It’s been long enough in between wins — where better for Sungjae to get win No. 3 than at a short, Bermuda grass course. That’s his thing. He comes in riding hot irons, picking up strokes on the field at Sawgrass and Augusta, which is perfect timing to match the +2.9 strokes gained/off-the-tee he has averaged in four appearances at Harbour Town.
Brandon Gdula, FanDuel managing editor: Xander Schauffele — Schauffele had top-10 irons and wedges last week at Augusta en route to a T-10. Schauffele’s driver is the main drawback for him lately, and it’s the one stat that we can downplay most at Harbour Town.
Rick Gehman, data scientist: Patrick Cantlay — It’s worth noting that Cantlay is an equipment “free agent,” not tied to any single company and playing whatever clubs he feels most comfortable with. Since getting dialled in earlier this year, he’s been one of the best ball-strikers in the world. Over his past 20 rounds, he’s gaining two strokes per round ball-striking, second to only Scottie Scheffler during that stretch. Now he returns to Harbour Town where he has four top-seven finishes in his five career trips.
Stephen Hennessey, Golf Digest deputy managing editor: Patrick Cantlay — All the talk is about Cantlay’s slow play (which he defended on Tuesday), but let’s not lose sight of how well Cantlay’s hitting it right now. His ball-striking stats since Riviera have been insanely good, and he gained nearly six strokes on approach last week at Augusta. The putter needs to just be a slight positive, but he’s had some spike weeks here at Harbour Town in the past en route to a runner-up (last year) and T-3s in 2019 and 2017.
Christopher Powers, Golf Digest staff writer: Cameron Young — With three top 20s in his past four starts, including a T-7 at Augusta, Young seems like the obvious choice to break through here. Add in the fact that, unlike some other names at the top of the board, Young has wisely not played in consecutive weeks since February up until this one. It’s just about time to peak, something he almost did here a year ago when he finished in third.
Andy Lack, golf podcast expert: Collin Morikawa — I have long felt that Harbour Town was the perfect golf course for Collin Morikawa and that it was only a matter of time before he claimed victory at the iconic Pete Dye venue. The two-time major winner remains one of the most accurate drivers of the ball in the world, as well as, pound for pound, the best short-to-middle iron player in the world as well. These are two skill sets that are incredibly important at Harbour Town. Golf courses like Torrey Pines and Bay Hill accentuate what Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy do best, but golf courses like these are where Morikawa should really shine.
