DraftKings PGA DFS Picks: RBC Heritage Cash and GPP Strategy

This article is part of our DraftKings PGA DFS Picks series.

RBC HERITAGE

Purse: $20M
Winner's Share: $3.6M
FedEx Cup Points: 700 to the Winner
Location: Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Course: Harbour Town Golf Links
Yardage: 7,213
Par: 71
2024 champion: Scottie Scheffler

Tournament Preview

The scenario couldn't have been better for RBC Heritage tournament organizers, even if they had written the script themselves.

Coming off the most sensational golf tournament in a long, long time -- heck, the most sensational sporting event in recent memory -- golf interest is at a fevered pitch just when the PGA Tour is coming to their town for a loaded-field Signature Event.

But, alas, tournament organizers did not write the script; Masters champion Rory McIlroy did. So when the fifth of eight Signature Events begins on Thursday, the player everybody is still talking about and wants to see more than anybody else will not be there.

McIlroy had decided even before his historic win at the 89th Masters that he would skip the RBC Heritage. That doesn't make his decision any less painful for anyone with an interest in the tournament.

And not that this matters, but the RBC Heritage's loss is another tournament's gain. McIlroy will return next week alongside good pal Shane Lowry to defend their title in the Zurich Classic team event.

Just about every other top player will be in this 72-man, no-cut event. Not to be harsh, and no disrespect to Scottie Scheffler and Co., but right about now that's akin to having a lavish, eight-course steak dinner ... minus the steak. Or going to see a Tom Cruise movie ... that's minus Tom Cruise.

But at least there's a little sizzle. Defending champion Scheffler, Ludvig Aberg, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Corey Conners and Masters runner-up Justin Rose head the field, which includes 56 golfers who played at Augusta last week. (But not 57, sigh.) Hideki Matsuyama is also taking a pass this week.

It's worth mentioning some of the top names among those 16 golfers who had last week off. Gary Woodland (Aon Swing 5) and sponsor invites Rickie Fowler, Mackenzie Hughes and Matt Kuchar are arguably the biggest names. As with all the Signature Events, the Tour desires churn to let lesser guys get into these events. The Aon Next 10, Aon Swing 5 and four sponsor invites will make up about a quarter of the field. Spieth is the fourth sponsor invite.

The RBC Heritage at beloved Harbour Town has always been a popular PGA Tour stop, even though it's played the week after the Masters, even before it became a Signature Event two years ago. In fairness, the total purse of $20 million is also beloved.

Even before this became a Signature Event, you'd have thought the top players would've liked to break the week after a grueling major. But so many of them love, love, love this 1969 Pete Dye design that they came back year after year and year -- despite having to wear that hideous plaid sports jacket if they win. Harbour Town is the only course this tournament has ever been played on. In 1969, an aging Arnold Palmer, winless for more than a year, came to Hilton Head Island and captured the inaugural Heritage Golf Classic.

So why have so many greats made this an annual part of their schedule? Maybe because Harbour Town reminds of a bygone era, when golf courses weren't a-thousandy-billion yards long. No, this quaint little track checks in at 7,200ish yards, and the golfers will have to be more tacticians than bombers. Kuchar once said that the narrow, tree-lined fairways, dog legs, water hazards and tiny greens "make it exciting to try to truly play chess around this golf course." Kuchar got his checkmate when he won the tournament in 2014.

After a number of years of somewhat lesser guys winning this tournament, the past three years have seen bigger names come out on top. Spieth (yes, still a bigger name) won at 13-under three years ago in a playoff over Patrick Cantlay before Matt Fitzpatrick turned the tables a year later and made Spieth a playoff loser after they ended regulation at 17-under. Last year, Scheffler's 19-under score was three better than Sahith Theegala and four ahead of Cantlay and Wyndham Clark.

Harbour Town's best defenses are wind, water on every hole and bermudagrass greens that average a mere 3,700 square feet, the smallest on Tour save Pebble Beach. As is always the case in April, the greens have poa overseed. The tiny putting surfaces make getting on the green in regulation a challenge. This is traditionally one of the hardest GIR weeks of the season and therefore there is a premium on scrambling.

Last year, they cut the height of the rough in half, from 2.5 inches to 1.25, but now it's up to 1.5, according to the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) fact sheet. Other changes since last year include converting fairway bunkers on Nos. 2 and 6 into waste areas. There weren't many bunkers on the course to begin with, and now only 51. The signature hole is the 18th, a 472-yarder leading to the famed red-and-white-striped lighthouse and marina. Fittingly, it usually is the hardest hole on the course.

Next month, a course renovation will begin, according to the GCSAA fact sheet.

As for the weather, spectacular scoring conditions are forecast. High temperatures will be in the 70s all week with little chance of rain and not much wind. 

Key Stats to Winning at Harbour Town

The most important indicators every week are current form and course history. "Key Stats" follow in importance.

• Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
• Strokes Gained: Approach
• Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green/Scrambling
• Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee/Driving Accuracy
• Strokes Gained: Putting

Past Champions

2024 - Scottie Scheffler
2023 - Matt Fitzpatrick
2022 - Jordan Spieth
2021 - Stewart Cink
2020 - Webb Simpson
2019 - C.T. Pan
2018 - Satoshi Kodaira
2017 - Wesley Bryan
2016 - Branden Grace
2015 - Jim Furyk

Champion's Profile

Until Scheffler last year, a truly long hitter hadn't won the RBC in forever. You don't need to be a bomber to succeed here and, if you are one, you need to be able to take your foot off the gas. Scheffler did just that, ranking only 35th in driving distance while keeping driver in the bag much of the week.

Instead, this is how Scheffler played the course: He ranked first in SG: Off-the-Tee, SG: Approach and scrambling, second in greens in regulation and third in fairways hit. When you do all that, ranking 36th in SG: Putting is plenty good enough.

This week generally results in the shortest average drives of any tournament and the worst greens-in-regulation numbers. Firing at the tiny greens, even the most accurate iron players will see their GIR numbers dip.

In 2021, Cink turned in a masterful performance by hitting nearly 78 percent of greens in regulation.

As we often say, smaller greens tend to neutralize the better putters. That doesn't necessarily mean that putting doesn't matter this week; it's just that poorer putters have a better chance of having a good putting week.

It's fair to wonder how many players will be sharp after a grueling major last week and how many would not have shown up without the guaranteed cash and OWGR points.

The over/under on the winning score as determined by golfodds.com was set at 266.5 --17.5 under par.

DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS

Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap

$10,000 and up

Scottie Scheffler - $13,100 (Winning odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook: +360)
One of the things to watch out for is how focused and mentally sharp the guys who played the Masters are, especially those playing meaningful golf on Sunday. Well, Scheffler came here last after WINNING the Masters and won again, so there's no danger of him lacking focus. On Sunday, he looked pretty pissed in Butler Cabin giving a green jacket to someone else. In a twist, Scheffler's short game and putting were superb at Augusta and his long clubs were the ones giving him issues. Still, he finished fourth, adding to a second and a third from earlier this season. Yes, Scheffler still has not won, but he's actually accrued the fourth-most OWGR points of anyone in 2025. And the guy who's earned the most, and won three times, is not in the field.

Patrick Cantlay - $10,000 (+2000)
It takes every ounce of willpower to bypass Aberg ($11,000), Morikawa ($10,900) and even Schauffele ($10,400) to tab a guy who has been disappointing bettors for more than two years now --just about everywhere but Harbour Town. Cantlay has finished third the past two years, second the year before that and third two other times in 2017 and '19. He hasn't been that bad in 2025, having finished T5 twice. And he showed strong mental fortitude on Friday, needing a birdie on 18 to make the Masters cut -- and getting it.

$9,000-$9,900

Russell Henley - $9,700 (+2500)
Henley stunned -- and burned -- a lot of people by missing the Masters cut. He's been one of the best players on Tour this season and that doesn't change after two bad rounds. He finished 12th here last year, 19th the year before and ninth four years ago. Henley is ranked top-25 in every strokes-gained category but Off-the-Tee. That's because he's a short hitter, which won't matter much this week.

Tommy Fleetwood - $9,400 (+3000)
Fleetwood ranked third in the field at the Masters in both SG: Around-the-Green and Tee-to-Green, plus sixth in Off-the-Tee. He putted poorly, ranking 52nd. It added up to a tie for 21st, not all that bad. For the season, Fleetwood is top-15 on Tour in both SG: Approach and Tee-to-Green, with six top-25s. He didn't have a good tournament here last year but was 15th and 10th the two previous years.

$8,000-$8,900

Sepp Straka - $8,800 (+4000)
Like Henley, Straka was a surprise MC last week after generating a lot of pre-tournament support at favorable prices and odds. Also, like Henley, he's been one of the handful of best players on Tour this season. Straka has been exceptional at Harbour Town, finishing in the top-five two of the past three years.

Daniel Berger - $8,300 (+4500)
Berger closed with a 69 to move into the top-25 at the Masters (T21) in just his second major in three years (also T21 at last ear's U.S. Open). It was just the latest step in a strong bounceback season. He's ranked in the top-50 in every strokes-gained metric and 10th in driving accuracy. Berger didn't play the RBC the past two years but was T21-T13-T3 in the three years before that.

$7,000-$7,900

Akshay Bhatia - $7,800 (+6500)
Bhatia tied for 18th last year at the RBC, following a made cut in his first Masters. He made the Masters cut again this year. He has two top-10s in 2025, with a best of T3 at TPC Sawgrass, a course that's not exactly short but shorter than many. Bhatia is one of the top putters on Tour this season with a SG: Putting ranking of eighth.

Brian Harman - $7,600 (+7500)
It was a very positive sign that Harman followed up his win at the Valero with a made cut the following week at the Masters. He shot three rounds under par but a third-round 77 relegated him to a tie for 36th. Now he comes to a track where he's enjoyed great success. This will be his 16th start at Harbour Town. He's finished 12th, seventh and 13th the past four years. That adds up, since Harman is one of the shorter hitters on Tour.

Davis Thompson - $7,400 (+7000)
We don't often recommend the worst putter in the field. But that's what Davis is over his past 24 rounds. For the season, he's No. 142 in SG: Putting. Not optimum. But there are other, more positive considerations. Davis is ranked top-15 in the field in SG: Off-the-Tee, Approach and Tee-to-Green over his past 24 rounds. He had a good Masters going till imploding with a final-round 79. He tied for 10th at THE PLAYERS.

$6,000-$6,900

Jacob Bridgeman - $6,700 (+10000)
Bridgeman is having a very good season -- after all, he's in a Signature Event and not via a sponsor invite. He was runner-up at the Cognizant and T3 just a few weeks back at the Valspar. In two prior Signature Events, Bridgeman tied for 15th at Bay Hill and made the cut at Sawgrass. Impressive stuff. He's one of the few guys in the field to have never played Harbour Town, which isn't great, but he doesn't have to worry about missing a cut. Bridgeman is ranked an elite sixth on Tour in SG: Putting.

Cam Davis - $6,100 (+20000)
Davis has missed five straight cuts, including the Masters. Ouch. So, why pick him? Well, he's very cheap. And he's guaranteed four rounds. Before all those missed cuts, he tied for fifth at Pebble Beach, another short course with tiny greens. Davis' big trouble is off the tee, but he's not all that bad on approach or around the green. Perhaps the most positive news is he's played very well at Harbour Town -- T7 in 2023, T3 in 2022, T25 in 2021.

Agree with these recommendations? Give them a spin with various combinations of other golfers in RotoWire's PGA DFS Lineup Optimizer.