McIlroy the favorite at the RBC Heritage; Golf Picks and Predictions

The first week back to competitive play on the PGA Tour after a three-month layoff went pretty well at the Charles Schwab Challenge at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. We had a playoff and a star-studded leaderboard as Daniel Berger emerged with the win. This week, play moves to Hilton Head at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Golf’s biggest draw, Tiger Woods, is not in the field, but there is plenty of firepower set to tee off Thursday. According to William Hill, via CBS Sports. Rory McIlroy is the odds-on favorite at 11-1, followed by Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau at 16-1. Jon Rahm is next at 18-1, while Xander Schauffele is 22-1, Collin Morikawa is 25-1, and Sung-Jae Im is 28-1. Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Patrick Reed, and Hideki Matsuyama are all 30-1. Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka are both 35-1. Last week’s winner, Berger, is listed at 40-1.

CT Pan won this event last year and is a 200-1 long shot this year in a much better field. It should be another great week on the tour. Here are some players to watch.

Collin Morikawa (25-1). This young man suffered a heartbreaking defeat last week when his three-foot putt in the playoff against Berger lipped out. Look for him to bounce back as he has been playing great golf. Since he made his debut last year at the RBC Canadian Open, Morikawa has made 21 straight cuts. He won the Barracuda Championship last year, a modified stableford scored event, and came close to breaking through at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He is ready to win and get that bad taste out of his mouth from last week.

Jim Furyk (150-1). The old pro is an old hand at RBC Heritage. In fact, his last PGA Tour win came here in 2015. And in 2010 he lost in a playoff to Brian Davis here when it was called the Verizon Heritage. He missed the cut here last year, but Furyk has been playing better this year and with his familiarity – and success – on this course, he’s a solid dark horse here.

Bryson DeChambeau (16:1). DeChambeau has been on a roll with four straight top 5 finishes. Last week, he blew a golden opportunity to win when he blasted a pretty straight forward approach shot over the green and then botched the chip. Had he simply parred it, he would have been in the playoff with Morikawa and Berger. DeChambeau is playing as well as anyone on tour and is a great pick here to win.

First round action begins Thursday with the first tee off at 6:45 a.m.