RBC Heritage 2024 Tips: Zalatoris can win at Harbour Town

Golf expert Jamie Worsley is back with another of his comprehensive previews and five more each-way predictions for victory at the RBC Heritage. 

Scottie Scheffler has been the standout player in world golf for around two years now, producing a consistently high-level of performance not seen since prime Tiger. Though in a sport that isn’t just measured by how many titles you win but by which ones, he needed to add to his solo major title.

He has been electric in 2024, winning back-to-back at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass, before narrowly missing out on three in a row in Houston, on his last start before The Masters. This run further ramped up the expectations for him at Augusta, and he duly delivered.

Despite not being at his brilliant best in approach for a large part of last week, Scheffler still managed to take a one-shot lead into Sunday’s final round. An up-and-down start gave everyone around him a chance and at one point around the turn, we had a four-way tie at the top; with Scheffler joined by sensational debutant, Ludvig Aberg, major-ready Max Homa and two-time major champion Collin Morikawa.

Though as Scottie started to turn up the heat, reeling off three superb birdies in a row on 8, 9 and 10, all of the other challengers got bitten by Amen Corner; Aberg and Morikawa both double-bogeying the 11^th and Homa giving away two on 12. It was at that point that the world #1 turned on the afterburners, making birdies on 13, 14 and 16 to glide home to that second major and Masters title.

People were understandably frustrated to not get the Hollywood finish that looked likely at one point but that shouldn’t stop us from enjoying a genius at work. The way he took a still-difficult Augusta apart, shooting -5 on his final eleven holes to pull away from the rest was nothing short of sublime and in my eyes, every bit as entertaining to watch as close-fought mistake-laden finishes.

If it was still in doubt (it shouldn’t have been) it was a performance that firmly stamped his authority as the best player in the world by some considerable distance, and it is going to be a lot of fun to witness how far he can take it over the rest of this and future seasons. Whilst at the same time, it will be fascinating to see who, if anyone, can leap out of the pack behind to become a serious challenger to him for that mantle.

Back to the bread and butter of the PGA Tour and there is no let up for most of the top players, as an elite field descends on Harbour Town for our fifth Signature Event of the season, the RBC Heritage.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The RBC Heritage was first staged in 1969 and has always been held at Harbour Town Golf Links. It has maintained this spot on the calendar immediately following The Masters several times throughout its history and almost exclusively since 1994.

Arnold Palmer shot -1 to win the very first edition in ’69, in what remains the toughest renewal of the event to date; Jack Nicklaus (1975), Nick Faldo (1984) and Bernhard Langer (1985) contributing to the elite list of former winners.

However, nobody has as much of an affinity with this place as Davis Love III, who recorded his fifth RBC Heritage victory in 2003, sixteen years after winning his first pro title here in 1987.

Hale Irwin bookended his PGA Tour career with victories at Harbour Town, winning his first two professional titles in this event in 1971 and 1973. He then became one of oldest winners in tour history when taking the title for a third time in 1994 at 49-years-old – his final win on tour.

Stewart Cink also has three victories in the event, with the most recent of those coming in 2021 - himself in his late 40s at the time - and the seven-strong list of two-time winners includes Tom Watson (1979, 1982), Payne Stewart (1989, 1990) and Boo Weekley (2007, 2008).

Last five winners:

• 2023 – Winner: Matt Fitzpatrick (-17, playoff); runner-up: Jordan Spieth (-17)
• 2022 – Winner: Jordan Spieth (-13, playoff); runner-up: Patrick Cantlay (-13)
• 2021 – Winner: Stewart Cink (-19); runners-up: Harold Varner III, Emiliano Grillo (-15)
• 2020 – Winner: Webb Simpson (-22); runner-up: Abraham Ancer (-21)
• 2019 – Winner: C.T Pan (-12); runner-up: Matt Kuchar (-11)

Matt Fitzpatrick recorded his first win in a regular PGA Tour event at Harbour Town last year, beating 2022 champ, Jordan Spieth in a playoff and returns to defend this year.

THE COURSE

Harbour Town Golf Links was designed by Pete Dye in 1967, with Jack Nicklaus acting as a consultant on the project. It hosted the first edition of this event two years later and has since become one of the most recognisable venues on the PGA Tour.

The course plays as a par 71, measuring 7213 yards; made up of 11x par 4s (332-473 yards), 4x par 3s (192-217 yards) and 3x par 5s (550-588 yards). It often poses a demanding test, averaging a winning score of -14.6 over the last ten renewals.

Relatively flat and framed by densely-populated pine trees throughout, it is a strategic, shot-makers course that is almost impossible to overpower.

Instead, it requires players to place the ball intelligently off-the-tee, avoiding potential line-of-sight issues from the overhanging trees, whilst creating the correct angles to attack the tiny bermudagrass-based putting surfaces. Which are overseeded with poa trivialis at this time of year.

Though there are a few with more generous landing areas, the largely doglegging fairways are predominantly narrow. Well-placed fairway bunkers can be quite penal and it’s rarely pleasant to be playing from the pine straw, however rough is often a non-event and is cut even shorter this year.

There is a lack of undulation or elevation changes on the course and this includes around the subtly contoured putting surfaces. The small size of them alone plays a part in them ranking among the toughest-to-find greens on tour but they’re made all the more difficult to hit with Dye’s trademark upturned saucer greens, which are designed to repel unprecise approach play at their edges, well on show.

Having said that, not only are they pretty fair to putt on, but they also rank as the fourth-easiest to scramble around. Players with a competent touch around-the-greens shouldn’t be too troubled when missing the mark on approach, providing they don’t find the links-style pot bunkers that are dotted around the venue.

There are two other factors to consider this week that can immediately ramp up the difficulty of this challenge: water and wind. Water can be found on most holes on this setup, prominently so on eleven and it offers protection to each of the four tough par 3s. Avoiding this watery danger can become all the more difficult due to the course’s proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, making wind an ever-persistent obstacle.

These two factors are no more on show than the final two holes, with water lurking long and left of the exposed 198-yard par 3 17^th and running up the entire left-hand side of closing 472-yard par 4 18^th. The famously striking Harbour Town Lighthouse presenting a memorable backdrop to the closing hole of the event.

THE WEATHER

We should get perfect conditions to begin this week’s tournament, with the dry and warm weather accompanied by a gentle breeze of 8mph and potential gusts of just 18mph.

Whilst there is forecast to be a passing shower or thunderstorm over the weekend, it doesn’t look like anything significant at this point. Though as always, predicting the weather so far in advance can be tricky and with this course’s coastal location, we can expect just about anything over the course of the week.

KEY STATS

• SG: Approach
• Greens-in-Regulation
• Proximity from 175-200 yards

With small greens that rank as some of the tougher to hit on tour, it’s no surprise to see high-class iron players enjoy success at Harbour Town.

Matt Fitzpatrick ranked 7^th in approach on his way to victory last year, with runner-up Jordan Spieth ranking 4^th and 4^th-place finisher, Xander Schauffele the second-best iron player in the field.

Spieth also performed strongly in approach in his 2022 win, ranking 10^th. He defeated Patrick Cantlay in a playoff, who ranked 1^st in approach and 1^st in greens-in-regulation.

Stewart Cink won an approach-heavy renewal in 2021, ranking 1^st in GIR and 2^nd in approach when doing so. Of the players to finish inside the top 10 that year, seven ranked top 10 in approach and half were top 5 in GIR.

Webb Simpson ranked 8^th in approach when winning in 2020, chased home by Abraham Ancer in 2^nd, who ranked 1^st in approach and GIR. Whilst if we go back to 2018 and 2017, we find respective winners there, Satoshi Kodaira and Wesley Bryan, ranking 10^th and 3^rd in approach.

In addition to this, both longer and shorter hitters will be hitting approaches from the same spots, as the bombers (if they’re smart) club down for position. Mid-iron distances from 125-200 are of interest but I’d especially like to focus on those who have excelled between 175-200 yards this year, as this distance range has accounted for over 26% of approaches in the last four renewals of the event.

• Scrambling

If you’re playing a course where greens are small and challenging to hit, it stands to reason that you’re going to have to possess an ability to get the ball up-and-down at several points throughout the week.

Matt Fitzpatrick led the field in scrambling when winning last year and four of 2022’s top 10 ranked top 10 in the same area.

Stewart Cink was 6^th in scrambling in 2021, with runner-up Emiliano Grillo leading the field in this area and six of 2020’s top 10 ranked top 10 in scrambling.

2019 winner, C.T Pan ranked 7^th in scrambling; Wesley Bryan ranked 6^th in 2017 and South African, Branden Grace was the second-best scrambler on his way to victory in 2016.

• SG: Putting (poa trivialis overseeded greens)

You can putt your way to success here, as shown by 2020 and 2019 champions Webb Simpson and C.T pan, who both ranked top 5 on the greens.

Barring Jordan Spieth in 2022, each of the other seven winners since 2016 putted at least solidly, with all ranking inside the top 25.

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES)

THE PLAYERS Championship (TPC Sawgrass)

Pete Dye’s designs are so distinctive that it makes sense to start with some of his other courses on the PGA Tour, beginning with the similarly flat, tree-lined and strategic TPC Sawgrass.

Though Sawgrass is a more demanding short-game challenge, it ranks closely to Harbour Town in driving accuracy percentages, as well GIR averages into comparably small bermuda-based greens that are overseeded with poa trivialis.

Notable correlating form:

Webb Simpson:

Heritage (1^st) / PLAYERS (1^st)

Matt Kuchar:

Heritage (1^st) / PLAYERS (1^st)

Jim Furyk:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st) / PLAYERS (2^nd, 2^nd, 3^rd)

Stewart Cink:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st, 1^st) / PLAYERS (3^rd)

Matt Fitzpatrick:

Heritage (1^st) / PLAYERS (5^th)

Brandt Snedeker:

Heritage (1^st) / PLAYERS (5^th, 8^th)

Aaron Baddeley:

Heritage (1^st, 2^nd) / PLAYERS (6^th, 9^th)

Si Woo Kim:

Heritage (2^nd) / PLAYERS (1^st)

Kevin Kisner:

Heritage (2^nd) / PLAYERS (2^nd, 4^th)

Luke Donald:

Heritage (5x 2^nd) / PLAYERS (2^nd, 4^th)

Briny Baird:

Heritage (2^nd) / PLAYERS (4^th)

Harold Varner III:

Heritage (2^nd, 3^rd) / PLAYERS (6^th, 7^th)

Kevin Streelman:

Heritage (3^rd, 6^th, 7^th) / PLAYERS (2^nd)

Kevin Na:

Heritage (4^th, 4^th) / PLAYERS (3^rd)

Travelers Championship (TPC River Highlands)

Now to TPC River Highlands, another strategic tree-lined course with those undeniably Dye characteristics. The mid-irons are again hugely important here if wanting to get at the small greens.

Notable correlating form:

Stewart Cink:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st, 1^st) / Travelers (1^st, 1^st)

Aaron Baddeley:

Heritage (1^st, 2^nd) / Travelers (4^th)

Boo Weekley:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st) / Travelers (5^th)

Jim Furyk:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st) / Travelers (5^th)

Webb Simpson:

Heritage (1^st) / Travelers (5^th)

Carl Pettersson:

Heritage (1^st) / Travelers (5^th, 7^th)

Russell Knox:

Heritage (2^nd) / Travelers (1^st)

Abraham Ancer:

Heritage (2^nd) / Travelers (4^th)

Kevin Streelman:

Heritage (3^rd, 6^th, 7^th) / Travelers (1^st, 2^nd)

J.T Poston:

Heritage (3^rd, 6^th, 8^th) / Travelers (2^nd)

Daniel Berger:

Heritage (3^rd) / Travelers (2^nd, 5^th)

Ricky Barnes:

Heritage (4^th, 5^th) / Travelers (5^th)

Valspar Championship (Innisbrook Resort – Copperhead Course)

The Copperhead Course has many similarities with Harbour Town, with the doglegging tree-lined fairways requiring a level of strategy off-the-tee and the smallish greens – which use the same poa trivialis overseed as here - ranking similarly difficult to hit. The two courses rank closely in scrambling difficulty and see approaches from 175-200 yards outweigh the rest.

Notable correlating form:

Jim Furyk:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st) / Valspar (1^st, 2^nd)

Carl Pettersson:

Heritage (1^st) / Valspar (1^st)

Boo Weekley:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st) / Valspar (2^nd)

Stewart Cink:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st, 1^st) / Valspar (2^nd, 5^th)

Webb Simpson:

Heritage (1^st) / Valspar (2^nd)

Brian Gay:

Heritage (1^st) / Valspar (4^th)

Brandt Snedeker:

Heritage (1^st) / Valspar (4^th)

Matt Fitzpatrick:

Heritage (1^st) / Valspar (5^th)

Luke Donald:

Heritage (5x 2^nd) / Valspar (1^st)

Kevin Streelman:

Heritage (3^rd, 6^th, 7^th) / Valspar (1^st)

Troy Merritt:

Heritage (3^rd) / Valspar (6^th, 8^th)

Kevin Na:

Heritage (4^th, 4^th) / Valspar (2^nd)

Charles Schwab Challenge (Colonial Country Club)

Colonial is another tree-lined track that fits much of the criteria already mentioned. It’s a little tougher to find the fairways there but it has almost identical GIR percentages to Harbour Town and is again a course where the best mid-iron players should have an advantage.

Notable correlating form:

Boo Weekley:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st) / Colonial (1^st)

Jim Fuyrk:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st) / Colonial (2^nd, 4^th)

Brandt Snedeker:

Heritage (1^st) / Colonial (2^nd)

Webb Simpson:

Heritage (1^st) / Colonial (3^rd, 5^th)

C.T Pan:

Heritage (1^st) / Colonial (3^rd)

Stewart Cink:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st, 1^st) / Colonial (2^nd, 4^th)

Emiliano Grillo:

Heritage (2^nd) / Colonial (1^st, 3^rd)

Kevin Kisner:

Heritage (2^nd) / Colonial (1^st)

Daniel Berger:

Heritage (3^rd) / Colonial (1^st)

Kevin Na:

Heritage (4^th, 4^th) / Colonial (1^st, 4^th)

Rory Sabbatini:

Heritage (8^th, 9^th, 9^th, 10^th) / Colonial (1^st)

Mayakoba Classic/World Wide Technology Championship (El Camaleon Golf Club)

El Camaleon ranks closely to Harbour Town in most aspects, from fairways found to short-game difficulty. Located by the coast it can be susceptible to wind and has seen many strong RBC Heritage performers go well there.

Notable correlating form:

Matt Kuchar:

Heritage (1^st) / El Camaleon (1^st)

Graeme McDowell:

Heritage (1^st) / El Camaleon (1^st)

Brian Gay:

Heritage (1^st) / El Camaleon (1^st)

Boo Weekley:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st) / El Camaleon (6^th)

Russell Knox:

Heritage (2^nd) / El Camaleon (2^nd, 3^rd)

Si Woo Kim:

Heritage (2^nd) / El Camaleon (3^rd)

Briny Baird:

Heritage (2^nd) / El Camaleon (4^th, 5^th, 6^th)

Harold Varner III:

Heritage (2^nd, 3^rd) / El Camaleon (5^th, 6^th)

Abraham Ancer:

Heritage (2^nd) / El Camaleon (7^th, 8^th, 9^th)

Emiliano Grillo:

Heritage (2^nd) / El Camaleon (8^th, 9^th)

Troy Merritt:

Heritage (3^rd) / El Camaleon (3^rd)

Kevin Streelman:

Heritage (3^rd, 6^th, 7^th) / El Camaleon (3^rd, 4^th)

Rory Sabbatini:

Heritage (8^th, 9^th, 9^th, 10^th) / El Camaleon (3^rd, 5^th)

St Jude Championship (TPC Southwind)

My comp course research brought up about as many courses this week as any other event this season, and I wouldn’t put anyone off checking out the RSM Classic, Sony Open, Wyndham Championship and Cognizant Classic (formerly the Honda Classic). However the final spot in my list this week goes to TPC Southwind, home of the St Jude Championship.

This largely tree-lined course features plenty of doglegs and some of the smallest greens on tour, which rank similarly difficult to hit as Harbour Town. Mid-irons again take priority here and it also offers up a similarly kind short-game challenge.

Notable correlating form:

Brian Gay:

Heritage (1^st) / St Jude (1^st)

Webb Simpson:

Heritage (1^st) / St Jude (2^nd, 3^rd)

Carl Pettersson:

Heritage (1^st) / St Jude (3^rd)

Matt Fitzpatrick:

Heritage (1^st) / St Jude (4^th, 5^th)

Boo Weekley:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st) / St Jude (4^th, 8^th)

Stewart Cink:

Heritage (1^st, 1^st) / St Jude (4^th)

Abraham Ancer:

Heritage (2^nd) / St Jude (1^st)

Daniel Berger:

Heritage (3^rd) / St Jude (1^st, 1^st)

Troy Merritt:

Heritage (3^rd) / St Jude (2^nd)

THE FIELD

This week’s elite, limited field is set at 69. As of now, last week’s magnificent Masters winner, Scottie Scheffler is stated to compete but with emotions no doubt still high after last week’s win and the imminent arrival of his first child, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him withdraw.

After Viktor Hovland’s continued struggles forced a missed cut at Augusta, he has withdrawn from the field, which leaves us with eight of the world’s top 10 in and four of the top 5.

2023 RBC Heritage champion, Matt Fitzpatrick is back to defend and is one of just two former champions currently in the field, along with 2022 winner, Jordan Spieth.

After an incredibly impressive runner-up finish on his Masters debut, Ludvig Aberg will be looking to go one better on his Harbour Town debut this week. He is one of nine debutants in action, including first-time tour winners in 2024, Austin Eckroat, Matthieu Pavon, Nick Dunlap and Jake Knapp.

SELECTIONS

Market leaders: Scottie Scheffler 4/1, Rory McIlroy 10/1, Xander Schauffele 11/1, Ludvig Aberg 12/1, Patrick Cantlay 18/1, Tommy Fleetwood 20/1, Matt Fitzpatrick 20/1

It’s always tricky to judge the week following a major, however as a Designated Event last year – the precursor to the now Signature Events – it attracted a stronger field than usual and resulted in a high-class leaderboard. Therefore, with the elite, limited field this week I feel the need to look near the top of the betting.

The problem with this is that I’m not overly struck on many up there, at the prices at least. There’s no reason why Scheffler can’t win if he plays but like last week he’s of no interest at the price. The same applies to Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele; whilst it will be interesting to see how Ludvig Aberg responds to his first major experience, I’m happy to take a watching brief.

Patrick Cantlay’s record here makes him of obvious interest, however his improved approach play regressed over the weekend at Augusta and it’s difficult to know whether he has truly turned a corner.

Justin Thomas’ inexplicably poor finish to last week’s second round will take a while to come back from, but there is a player who I put up in The Masters who performed admirably for most of the week, Will Zalatoris, and I’m going to give him another shot in South Carolina.

1.75 pts Will Zalatoris each-way (1/5 - 6 places) - 28/1 

Zalatoris opened with a strong 2-under 70 at Augusta but got blown away by the wind in the second round, firing a 77 and leaving himself with everything to do to get into contention over the weekend. He didn’t quite manage to do that but in firing a 72 in round three and a 69 in round four to finish 9^th, he recorded his third straight Masters top 10.

Barring that chaotic second round, he hit the ball well for the rest of the week and finished it ranked 4^th in approach. This was his seventh straight positive strokes-gained performance with his irons, seeing him rank 8^th for the season overall and he’s a solid top 50 from 175-200 yards.

He is competent enough around-the-greens to handle these less demanding chipping areas and whilst the putter is often a concern, he putted these greens excellently on his one and only try in 2021, ranking 14^th.

Zalatoris finished 42^nd that week, though was well in contention at the halfway point, sitting 11^th. He is forgiven running out of steam over the weekend, as it was a result that came straight after his hugely impressive runner-up finish at Augusta on debut and with his solo tour win coming at TPC Southwind at the end of 2022, I’m confident he has the game to handle this test.

1.5 pts Sam Burns each way (1/5 - 8 places) - 35/1

Sam Burns started dreadfully at Augusta, opening with an 8-over 80. Though despite missing the cut, he responded well with a 73 in the second round – a score which put him inside the top 20 for day two. He can hopefully take some encouragement from that and coming to a place where he has much in his favour, he looks likely to bounce back.

Burns started 2024 very strongly, scoring four top-10 finishes over his first five starts and looking good across most areas of his game. Though results haven’t been as impressive over his last four starts he hasn’t looked all that far away and has continued to show positive signs with most clubs.

His iron play has been rock-solid, ranking 44^th in greens-in-regulation and 55^th in approach, though I’m especially keen to lean on his play from 175-200 yards; a distance from which he leads the tour in GIR this season and ranks 11^th in proximity to the hole. When we add that to his excellent putting ability – which he has demonstrated on these surfaces before, ranking 3^rd last year – and his decent scrambling qualities, he looks a good course fit statistically.

Burns has shown this to be the case on several occasions, shooting every round under par to finish 9^th on debut in 2019 and finished 15^th last year thanks to a superb closing 65. His two wins in the Valspar and solo victory at Colonial offer extra encouragement for this type of test, as does a runner-up finish in the St Jude, and if able to take the positives from his second round last week he can be among the main contenders.

1 pt Sepp Straka each way (1/5 - 6 places) - 66/1 

Sepp Straka has produced two of his three best approach performances of the season over his last three starts. Coming to a place at which he finished 3^rd in 2022, he looks a lively outsider this week.

Straka struggled for form after finishing 12^th on his first start of the year in The Sentry, missing three of his following five cuts and failing to hit the top 25. However, he’s found a little something in strong fields over recent weeks, finishing 16^th at THE PLAYERS three starts ago and following a missed cut in the Valspar, he finished 16^th at Augusta.

The Austrian hit the ball superbly last week, ranking 5^th in GIR, 6^th in driving accuracy, 11^th in approach and 11^th OTT. This represented a return to the form he showed two starts previous at TPC Sawgrass, as he ranked 5^th in GIR, 16^th in approach and 30^th OTT in Florida.

He is struggling on the greens this year but has generally produced decent putting performances at Harbour Town. He made his debut at the course in 2020, shooting three rounds of 67 to finish 33^rd. However, his best performance here came two years later, as he followed a similarly solid Masters performance (finishing 30^th) with an excellent 3^rd-place finish in the RBC Heritage.

A runner-up finish at TPC Southwind and top 10s at TPC Sawgrass and TPC River Highlands suggest that 2022 effort wasn’t a one-off for Straka, and with those irons starting to fire, he can contend this week.

1 pt Taylor Moore each way (1/5 - 6 places) - 70/1

Taylor Moore has been consistently strong all year and can claim a second PGA Tour title this week at Harbour Town, bettering his 11^th-place finish at the course on debut last year.

Moore hasn’t missed a cut since The Open in July last year, which includes each of his ten starts in 2024. Despite looking good in his opening seven events, his three best results have come over the last three weeks, finishing 12^th in defence of the Valspar Championship, an excellent 2^nd in the Houston Open and recorded the first major top 20 of his career last week, finishing 20^th in The Masters.

He does everything well, gaining strokes across the board this season and has gained strokes in 6/8 of his most recent starts in approach, 6/7 ATG, 4/5 in putting and 4/5 OTT; possessing an all-round skillset that will travel well just about anywhere, as he’s shown so far this year.

Moore opened with three rounds in the 60s here in 2023, putting him in 4^th spot and just three off the lead entering the final round. Whilst his final-round 70 saw him slip just outside the top 10 it was still a fourth straight under par round.

The Texan had impressively won his first tour title against a strong group of contenders at the correlating Valspar Championship two starts prior to that, before going on to record a commendable 39^th in the Masters on debut on his next start. That run of form is not too dissimilar to his current one, which can see him put himself in the mix once again this year.

1 pt Keegan Bradley each way (1/5 - 8 places) - 70/1

Keegan Bradley’s best approach performance of the season took him to a top 25 in The Masters and with him looking especially comfortable in that 175-200 yards range, he can go well at a course that should suit.

Bradley almost added a third PGA Tour title in a little over eighteen months on his second start of the year in the Sony Open, eventually finishing 2^nd. After finishing 11^th two starts later at Pebble Beach he gave himself a good base to kick on for the season.

Things didn’t quite work out like that, as he missed three of his next four cuts but there was little to be concerned about, as he only missed by one on two of those starts. Indeed he showed his game was still in a good place at Augusta, battling back from a 6-over 78 in round one to eventually finish 22^nd thanks to a closing 69 – the fourth-best round of the final day.

His approach play was the standout there, ranking 6^th  and he was also 7^th in GIR. These have also been among his best areas for the season as a whole, ranking 18^th in GIR and 47^th in approach; excelling from 175-200 yards, ranking 16^th in proximity and 35^th in GIR from that distance.

Bradley has only played in this event three times and played for the first time since 2017 last year, finishing 48^th. Though he did show his potential at the course, with his third-round 64 among the best rounds of the week. He can take inspiration from his latest tour win last year, at another Dye design in TPC River Highlands; with recent finishes of 2^nd in the 2021 Valspar and 5^th in the 2022 PLAYERS Championship giving further reasons for optimism.

You can find all Jamie's latest Golf Betting Tips over on our dedicated golf Insights hub.