RBC Heritage 2025 Tips: Plenty of love for Xander Schauffele from Jamie

The Final Round of the Masters wasn't even concluded 24 hours ago and yet we are already looking forward to a very busy week on the tour. The most prestigious event will be the RBC Heritage from the Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina. A $20,000,000 purse is available with Scottie Scheffler the betting favourite.

Our golf tipster however has another big name firmly on his radar for this week. Jamie Worsley makes his selections with a straight win play, along with three players he's looking to back each-way. Check out his in-depth preview here at Betfred Insights and of course, those all-important RBC Heritage Betting Tips...

Masters Recap 

Rory McIlroy: Masters champion and winner of the career Grand Slam. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? 

What an incredibly spellbinding week we've just all had the pleasure of witnessing at Augusta. Concluding with not only one of the greatest golfing finales I've ever seen, but one of the most engrossing across any sport. 

The Northern Irishman has had to battle demons to get to this point, 11 years after his last major win and with no shortage of heartbreaking disappointments. In typical fashion he put us all through it on Sunday. 

Doubling the first hole and parring the par-5 2nd, his two-shot 54-hole lead over Bryson DeChambeau turned into a one-shot deficit after just two holes. However, after a barrage of birdies from the 3rd-10th, along with Bryson's poor iron play finally catching up with him, he looked to have retaken complete control of the event. 

A bogey on the difficult 11th was no disaster and following with a safe par on 12, he then found the middle of the fairway on the gettable par 5 13th. No need to take any risks with a comfortable lead, hence why he laid up to a favourable position, giving him a seemingly attractive look at the pin for his third, but disaster struck.  

He flirted a little too much with Rae's Creek to the right and found the water, then failing to get up and down for his bogey. Another bogey on 14 followed and all of a sudden he was tied for the lead, caught by a charging Justin Rose who had just made a sensational eighth birdie of the day on 15 and following with a ninth on 16, we had a new solo leader. 

The ebb and flow of this final round was astonishing and mirrored Rory himself, both the golfer and the man. He wears his heart on his sleeve, for good and bad, which is why he's been the most compelling golfer to watch of his generation. 

Now behind, he needed to go again and after drawing it a little too far left off the tee on the par 5 15th, a direct approach was blocked out by trees. Surely this would mean a layup and putting the trust in his wedge game?  

Absolutely none of it! In the most intense pressure Rory produced one of the best shots we've ever seen here, swinging it around the trees to land softly on the green; the ball rolling out to 6ft for eagle that if holed, would see him retake the lead on his own.  

Unfortunately, he missed the eagle putt, but as Rose bogeyed 17 the tap-in birdie was still enough for McIlroy to reseat himself at the top of the leaderboard alone. However, there was still plenty of drama yet to come.  

Rory was once again joined by Rose at the top after the Englishman made a superb birdie at 18; setting the clubhouse target at -11 and making pars on those final two holes appear all the more distant for the man chasing his place in history. 

My sense of nervousness wasn't shared by Rory, as he hit a mind-blowing approach on 17 to 3ft and converting his birdie, the title was his to lose – again. 

One more fairway, one more green and a simple two-putt par would do it for McIlroy and crushing his drive 317yds down the fairway, leaving himself a wedge from a mere 124yds, he couldn't possibly make another mistake from here. 

But this is Rory McIlroy, and this remarkable final round was never going to end with someone making an uneventful par to take the green jacket. He duly found the sand to the right with his wedge and failing to get it up and down, he headed for a playoff against long-time Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose. 

Rose had been on the wrong end of a playoff at Augusta in 2017, losing out to Spain's Sergio Garcia and it would've been hard to begrudge the classy Englishman his second major title at the age of 44. 

Both players found the fairway in the playoff and going first, Rose put down a great marker to McIlroy, firing an approach to 15ft. Though having been the standout player in approach all week, Rory had one more laser-iron in the bag and responded by knocking it to 4ft. 

Rose would almost certainly have to hole his, but it slid just right and after cleaning up for par, he left the stage for Rory to secure his legacy. The 4ft-putt disappeared; an emotional McIlroy dropped to his knees and roared – no doubt due to a mixture of happiness and relief – before being embraced by an ever-gracious Rose. 

This was 14 years in the making, right from when a 21-year-old Rory imploded in the 2011 version of this event when entering the final round with a four-shot lead. A dominant US Open win came soon after, then a PGA Championship in 2012 and after winning The Open Championship at Hoylake in 2014, he had been on Grand Slam-watch for the previous 10 years, with the narrative dominating the buildup to every Masters Tournament. 

He's had to face questions over the legitimacy of his legacy, whether he is indeed the best of his generation, with his four major wins overshadowed by Brooks Koepka's five. This win puts those notions to bed. 

Yesterday, he completed something that only five men had previously done in the history of the game and just one in the last 59 years, joining Gene Sarazen (1935), Ben Hogan (1953), Gary Player (1965), Jack Nicklaus (1966) and Tiger Woods (2000) in winning each of the four majors in the men's game; an achievement that has narrowly eluded many of the game's greats, including Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson and Tom Watson. 

Rory has now achieved the absolute pinnacle of the sport, not only establishing himself firmly as the best player of his generation but one of the greatest of all time, deserving of his seat among the game's most historic and celebrated players. 

This week on the PGA Tour 

There's been little time to process what happened yesterday before the PGA Tour smacks us in the face with a double-header this week.  

Whilst some of the fringe players of the tour tee it up in the Dominican Republic in the opposite-field Corales Puntacana Championship, a strong field will stick around in the U.S at our usual post-Masters stop: the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links – the fifth Signature Event of the season. 

TOURNAMENT HISTORY 

The first edition of the RBC Heritage was held in 1969 and was won by the great Arnold Palmer. Every renewal has been staged here at Harbour Town Golf Links, and it has been positioned in this immediate post-Masters position almost exclusively since 1994. 

The event boasts an elite list of past champions, with Jack Nicklaus (1975), Nick Faldo (1984) and Bernhard Langer (1985) all joining Arnold Palmer. However, it's Davis Love III who has enjoyed the most success here, winning five times in 1987, 1991, 1992, 1998 and 2003. 

Hale Irwin (1971, 1973, 1994) and Stewart Cink (2000, 2004, 2021) have each recorded three wins, with the last of Irwin's coming at the age of 49, making him one of the oldest winners in tour history. Meanwhile, the group of seven two-time winners includes names such as Tom Watson (1979, 1982), Payne Stewart (1989, 1990) and Jim Furyk (2010, 2015). 

Last five winners: 

• 2024 – Winner: Scottie Scheffler (-19) 

Runner-up: Sahith Theegala (-16) 

• 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) 

Scottie Scheffler turned up at Harbour Town as Masters champion last year and then added his name to that illustrious list of winners, beating Sahith Theegala by three shots. He returns to defend this week.  

THE COURSE 

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

This par 71 measures 7213yds and possesses 4x par 3s (192-217yds), 11x par 4s (332-473 yds) and 3x par 5s (550-588yds). It poses a difficult but fair test, averaging a winning score of -15.4 across the last 10 renewals. 

Harbour Town is a tight, flat course, with most holes framed by a dense collection of towering pine trees that create a somewhat claustrophobic feel. Water is a feature throughout the entire property, though only prominently in-play on 11 holes, and situated close to the Atlantic Coast, wind is a reoccurring theme. 

The course requires strategy and shot-making to overcome rather than brute force. Its doglegging fairways are predominantly narrow and with the aforementioned trees blocking out lines into the putting surfaces, players well need to position the ball smarty off the tee. The links-style pot bunkers aren't abundant, but they are penal and strategically placed, and whilst the rough isn't severe, you'll want to avoid having to manufacture shots from the pine straw. 

Getting the ball on the correct side of the fairways is imperative if wanting to attack the tiny upturned-saucer greens (a Pete Dye Trademark), which are designed to repel balls at their edges. These subtly contoured surfaces are bermudagrass at the base but are overseeded with poa trivialis at this time of year and strewn with run-offs, they rank as the 12th toughest to find on the PGA Tour.  

That being said, the lack of undulation or elevation on the course is also evident around the greens and contributes to Harbour Town having the second-easiest scrambling test on tour. 

There are scoring chances throughout the course, but many are fraught with danger, this includes the three gettable par 5s and a potentially drivable par 4 9th. However, this doesn't apply to the four par 3s, which are all relatively lengthy and protected by water. 

The last of those par 3s is the 198yd 17th, forming part of one of the most immediately-recognisable finishes on the PGA Tour. It concludes with the 472yd par 4 18th, a hole where water and wind can bring about trouble from the left, and on which players must conquer the long, narrow and sloping green to lift the trophy. In the shadow of the famous Harbour Town Lighthouse that provides us with a memorable backdrop for the conclusion of the event. 

THE WEATHER 

Conditions look perfect this week, with bright, warm and clear weather predicted throughout. A reasonably stiff breeze of between 9-12mph will be a constant and with gusts approaching 30mph over the weekend, we should see this course at its very best.  

KEY STATS 

• SG: Approach/Greens-in-Regulation/Proximity 175-200yds 

This is a strategic shot-maker's course that is nigh-on impossible to overpower. Quality from tee-to-green is an absolute must, with iron play – especially from 175-200yds – into these miniature greens of particular importance. 

Scottie Scheffler produced a sublime ball-striking performance to win last year, which included ranking 1st in approach and 2nd in greens-in-regulation. Meanwhile, Sahith Theegala in 2nd ranked 3rd in approach and 2nd in GIR. 

Matt Fitzpatrick ranked 7th in approach on his way to victory in 2023, with runner-up Jordan Spieth ranking 4th and 4th-place finisher, Xander Schauffele the second-best iron player in the field. 

Spieth also performed strongly in approach when he won in 2022, ranking 10th. Furthermore, the man he defeated in a playoff there, Patrick Cantlay, showcased elite iron play, ranking 1st in approach and 1st in GIR. 

Stewart Cink ranked 1st in GIR and 2nd in approach on his way to the title in 2021; Webb Simpson ranked 8th in approach when winning in 2020, chased home by Abraham Ancer in 2nd, who ranked 1st in approach and GIR; whilst if we go back to 2018 and 2017, we find winners, Satoshi Kodaira and Wesley Bryan ranking 10th and 3rd in approach respectively. 

• Scrambling 

With small greens that are tough to hit, something that may well be exacerbated by this week's conditions, it's no surprise that quality scrambling has often formed a pivotal part of a player's statistical profile. 

Scottie Scheffler ranked 7th in scrambling in 2024, a year in which seven of the top eight ranked top 25 in this area, and six were 12th or better. 

Matt Fitzpatrick led the field in scrambling when winning in 2023; Stewart Cink ranked 6th in in 2021, with runner-up, Emiliano Grillo leading the field; 2019 winner, C.T Pan ranked 7th; Wesley Bryan ranked 6th when taking the title in 2017 and South African, Branden Grace was the second-best scrambler on his way to victory in 2016. 

• SG: Off-the-Tee and/or Driving Accuracy 

You have to position the ball well off the tee here and that doesn't always mean finding the short grass, as missing on the correct side can often be more favourable than finding the wrong side. Whilst it's a course where short and accurate players will feel they have a chance; it's not a place to discount those longer hitters – providing they are in reasonable control – as they will no doubt be clubbing down for position on several holes. 

Scottie Scheffler complemented his superb iron play with a top-class driving performance last year, ranking 1st off-the-tee and 2nd in driving accuracy. 

Jordan Spieth drove the ball excellently in 2022, ranking 4th OTT; Stewart Cink ranked a solid 20th in 2021, as runner-up Emiliano Grillo ranked 7th OTT and 4th in driving accuracy; 2020's 2nd-place finisher, Abraham Ancer ranked 1st in driving accuracy and 6th OTT; whilst in 2018, Japan's Satoshi Kodaira ranked 10th OTT and 14th in driving accuracy when winning his only PGA Tour title. 

• SG: Putting (poa trivialis overseed) 

I put more value on tee-to-green quality than the putter here but there's no negative if a player has previously putted similar surfaces well. It's the same grass type(s) we've already seen this year in the Texas Open, Houston Open, THE PLAYERS Championship, Valspar Championship and Phoenix Open. 

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSE) 

Valspar Championship (Innisbrook Resort – Copperhead Course) 

The Copperhead Course has many similarities with Harbour Town, with the doglegging and tree-lined fairways requiring players to be strategic. It also has relatively small greens that are overseeded with poa trivialis, around which the scrambling challenge is of the same level of difficulty, whilst approaches from 175-200yds are among the most common. 

Notable correlating form: 

Jordan Spieth: 

Heritage (1st) / Valspar (1st) 

Webb Simpson: 

Heritage (1st, 2nd) / Valspar (2nd) 

Matt Fitzpatrick: 

Heritage (1st) / Valspar (5th) 

Patrick Cantlay: 

Heritage (2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd) / Valspar (2nd) 

Abraham Ancer: 

Heritage (2nd) / Valspar (5th) 

Kevin Streelman: 

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

Cameron Young: 

Heritage (3rd) / Valspar (2nd) 

Wyndham Clark: 

Heritage (3rd) / Valspar (5th) 

Troy Merritt: 

Heritage (3rd) / Valspar (6th, 8th) 

Kevin Na: 

Heritage (4th, 4th) / Valspar (2nd) 

Charles Schwab Challenge (Colonial Country Club) 

Colonial is another doglegging, tree-lined track that falls into a similar strategic category. The fairways are a little tougher to find there, but the challenge into the small greens compares closely to Harbour Town, with the mid-to-long irons key. 

Notable correlating form: 

Jordan Spieth: 

Heritage (1st) / Charles Schwab (1st) 

Scottie Scheffler: 

Heritage (1st) / Charles Schwab (2nd, 2nd, 3rd) 

Matt Kuchar: 

Heritage (1st, 2nd) / Charles Schwab (2nd) 

C.T. Pan: 

Heritage (1st) / Charles Schwab (3rd) 

Webb Simpson: 

Heritage (1st, 2nd) / Charles Schwab (3rd, 5th) 

Emiliano Grillo: 

Heritage (2nd, 7th) / Charles Schwab (1st, 3rd) 

Kevin Kisner: 

Heritage (2nd) / Charles Schwab (1st) 

Daniel Berger: 

Heritage (3rd) / Charles Schwab (1st) 

Sepp Straka: 

Heritage (3rd, 5th) / Charles Schwab (5th) 

Kevin Na: 

Heritage (4th, 4th) / Charles Schwab (1st) 

Hayden Buckley: 

Heritage (5th) / Charles Schwab (5th) 

Bryce Molder: 

Heritage (6th) / Charles Schwab (5th) 

THE PLAYERS Championship (TPC Sawgrass) 

Players often carry form across Pete Dye's distinctive designs, of which the similarly flat, tree-lined and strategic TPC Sawgrass looks the best comp. Although possessing a more demanding short-game challenge, the ball-striking test is somewhat similar, and the course also uses the same bermudagrass-based greens overseeded with poa trivialis as here.   

Notable correlating form: 

Scottie Scheffler: 

Heritage (1st) / PLAYERS (1st, 1st) 

Webb Simpson: 

Heritage (1st, 2nd) / PLAYERS (1st) 

Matt Kuchar: 

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

Matt Fitzpatrick: 

Heritage (1st) / PLAYERS (5th, 9th) 

Si Woo Kim: 

Heritage (2nd) / PLAYERS (1st) 

Kevin Kisner: 

Heritage (2nd) / PLAYERS (2nd, 4th) 

Harold Varner III: 

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

Wyndham Clark: 

Heritage (3rd) / PLAYERS (2nd) 

Kevin Streelman: 

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

Kevin Na: 

Heritage (4th, 4th) / PLAYERS (3rd, 6th, 7th) 

Corey Conners: 

Heritage (4th) / PLAYERS (6th, 7th) 

St Jude Championship (TPC Southwind) 

The largely tree-lined TPC Southwind features plenty of doglegs and some of the smallest greens on tour, which possess similar GIR percentages to Harbour Town and offer up a comparable scrambling test around them. In addition, it is again with the mid-irons that players must excel. 

Notable correlating form: 

Brian Gay: 

Heritage (1st) / St Jude (1st) 

Matt Fitzpatrick: 

Heritage (1st) / St Jude (4th, 5th, 6th) 

Webb Simpson: 

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

Abraham Ancer: 

Heritage (2nd) / St Jude (1st) 

Patrick Cantlay: 

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

Daniel Berger: 

Heritage (3rd) / St Jude (1st, 1st) 

Troy Merritt: 

Heritage (3rd) / St Jude (2nd) 

Sepp Straka: 

Heritage (3rd, 5th) / St Jude (2nd) 

Meenwhee Kim: 

Heritage (6th) / St Jude (2nd) 

Bryce Molder: 

Heritage (6th) / St Jude (2nd) 

Michael Thompson: 

Heritage (8th, 10th) / St Jude (3rd) 

Sony Open (Waialae Country Club) 

The tree-lined, costal and often wind-affected Waialae Country Club can give us an additional way into this week's event. Although the greens are much bigger and easier to hit, they require a strong level of approach play with the mid-irons to tame and ask similarly kind questions of a player's scrambling ability as Harbour Town. 

Notable correlating form: 

Matt Kuchar: 

Heritage (1st, 2nd) / Sony (1st, 3rd) 

Webb Simpson: 

Heritage (1st, 2nd) / Sony (2nd, 3rd) 

Si Woo Kim: 

Heritage (2nd) / Sony (1st) 

Kevin Kisner: 

Heritage (2nd) / Sony (3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th) 

Kevin Na: 

Heritage (4th, 4th) / Sony (1st) 

Corey Conners: 

Heritage (4th) / Sony (3rd) 

Hayden Buckley: 

Heritage (5th) / Sony (2nd) 

Joaquin Niemann: 

Heritage (5th) / Sony (2nd) 

Seamus Power: 

Heritage (6th) / Sony (3rd) 

Michael Thompson: 

Heritage (8th, 10th) / Sony (5th, 6th) 

Valero Texas Open (TPC San Antonio) 

Finally, I think the Texas Open at TPC San Antonio is worth a look. It ranks closely to this week's course in most aspects, both with the long game and short game, and prompts players to hit a high percentages of approaches from 175-200yds. Furthermore, golf in Texas is rarely played in calm conditions and as with Harbour Town, players need to be able to handle the wind. 

Notable correlating form: 

Jordan Spieth: 

Heritage (1st) / Texas (1st) 

Matt Kuchar: 

Heritage (1st, 2nd) / Texas (2nd, 3rd, 4th) 

Brian Gay: 

Heritage (1st) / Texas (4th, 6th) 

Si Woo Kim: 

Heritage (2nd) / Texas (4th) 

Troy Merritt: 

Heritage (3rd) / Texas (4th) 

Kevin Streelman: 

Heritage (3rd, 6th, 7th) / Texas (6th, 8th) 

Corey Conners: 

Heritage (4th) / Texas (1st, 1st) 

Maverick McNealy: 

Heritage (4th) / Texas (3rd) 

Ricky Barnes: 

Heritage (4th, 5th) / Texas (4th) 

Patrick Rodgers: 

Heritage (5th) / Texas (5th) 

THE FIELD 

This week's limited field includes 43 of the world's top 50, headed by world #1 Scottie Scheffler. The most notable absentee is of course Rory McIlroy, although Hideki Matsuyama has also decided to swerve the event.  

Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion and one of just three former winners in attendance, joined by Matt Fitzpatrick (2023) and Jordan Spieth (2022). 

We also have seven Harbour Town debutants in the field this week, which includes first-time PGA Tour winners in 2025: Joe Highsmith, Brian Campbell and Karl Vilips. 

SELECTIONS 

Market leaders: Scottie Scheffler 18/5, Xander Schauffele 12/1, Ludvig Aberg 12/1, Collin Morikawa 12/1, Justin Thomas 18/1 

Concentrating on the top of the betting is the way to go in these Signature Events, with three of the four winners of them so far this year priced at 25/1 or shorter, and Russell Henley the highest-priced winner in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at 55/1. 

It was largely the same last year, with Scottie Scheffler dominating the events and other winners including Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama and Wyndham Clark. 

With that, I'm going to give Xander another shot after being on him in The Masters. He finished 8th there, but was never really in the mix and shouldn't be as mentally fatigued as some others may well be this week.  

Xander Schauffele 

Xander's return from injury hasn't been plain sailing, but I noted last week how much better he looked at the Valspar two starts ago, finishing 12th thanks to the best approach performance of his career.  

He carried that over into last week, producing an excellent display of ball striking, ranking 4th in greens-in-regulation, 5th off-the-tee and 16th in approach. In addition, it was pleasing to see him finally get the driver under control and also gaining strokes in both short-game areas, he looks close to returning to his best form. Something I'm hoping we will see this week. 

Schauffele has played here five times and never missed a cut, recording a best of 4th in 2023 when he led the field from tee-to-green. As a two-time runner-up in THE PLAYERS Championship, a runner-up in the St Jude, and possessing top-five finishes in the Charles Schwab Challenge and Valspar Championship, his comp form is strong; whilst his Pete Dye form is further strengthened by a win in the 2022 Travelers Championship. 

Jordan Spieth 

Jordan Spieth's encouraging season continued at Augusta and finding some form with his irons over the weekend, the 2022 winner of this event holds plenty of appeal this week. 

Spieth has looked bright since the start of the season, finishing 4th in the Phoenix Open on his second start. He's recorded two top-15 finishes across his next six starts since, consisting of a 9th-place finish in the Cognizant Classic and finishes of 12th in Texas and 14th in The Masters in the previous two weeks. 

He's showing quality right through the bag, continuing to drive it long and largely straight, looking typically strong around-the-greens and especially promising, we're starting to see him putt much more like the Jordan of old. Indeed he ranked 3rd on the greens last week and signing off with some better iron play, ranking among the top 25 in each of the last two rounds, he looks close to a big week. 

Spieth finished 9th at Harbour Town on debut in 2013 and has never missed a cut in seven subsequent starts. He won the event in 2022, before then recording his fifth top-20 result the following year, finishing 2nd and possessing wins in three of the aforementioned comp events (Valspar Championship, Texas Open, Charles Schwab Challenge) it's a course that clearly suits his eye. 

Sepp Straka 

Sepp Straka missed the cut after a sloppy start and finish last week when well fancied. However, he still looked strong in approach and having finished inside the top five in two of the last three renewals of this event, I'm hoping he'll make use of last weekend's rest this week. 

Straka has been in fine form this season, recording seven top-15 finishes across his 11 starts. He picked up a third PGA Tour title at The AmEx back in January and produced his second-best performance of the season four starts ago, finishing 5th in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. 

His iron play has become elite in the last couple of years and 2025 has been no different. He ranks 3rd in greens-in-regulation and 5th in approach, whilst as the fourth-best player from 175-200yds, this course is a perfect fit for his talent. The short game also looks sound, gaining strokes in both areas and very straight off the tee, ranking 13th in driving accuracy, he has a perfect statistical profile for Harbour Town. 

Straka made the cut on his first two visits here but took his form at the course to a new level in 2022, finishing 3rd. He bounced back from a missed cut in 2023 with a 5th-place finish last year and having recorded finishes of 2nd at TPC Southwind and 5th at Colonial, he has the comp form to backup his suitability to this test.

Daniel Berger 

Daniel Berger has been one of the most consistent players on tour this season and he can finally get the rewards for that consistency this week, by claiming a first PGA Tour title since 2021. 

Berger missed the cut in the Sony Open on his first start of the year but has only missed one of the following nine. He's hit the top 30 on eight occasions across his 10 starts in 2025, including a 21st-place finish last week and although a long way behind Thomas Detry, he was an impressive 2nd in the Phoenix Open back in February. 

Every part of his game has contributed to this form, ranking 10th in total strokes gained this season. He's been at his best around the greens, ranking 28th in scrambling and is also a commendable 36th off-the-tee, with his 10th in driving accuracy an asset here. Furthermore, he arrives after his eighth consecutive positive putting performance at Augusta, where he also produced his best approach display of the season, ranking 15th. 

Berger has played Harbour Town on five occasions and never missed the cut, going closest when 3rd in 2020 and has finished inside the top 25 in each of his last three visits. For additional encouragement, he's twice won at TPC Southwind and having too tasted victory at Colonial back in 2020, there's no doubt the East Coast man excels on this type of setup.