Tour News
DraftKings Fantasy Preview: RBC Heritage
![](https://www.golfwrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/MattKucharDraftKings.jpg)
If you want to learn more about a way to make me look stupid, read below.
But first: We move past the year’s first major into the RBC Heritage, which has a storied history and a great atmosphere.
As usual for non-major championship events, DraftKings is offering a robust contest with a hefty $100,000 prize pool. First place cashes $10,000, and the top 7,850 positions are paid.
But there’s a new twist this week!
The contest only requires a $3 entry fee, but if you sign up after reading this article and you beat my main lineup’s score, DRAFTKINGS WILL GIVE YOU YOUR $3 BACK.
That’s right, not only do you have the opportunity to defeat me and claim bragging rights, but if you’re successful, you basically entered this week’s large prize pool for FREE.
That’s a pretty sweet deal. And hey, if the $3 return policy doesn’t entice you, at least the thought of putting me in my place should, right?
Whatever the case, I’m excited for the challenge. Here are my picks for this week. I dare you to try to beat them!
The Course
At Harbour Town, strategy and shot making are at a premium, a reason why players so adore the layout.
A drive in the fairway is not enough. Players have to pump it out to the correct side of the short grass, otherwise they might have the wrong angle to the green and obstacles (overhanging tree limbs, a sharp tree-lined dogleg to shape around) in their way.
The short, accurate hitter has long been identified as the player to note when it comes to Harbour Town, as the set up neutralizes driving distance on several holes due to its twists and turns, and tee shots even a little off line are heavily penalized with restricted approaches into the green or forced recovery shots.
Great approach play has also been touted here at times, with Harbour Town’s extremely small surfaces making it consistently near the bottom in GIR among Tour courses.
As usual, though, I checked in on these assumptions with the same method of compiling data on top 10 finishers over the past five years.
What I discovered was that all assumptions on driving were correct. Top-third caliber Tour drivers showed up far more often in this data set than top-third players in any other part of the game, which proves driving is the most important aspect to success at Harbour Town.
Significant accuracy was more than three times as likely to get you in the top 10 as significant length, and exceedingly short hitters showed up nearly twice as often here as longer bombers, which is incredible considering long hitters almost always beat out their diminutive counterparts in this category!
Approach play, though proved least effective in facilitating a high finish at Harbour Town. Yes, this is a shotmaker’s course, but that is far more on the driving aspect.
These greens are tiny and undulated, which mean plenty of difficult up and downs, and Harbour Town boasts a series of well placed bunkers that make this even harder. Short game, then, is highly important at Harbour Town, and that showed in the sample (even if driving is still paramount).
Putting was a decent predictor, below short game and above approach play.
All in all, Harbour Town favors a really good driver (predicated on accuracy) and short game player. Long hitters can still be picked, but should be avoided far more than usual.
Six-Man Roster (Last Week: 452.5 points, 4184th of 18660, WON $30!!!)
- Zach Johnson, $10,500
- Luke Donald, $9,300
- Billy Horschel, $9,000
- Jason Dufner, $7,900
- Brendon de Jonge, $7,900
- Bryce Molder, $5,000
Well…have you seen his media tour this week? He’s an incredible talent and he’s in incredible form, yet he already admitted Sunday night that he was fatigued. I can see a top 10 this week, but why waste his leading $12,500 price tag on that?
Meanwhile, Johnson enters hot with top-10s in two of his last three events, fits the great accurate driver, short game player mold perfectly and placed second here in 2012.
Donald at $9,300?! Yes, please! His last six finishes at Hilton Head: 2, T3, T37, 2, T3, T2.
Yeah, he’s experienced a really tough season so far (one top-25 and four missed cuts in nine starts), and the brace on his right wrist at the Masters stems back to a nuisance there that convinced him to take some time off before the year’s first major. But I would pick Donald here even if he were playing with one arm.
He’s oddly not very accurate off the tee for his short length, but he’s accurate enough for Hilton Head and his short game is off the charts fantastic (especially his bunker play, crucial at this course).
Much of Donald’s decline in 2015 has to do with putting, where he’s 99th in strokes gained (unheard of from him). As I said, putting isn’t incredibly crucial at Hilton Head, but that’s a big gap from Donald’s norm of near world best.
Donald’s coach said his pupil’s putting fundamentals are perfect, the confidence is just lacking on the greens. Positive memories from these surfaces are all Donald needs to kick start his confidence with the flat stick and consequently his putting and game at Hilton Head.
Horschel profiles well for this course and already has a top-10 here. He’s a fantastic driver of the golf ball, and although his short game is pretty poor, he’s actually quite good at getting up-and-down from fringe areas, important at Hilton Head with its run-offs.
Dufner fits even better here, in fact he’s pretty much a perfect match. He’s an impeccably accurate driver and he possesses one of golf’s best short games. He’s not in great form and is going through a divorce, but this place has him set up for a bounce back.
As for my final two, de Jonge is an elite driver, especially in accuracy, enters after a top 5 in Houston and has a very solid record at this course.
Molder is certainly a flyer with his three missed cuts in four starts, but his driver is very precise when it is working well and that meshes with Hilton Head combined with his beautiful work around (and on) the greens.
Ultimate Sleeper Roster
- K.J. Choi, $6,600
- Brian Harman, $6,200
- Luke Guthrie, $5,900
- Seung-Yul Noh, $5,800
- Bryce Molder, $5,000
- Ricky Barnes, $4,200
Choi’s been solid here the last two years with a T18 and T31, but he can do so much better at this course with his driving-short game combo. Harman’s five consecutive missed cuts is harrowing but he’s got this same attractive combo for a bounce back.
Guthrie and Noh are kind of the opposite in that I don’t love this course for them but they are really trending in the right direction of late.
Barnes once had consecutive top fives at Hilton Head, so why not take a shot there if you’re really cash strapped.
Alternate Six-Man Roster (Last Week: 420.5 points, 7954th of 18660)
- Matt Kuchar, $10,700
- Bill Haas, $9,500
- Charl Schwartzel, $9,000
- Russell Knox, $7,300
- K.J. Choi, $6,600
- Luke Guthrie, $5,900
I guess Kuch is just that hill I’m going to die on. I will keep picking him until he plays well because it must come soon and I don’t want to be the idiot who misses it. His all around game also fits here and he’s the defending champion.
Haas is performing solidly of late and has a good game for this place, even if the results haven’t shown yet.
Schwartzel doesn’t work at all with this course but just taking a stab due to his inkling of recent form and Knox really fits perfectly into that accurate driving, great short game mold. Also helps he placed T9 in this event last year.
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Equipment
Spotted: Putter roundup from the 2024 3M Open
![](https://www.golfwrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/putter-roundup-2024-3m.png)
Every week we spot some really cool and custom putters out on the putting green and in tour players’ bags. This week is no slouch with some really interesting and beautiful putters being tested. Let’s take a look at some of the standouts we found.
Tyler Duncan: Scotty Cameron Phantom T-11.5
The Phantom 11 is a pretty wild putter by Scotty’s standards with a multi-material design that boosts MOI for more forgiveness. Duncan’s T-11.5. takes the stock model and moves the shaft to the center of the putter head. We don’t mean a center shafted version, but the shaft is installed in the center, behind the face as well. We don’t have any official details on this T-11.5 but it looks like that setup should create a putter where the face points towards the hole or target, similar to a L.A.B. putter.
Zac Blair: Scotty Cameron 009.M Cameron & Co. “Longneck”
Blair might be in possession of the largest Scotty collection on tour! It seems like every week he has something new, and flat-out gorgeous, that he is trying out. I have seen a lot of 009.M putters over the years, but never one with a long plumbers neck on it. This 009 is a Masterful that utilizes additional CNC machine work to reduce the amount of hand polishing needed to complete the putter. The long, or tall, neck on the putter usually is used to reduce the amount of toe hang and make the putter more face balanced. The face contains a very shallow milling while the sole features a tour truck, tour only, diamonds, and the rare Circle L stamp. The Circle L was made for Scotty’s close friends who lost matches or games and was meant to poke a little fun at their misfortune.
Paul Barjon: PXG Prototype
There are a lot of putters out there that become so widely used and popular that other manufacturers will borrow some of the design cues. The Spider is one of those putters and it looks like PXG has made a prototype putter for Barjon that has some similar features. This proto has a tapered mallet shape with twin wings that come out from either side of the rear. Twin movable weights sit in each wing on the sole and the sole features a plate that is bolted in place at the corners. The top contains a single siteline and the face uses PXG’s advanced pyramid face structure.
Odyssey Ai-One Cruiser Broomstick #7
More and more long, counterbalanced, and alternative putters seem to be showing up recently. The long, or broomstick, putter is making a comeback and more than a few players have joined Adam Scott in using that style. Odyssey has thrown its hat in the broomstick arena with a new Ai-One Cruiser model. The head shape is the very familiar #7 model, but with the shaft going into the center of the club head. An Ai-One face is there to help keep ball speed consistent on off-center hits and three white lines are on top for framing ball and aligning the putter.
TaylorMade Spider Tour S Broomstick
Another option in the long putter is TaylorMade’s Spider Tour S broomstick that we saw around the putting green. The head looks to be a little larger than the standard Tour S and that makes sense with the broomstick-style putters demanding heads near or over 400g. A TPU Pure Roll insert is installed in the face and the shaft is a more traditional double-bend design, just much longer! There isn’t the True Path alignment on top, just a full darker grey finish with a single siteline. Two moveable weights are out in the wings of the putter to dial in the specific weight a player might want.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 3M Open
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 3M Open
![](https://www.golfwrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Screen-Shot-2024-07-24-at-11.33.52-AM.png)
GolfWRX is on site this week at TPC Twin Cities for the 2024 3M Open for the penultimate event of the PGA Tour’s regular season.
The photos are flying in from Blaine, Minnesota. We’ve already assembled general galleries and a fresh Tony Finau WITB.
Check back throughout the week for more photos!
General Albums
- 2024 3M Open – Monday #1
- 2024 3M Open – Monday #2
- 2024 3M Open – Tuesday #1
- 2024 3M Open – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Tobias Jonsson – WITB – 3M Open
- Keith Mitchell – WITB – 2024 3M Open
- Tony Finau – WITB – 2024 3M Open
- Maverick McNealy – WITB – 2024 3M Open
- Tom Hoge – WITB – 2024 3M Open
- Mac Meissner – WITB – 2024 3M Open
- Robert Streb – WITB – 2024 3M Open
- Sahith Theegala – WITB – 2024 3M Open
- Sam Burns – WITB – 2024 3M Open
- Santiago de la Fuente – WITB – 2024 3M Open
- Billy Horschel – WITB – 2024 3M Open
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2024 3M Open
- Roger Sloan – WITB – 2024 3M Open
Pullout Albums
- Ping putters – #1 – 3M Open
- Ping Putters – #2 – 3M Open
- TaylorMade Spider Tour S broomstick putter – 3M Open
- Odyssey Broomstick #7 putter – 3M Open
- Bettinardi putters – 2024 3M Open
- New EyeLine training aid – 2024 3M Open
- Sam Ryder’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 3M Open
- Odyssey putters – 2024 3M Open
- L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 3M Open
- Tyler Duncan’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 3M Open
- Zac Blair’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 3M Open
- Paul Barjon – PXG putter – 2024 3M Open
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Equipment
Collin Morikawa’s pre-Open equipment adjustments
![](https://www.golfwrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MorikawaP790-1.jpg)
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
Three years later, Morikawa has once again changed his irons to deal with the unique Scottish turf.
Morikawa has been using TaylorMade P730 blade short irons (7-PW), P7MC mid irons (5-6) and a TaylorMade “Proto” 4-iron with a cavity-back construction this year.
However, he switched into a new set of TaylorMade P7CB irons (5-PW) before finishing T4 at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, to go along with his familiar “Proto” 4-iron. TaylorMade’s P7CB irons are the finalized versions of the “Proto” 4-iron that Morikawa has been using, except they remain unreleased to retail.
According to TaylorMade, Morikawa switched into a full set of the new P7CB irons to aid with turf interaction, just like he did prior to his 2021 Open victory.
Morikawa is honing in on his winning formula overseas.
Morikawa also has switched from his usual TaylorMade Qi10 5-wood to a lower-launching TaylorMade P790 3-iron equipped with a Project X HZRDUS 105 Hybrid shaft. The loft of the club has been bent down to 19 degrees.
TaylorMade says that Morikawa switched into the new driving iron In order to “have an option to hit something lower that will roll out in the fairways.”
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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Matt
Apr 15, 2015 at 4:49 pm
Spieth carried my team last week. His shoulders have to be sore, therefore he is on the bench this week.
Brian
Apr 14, 2015 at 10:53 pm
Won back $6 of my $25 I put into a total of 3 lineups last week. Sooo… Two $3 lineups this week. Why not?