Kisner to go One Better at Harbour Town
Best Bets
1 Pt EW (1-5) Kevin Kisner (33/1 BoyleSports)
0.5 Pts EW (1-6) David Lingmerth (150/1 Stan James)
Last week proved massively frustrating for us at Augusta as we watched Rory McIlroy blow a great 36 hole position. This was all put in perspective in the latter parts of the Sunday round when Jordan Spieth managed to take 7 strokes at the par 3 12th hole. For anyone that was on Spieth last week our hearts go out to you! Danny Willet stepped up to take the green jacket, and he continues his march up to the very top of the game. It will be interesting to see if his success here will have any impact on his upcoming schedule. Stateside success could see the Sheffield man want to commit to more PGA Tour competitions, but it is likely his schedule will remain Europe heavy, especially given it’s a Ryder Cup year.
Anyway less of the Masters and on to this week which sees the return of the RBC Heritage staged at Harbour Town. This course has always hosted The Heritage and measures out at just over 7100 yards. The par 71 course is a links venue and unsurprisingly is massively exposed to wind. Last year Jim Furyk closed with an unbelievable 63 to earn a spot in a playoff. He subsequently went on to win, ending a long wait for a PGA title. Due to injury this year he won’t be back to defend. Previous winners have included Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell and Brandt Snedeker which probably gives you an idea of the type of player that goes well at this venue.
The fairways are fairly tight and the greens are very small, so accuracy is a key factory round this course. What’s important this week is hitting fairways and greens and distance off the tee is a relative non-factor. Wind will likely influence shots and good wind players are favoured at this venue. We have analysed course form and the stats here and have come up with two selections who we think might go well this week.
1 Pt EW (1-5) Kevin Kisner (33/1 BoyleSports)
Our headline pick this week goes to Kevin Kisner who has the right profile to go well at this event. Kisner is now the world number 23 and he didn’t let himself down at Augusta making the cut on his way to a respectable T37th finish. Augusta isn’t a track to suit Kisner but Harbour Town fits his game ideally. Kisner ranks 37th on tour in the greens in regulation stats and importantly ranks inside the top 10 in driving accuracy. Kisner has great course form here and missed out last year in a playoff after a closing 64. We feel a solid each way play on him this week is as good as any.
0.5 Pts EW (1-6) David Lingmerth (150/1 Stan James)
Our second play this week is a small each way bet on the Swede David Lingmerth. He has been struggling to find his best game of late and missed the half way cut at the Masters. He managed an impressive 73 however on day 2 at Augusta in some horrible conditions that gives us some hope. Lingmerth sits well up on the driving accuracy stats on tour and should be able to put himself in the right places. Lingmerth has played this event before missing the cut back in 2013, but he is a much improved player since then. He looks a very big price this week and we are happy to have a small play.