PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 RBC Heritage

We do a lot of DFS site specific coverage here at FantasyCPR, so in an effort to bring in new golf fans, and look at Fantasy Golf as a whole, I am excited to bring you my PGA Power Rankings for this weeks RBC Heritage.

This PGA Power Rankings article will cover the top 20 golfers for this event, and with each golfer will come a short blurb with some justification to their respective rankings. Before we do that, let’s touch briefly on the history of the this event.

PGA Power Rankings: RBC Heritage – Course and History

What a week it was at Augusta this week! I don’t know about you, but the Masters hangover is real! Thankfully, we have decent golf on the horizon once again, as we are on to the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina. This event itself dates back 50 years to 1969, but it has moved around on the calendar a bit over the years. The RBC Heritage has been the tournament after the Masters since 1983.

Surprisingly after a grueling Masters we have quite a few of the top names in golf in taking place in the RBC Heritage, and an overall solid field. Dustin Johnson reclaimed his #1 spot in OWGR this week after his T-2 at the Masters, and he will make his second trip to Hilton Head in as many years.

Joining him here, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schuaffele, and Bryson DeChambeau highlight the list, along with Italian Francesco Molinari, who for a quick minute on Sunday looked like he was running away with a green jacket. As a whole, 17 of the top 30 golfers in the FedEx Cup Rankings will be teeing it up at Harbour Town this week.

Last years champ Satoshi Kodaira is back to defend his title, and other past champions in the field here include Graeme McDowell, Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar, and two-time winner Jim Furyk. Harbor Town Golf Links plays at 7,099 yards, and is a Par-71. Without further ado, let’s dig in to this weeks top 20!

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 RBC Heritage

***The following golfers are my top 20 overall. Each golfer will be followed by their official golf world ranking (OGWR) in parenthesis.***

20. Branden Grace – (45)

Grace could be ranked a little higher week if the form was better, but he has been struggling since his solo second place at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in early February. He barely made the cut at the Masters last week, and never really got anything going on the weekend, finishing T-58. In five events between the Masters and the WMPO, Grace has missed two cuts, and his best finish was a T-28 at Pebble Beach.

On the positive side, Grace has been stellar here at Harbour Town in three trips. He T-7 in his first trip in 2015, then followed that with a win in 2016. In 2017, he just missed another top-ten, with a T-11 finish. Grace did not play here last year.

19. Ryan Moore – (72)

Ryan Moore cracks the top-20 this week, and opposed to Grace, this has more to do with recent form than it does course history. In fact, Moore does not play this event much. As far as my stats go back, his T-16 here at 7-under par last year was the first time he played the RBC Heritage in over ten years, and possibly his first time ever.

After missing three straight cuts from the end of 2018 through the start of 2019, Moore picked it up a bit starting with the Genesis Open where he T-28, then in Florida at the Players where he T-20. After barely missing the cut at the Valspar Championship, he bounced back nicely in his last action with a solo third place at the Valero Texas Open.

18. Si Woo Kim – (52)

Back-to-back rounds of even par 72 on Thursday and Friday was enough for Kim to make the cut at the Masters last week, and he went on to shoot rounds of 70 and 69 to improve on his score, and finish T-21. Although he missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the 23-year-old South Korean is in some great form since the calendar turned February.

Prior to the just missed top-20 at Augusta, Kim had three top-tens in the six events in this span.  He T-4 at the Valero, after not being able to keep up with eventual champion Corey Conners who was on fire, and he had the back-to-back top-fives in California as well. On top of the solid recent form, Kim nearly won this event in his second trip last year, losing to Satoshi Kodaira in a playoff. All signs point to another good week for Si-Woo.

17. Byeong-Hun An – (55)

Benny An is another golfer who also played well here at the RBC Heritage last year. He T-7 with a slew of golfers at 9-under par, and as you would expect, he lost strokes putting, and was fantastic in just about every other facet of the game. An has not missed a cut this season, but came up just short of Masters bid.

In his last action, he T-7 at the Valero Texas Open, shooting a final round 66. It was just his second top-ten, and third top-20 since the CIMB Classic, but again, he has not missed a cut either. It can be said about An nearly every week, but if he can putt even decent, he will likely be right in the thick of things.

16. Matthew Fitzpatrick – (35)

I don’t know if was just jitters or what, but the 25-year-old Englishman has been in major championships before, and if it wasn’t for an opening round 78, you can only imagine if Fitzpatrick would have been right there battling with Tiger on Sunday.

When it looked like he was lock to miss the cut after Thursday, Fitzpatrick fired a 67 on Friday to squeeze in the cut line. He was able to squeak all the way up to a T-21 finish, and if it wasn’t for that awful first round, who knows what could have been.

In other recent tournaments, Fitzpatrick finished alone in second place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and T-41st at the Players. This will be his fifth RBC Heritage in his young career. He has two missed cuts, but had his best finish here last year, at T-14.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 RBC Heritage

15. Marc Leishman – (22)

The only thing saving Leishman as far as his ranking this week, is that he still sits inside the top-25 in the OWGR. He was on an incredible run in the fall that was highlighted by his victory at the CIMB Classic, and he carried that momentum into January and Hawaii, where he T-4 at the Sentry TOC, and T-3 at the Sony Open the following week.

Leishman also grabbed another top-five recently with his T-4 at the Genesis Open. However, his more recent play is slight cause for concern. He missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and T-49th at the Masters last week.

The 35-year-old Aussie is a regular at Harbour Town Links, playing this event nine of the last ten years with less than stellar results. His best finish was a T-9 in 2013, and it has mostly bad otherwise. Four missed cuts total in that span including last year, and his best finish the last three years was a T-30 in 2016.

14. Sungjae Im – (58)

Much like Benny An and our next couple golfers following this one, Sungjae came up just short of qualifying for the Masters. However in Im’s case, there was even no talk of a Masters berth just a short time ago, and the fact that he could qualify for Bethpage with some solid play this month is astounding.

Im has been grinding it out, playing every week. Maybe not taking a week off for the sense that he knew he would have Masters week off anyways if he didn’t make it was his logic, and if so, I applaud that strive.  After missing the cut at the Players Championship, Im has three straight top-20’s, with his best finish a T-4 at the Valspar Championship. This will be his first trip to Harbour Town Golf Links and the RBC Heritage.

13. Jim Furyk – (51)

At the end of 2018, The 48-year-old crafty grinder (copyright Matthew Wiley @Wiley77) was ranked 223 in the OWGR, and a shot at another major championship berth seemed to be well in the rear-view mirror. However, Furyk is methodically delivering solid week after solid week, and has crept his way all the way back near the top-50. He just missed a Masters bid, so he should be fired up for the RBC Heritage, where he seeks his third victory.

Furyk did not play here in 2016, and the most recent history is pretty awful, with a missed cut in 2017, and a T-70 last year. His victories came in 2010 and 2015, and he also managed to squeeze two additional top-tens in there as well. Furyk is currently on a streak of four straight top-25’s, and the jump over 170 spots in the OWGR should say plenty enough about his recent form.

12. Jason Kokrak – (66)

Kokrak is yet another golfer having a solid start to 2019, but came up short of a Masters bid. Much like the improvement of Furyk, Kokrak ended 2018 ranked 129th, but his stretch of his first nine tournaments of 2019 is pretty impressive.

Kokrak has not missed a cut yet this year, and his worst finish was a T-47 at the Players Championship. Overall in this stretch, he has seven top-20’s, and in his last two events, he has top-10’s. Kokrak T-2 at the Valspar Championships, and T-7 at the Valero Texas Open two weeks ago.

As far as the RBC Heritage goes, Kokrak has teed it up here each of the last seven years. He has four missed cuts total, and those came in his first two in 2012 and 2013, and his last two last year and in 2017. The three in between were solid, as he was able to T-6 in 2016, but four missed cuts in seven total trips is not great overall.

11. Ian Poulter – (30)

Poulter has teed it up at the RBC Heritage in each of the last four years, and has posted three top-20’s. Last year was his best finish here, as he cracked the top-ten finishing T-7. In 2017, Poulter was in the mix as well, as he finished 8-under and T-11. A solid history and fantastic form put the 43-year-old just outside the top-ten for this weeks action.

The Englishman keeps creeping up in the OWGR rankings as he has made his way up to number 30 after finishing T-12 at the Masters last week. Overall, Poulter has cracked the top-25 six times in 2019 in just seven tournaments. He has not missed a cut, and while he has had better finishes on the European Tour, the form is hard to argue.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 RBC Heritage

10. Kevin Kisner – (25)

Moving into the top-ten this week, we find another crafty veteran plodding along and playing great golf. The WGC-Dell Match Play champion kept it going at the Masters last week, as he finished yet another stroke-play tournament somewhere in the 20’s, as he has done seven straight times. The actual finish was a T-21.

Kisner has also has success here at Harbour Town over the last five years, as this is hometown course. He narrowly missed a victory here in 2015 losing in playoff to Jim Furyk, and actually happened to tie with Poulter twice over the last two years. Again, that was T-7 last year, and T-11 in 2017.

9. Jordan Spieth – (34)

Spieth returns to Hilton Head for the first time since 2015, as he taken the week after the Masters off for each of the last three seasons. He played the RBC Heritage for three years, posting solid finishes each year. He T-9 in 2013, T-12 in 2014, and T-11 in 2015. A three-year absence from this event and his recent form however still make him a giant question mark.

You hate to see these struggles from a dynamite person and player, but we all can tell Spieth is his own worst enemy right now. He has been getting closer and closer to putting it all together, but is still missing some really easy putts. I found this hard to believe, but the T-21 at the Masters last week was Spieth’s best finish since the Dell Technologies Championship back in September of last year.

8. Webb Simpson – (20)

One of the many golfers in the mix at the Masters last weekend, Simpson was incredible on Saturday at Augusta, firing a 64. We all know the outcome of course, and Webb finished in that bunch two back of Tiger at T-5. Considering he missed the cut at the Valspar Championship, and did not make it out of his pool at the WGC-Dell Match Play, this was a solid comeback for Simpson.

Simpson is yet another golfer with solid history here at the RBC Heritage. His best finish came back in 2013, when he lost in a playoff to eventual champion Graeme McDowell. He has not missed a cut here since 2009, and has posted five top-15 finishes in his last nine tries here. Last year, he finished 10-under par here, good for a T-5.

7. Tommy Fleetwood – (15)

This will be Fleetwoods first RBC Heritage, as he joins a handful of solid European Tour players sticking around in the PGA after earning status. Fleetwood has been playing stateside since the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and he was able to get hot in Florida, notching back-to-back top-fives at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship. However, he sort of cooled off at the Masters, as he shot all four rounds in the 70’s, and finished T-36.

6. Matt Kuchar – (16)

Kuchar just keeps rolling along. A T-12 finish at the Masters last week for the WGC-Dell Match Play runner-up gives the 40-year-old yet another solid finish in 2019. His T-7 at the Valero in between is maybe even more impressive, as the veteran just refuses to take a week off, especially when it looked like he may have needed it after a grueling match-play weekend.

And of course, course history is what you would expect from Kuchar here at Harbour Town. He has gone at least ten straight years of making the cut, and was a winner here in 2014. On top of that, he posted a solo fifth place finish the following year, and T-9 in 2016, giving him three straight top-tens in that span. More recently, Kuch T-11 in 2017, and T-23 last year.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 RBC Heritage

5. Patrick Cantlay – (18)

We dip into the top-five for this week, and it was a tough call between Kuchar and Cantlay for the five-spot without a doubt. Cantlay T-9 at the Masters last week, and although he has played limited events in 2019, he remains in pretty solid form. He has had a couple of bad weeks and missed a couple of cuts this season, but his T-9 last week was his third top-ten in just six stroke-play events this calendar year.

This will be the third RBC Heritage for Cantlay, as he looks to make it three straight top-tens here at Harbour Town. The 27-year-old T-3 in 2017 finishing two strokes off the lead, and followed that with a T-7 last year, shooting 9-under par.

More from FanSided

• Thunder projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
• NWSL Challenge Cup news: Courage ruthless against Washington, Racing remain perfect
• 2023 Women’s World Cup: Ary Borges and Brazil showed the entire world what they are about
• Trea Turner’s rough season goes from bad to worse
• Brewers attempt to troll Elly De La Cruz backfires 456 feet

4. Xander Schauffele – (9)

X shot five-under in his RBC Heritage debut last year which amounted to a lackluster T-32 finish, but the 25-year-old comes in to Hilton Head off another magnificent showing in a major, as he T-2 at the Masters last week. Watching Schauffele wink at people and constantly smiling was almost as fun as watching Tiger “plod his way around the golf course” as he said, as it was obvious that this kid is primed for great things.

In his young career, that was Schauffele’s fourth top-ten in a major championship already, to go along with his four wins he has already collected on the PGA Tour. The 2019 Sentry TOC champion has posted five top-25’s in six events since, with his only blip being his missed cut at the Players Championship. If I have to pick a winner this week other than DJ, Schauffele is my pick.

3. Bryson DeChambeau – (8)

Another 25-year-old who is maybe not playing as good of overall golf as Schauffele is right now, but just has the overall skill set to dominate this course and others, comes in at number three this week in Bryson DeChambeau. This will be his fourth straight RBC Heritage, and he has a missed cut in 2017, sandwiched between two top-fives in 2016 and last year.

To say DeChambeau struggled again last week would be false. He had a great first round firing a 66, but a 75 on Friday and a 73 on Saturday left him too far out to get back in the mix. He finished T-29, and has cracked the top-25 just once in his last four events.

2. Francesco Molinari – (7)

There is no doubting that Molinari defies the odds of stats when it comes to his finishes as of late. He just seems to be a guy that is unflappable when he is on. He cruised to victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, then was stellar at match play finishing third, after a T-56 at the Players Championship.

Then early on Sunday morning, it looked like Molinari was once again cruising to victory, and this time at Augusta. He started to fall apart on the back nine however after finding some water, and ultimately shot a 74, finishing T-5. I am not sure what to expect from the Italian after the let down last week, but my guess is that he will be in contention once again.

1. Dustin Johnson – (1)

DJ teed it up at the RBC Heritage in South Carolina which was once his home state for the first time in his PGA Tour career last year since 2009. He shot 7-under par for the tournament struggling on the greens for the most part, and finished T-16.

Although he now resides in Florida, Johnson attended college just outside Myrtle Beach at Coastal Carolina after growing up in the state as well, and he is once again a threat to win as he always is, after a T-2 at the Masters last week. This is no surprise. Any ranking other than number one is.

Thanks for stopping by FantasyCPR and checking out our ever-expanding PGA coverage. Be sure to keep an eye out for my FanDuel article coming soon, along with some Fantasy Draft coverage once again as well.

Please give me a follow on Twitter with the link at the top of the page, and feel free to ask any PGA Power Rankings questions if you wish. Good luck with your Fantasy Golf this weekend!