You’re forgiven if you have a bit of a Masters hangover after last week. So will some of the players as they arrive at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, S.C.—a favorite stop of many on the PGA Tour.
The field is stacked, despite Bryson DeChambeau withdrawing on Monday, with five of the top 10 in the world and 13 of the top-25 ranked players in the world teeing it up. That includes Webb Simpson, who won at Harbour Town last year in an exciting final round. He opens as the second favorite at 12-1 after his T-12 at the Masters. Dustin Johnson, the World No. 1, is a 10-1 favorite, and despite being the sacred son of South Carolina, has not won at Harbour Town in his five past appearances (his best finishing being a T-16)—even after holding the 54-hole lead here in 2019 (before shooting 77 and finishing T-28).
And then, of course, there is Will Zalatoris, who nearly finished one shot shy of a playoff with Hideki Matsuyama. When this tournament was last played in June 2020, Zalatoris was ranked outside the top 400 in the world and hadn’t yet won on the Korn Ferry Tour. Now Willy Z is inside the top 30 in the world after electrifying the golf world. He’s been moved to a mid-tier favorite in the remaining majors at most sportsbooks, and he’s getting the respect of oddsmakers this week, too, opening as a 25-1 favorite, with just five players having better odds than him.
In this loaded field, that speaks to how just about everybody expects him to get his maiden PGA Tour win soon.
RBC Heritage 2021 odds (courtesy of William Hill, Monday evening):
Matthew Fitzpatrick: 30-1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout: 50-1
Charles Howell III: 125-1