Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2016 RBC Heritage

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the 2016 RBC Heritage from Harbour Town

2016 RBC Heritage Fantasy Sleeper Preview

The fans and golfers who just watched or participated in the Masters can finally take a big breath and accept the improbable ending to last week’s major event.  Now the players will put the Spieth collapse behind them and look forward to the RBC Heritage in South Carolina.  The beautiful Harbour Town Golf Links will be the host of this tournament; first played back in 1969 when Arnold Palmer was the victor.  Being an invitational, this weekend will feature a reduced field of 132 players on the par-71, 7,101-yard course.

With the RBC Heritage typically taking place after the biggest golf event of the year, it’s no surprise to see plenty of the top names take it off as they recover from Augusta National.  Still, the field will be headlined by the current No. 1 golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings, Jason Day, who already has two victories on the young season.  He will be the sole player from the top-10, but will be joined by No. 14 Branden Grace, No. 15 Brandt Snedeker, No. 17 Zach Johnson, No. 23 Kevin Kisner, and No. 24 Paul Casey from the top-25.  Another name to watch when they hit the links on Thursday is Bryson DeChambeau who will be making his professional debut after finishing in a tie for 21st at the Masters last week despite his amateur status.

Scoring will much easier here than it was over the past week and the victor come Sunday at the RBC Heritage has hit double-digits under par in all but one outing since 2006.  In fact, the average winning score over that stretch has been just better than 14 strokes under par with Brian Gay’s 20-under-par score in 2009 going down as the best showing for this event in its history.

Last year it was Jim Furyk who challenged that low score with an 18-under performance as he took this event for the second time in his career (the other coming in 2010), and snapped a nearly five year stretch without a victory.  The win was not easy, though, as he needed a Sunday 63 and two extra holes to finish off runner-up Kevin Kisner.  It was the fourth time in the last six years that it took more than 72 holes to crown a champion.

Furyk will not be the only multiple time winner of this event in the field as both Boo Weekley (2007, 2008) and Stewart Cink (2000, 2004) have multiple victories here.

While there are still plenty of solid names a week after the Masters, a big underdog is due to take home a big check this year, and below are a few “sleeper” selections who could do just that in Hilton Head this week.

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2016 RBC Heritage Fantasy Sleeper Report

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2016 RBC Heritage Fantasy Sleeper Report

Mix and match these players with your usual rosters (or play them separately) to get the most out of your picks this week.

Ben Martin – Vegas Odds 66/1: Martin quietly finished 35th in the FedEx Cup standings last year behind 20-of-27 cuts made (74%) and his first career victory at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.  This year has been a little bit more inconsistent, but the 28-year-old has been able to get to the weekend in 8-of-11 attempts and has jumped into the top-25 three times; including twice over his last four events.  Martin’s first PGA TOUR victory nearly came at this event back in 2014 when he finished in a tie for third after shooting nine-under while putting 1.464 strokes better than the field.  He made the cut in his other two visits here and should be able to remain in the hunt this year thanks to his ability to bounce back (26.36%, 9th on TOUR) and score on par-fives (4.53 average, 13th on TOUR).

Chez Reavie – Vegas Odds 75/1: Reavie has never done very well at Hilton Head, missing the cut in three of his five starts here since 2009 and doing no better than 55th in his two other attempts.  But, Chez looks like a much improved golfer in 2016, and has already surpassed his earnings from each of the past four seasons.  Reavie has been consistent so far this season with 11-of-13 cuts made (85%) and has a couple of close calls with a pair of top-10s at the Northern Trust Open and Shell Houston Open.  His most recent outing in Houston saw him hit 73.61% of GIR and 78.57% of fairways while putting 1.155 strokes better than the field.  His impressive year is actually no surprise when you see that he ranks 15th in driving accuracy (69.27%), 34th in total strokes gained (0.834), and third in scrambling (68.18%).  It has been nearly eight years since the former ASU Sun Devil won his first PGA TOUR event, and now he is once again playing some of his best golf as he looks to add another trophy to the case.

Brian Harman – Vegas Odds 100/1: Harman continues to be a solid, yet unspectacular, golfer on the PGA TOUR after ranking in the top-95 of the FedExCup standings in each of the past four seasons.  He is on pace to do so once again after 10 made cuts in his first 14 events with four finishes getting him into the top-25.  His putting has been on point over his last four outings, gaining strokes on the field each week while getting 2.269 strokes during his recent tie for 17th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.  If he plans to have an impressive showing in South Carolina, he will need to continue that solid stroke with the flat iron which has him ranked ninth in strokes gained putting (0.703).  Harman has one career win to his credit and has the tools to make a run here come Sunday.

Jerry Kelly – Vegas Odds 100/1: After watching Bernhard Langer nearly make a run at the Masters last week, another “veteran” player now takes aim at a win in what has become quite clearly a young man’s sport.  Kelly comes into the week a few months shy of age 50, but continues to enjoy some success against these other golfers, some of who are young enough to be his children.  He’s failed to make the weekend just once in nine tournaments during the 2016 campaign thanks to nailing 71.76% of GIR (4th on TOUR), saving 60.34% of his sand chances (13th on TOUR), and ranking second in scrambling (69.48%).  He may not have the length that many of the others out there possess these days, but he has made the cut in this tourney each of the last six seasons; putting up a fifth in 2013 and an 18th just last year.  Kelly’s experience could help him more than hurt him when he heads to Harbour Town Golf Links this week.

Rory Sabbatini – Vegas Odds 200/1: Sabbatini is far removed from the days when he was a threat to win each tournament that he entered, last getting into the winner’s circle in 2011 after doing so six times previously in his career.  This looks to be his worst year yet as he is a meager 5-for-12 in cuts made (42%) and has just one top-25.  With all that said, Rory has enjoyed a ton of success in this particular event, and since 2009 he has played six times, carding five top-17s and getting into the top-10 on three occasions.  He did fail to see the weekend here last year, but if you want to find a dark horse this week, take a look at Sabbatini as he attempts to make one final push for a win in his dwindling career.

Need a few more options to fill up your roster?  Remember to check out our new fantasy predictions stats page for Golficity Predicted Fantasy Points, Price Per Fantasy Point, and more info on every player in this week’s field!

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions?  Check out our full fantasy preview for the 2016 RBC Heritage here.

Cover photo via Flickr