Featured Group: Graeme McDowell, Ernie Els, Ian Poulter

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At each PGA TOUR event this season, a featured pairing will be highlighted prior to the first round. Here is the featured group for Thursday and Friday at The Heritage.

THE HERITAGE: TOUR Report | Tee Times | Expert Picks | Power Rankings | Fantasy Insider

All three are ranked inside the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking -- which is impressive, to say the least.

At the same time, though, world No. 6 Graeme McDowell, No. 14 Ernie Els and No. 16 Ian Poulter have all come to Hilton Head looking to get their 2011 seasons back on a roll.

The three veterans, who are paired together during the first two rounds of The Heritage, certainly haven't played poorly this year. They just haven't met their expectations yet -- and there's no time like the present to start.

The Heritage marks roughly the midway point of the PGA TOUR's regular season. The season's first major has come and gone, too, and THE PLAYERS Championship is three weeks on the horizon.

So there's a lot to play for, and Els, McDowell and Poulter want to be ready. Pete Dye's Harbour Town Golf Links is a course that tends to favor veterans, too, so it could be a good place to start.

Of the three, Els has the best track record on this stunning links beside the Calibogue Sound. He's playing in The Heritage for the 12th times and has posted seven top-10s, including second to Boo Weekley in 2007 and a pair of thirds.

Els, who will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in three weeks, hasn't been able to rekindle the fire that saw him pick up two victories by this time last year. He's yet to post a top-10 in 2011 and the man who was leading the FedExCup at this juncture a year ago currently ranks 85th.

McDowell and Poulter, on the other hand, have never had much success at Harbour Town -- and are returning for the first time since 2006. Poulter's best finish at Hilton Head in four starts is a tie for 47th in his last appearance while McDowell's is joint 70th in 2005.

Four years is a long time, though, and McDowell and Poulter are surely better equipped to handle Harbour Town's tight fairways and small greens now. Poulter was ranked 71st and McDowell 88th the last time the two played in The Heritage.

McDowell returns this week as the reigning U.S. Open champion. He's missed his last two cuts on TOUR -- including at the Masters -- but he started the season with three consecutive top-10s so the form is there.

Poulter, ever the consistent one, has yet to miss a cut this year. His best finish came in his first start, a tie for sixth at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, but he did fare the best of the three at Augusta National in a tie for 27th.

Statistical comparison

Key stats from McDowell, Els and Poulter from the 2011 season (TOUR rank in parentheses)

Category MCDOWELL ELS POULTER   Driving distance 285.8 (97th) 285.2 (103rd) 280.7 (138th) Driving accuracy 69.74% (12th) 62.12% (78th) 65.14% (45th) Greens in regulation 68.06% (41st) 71.03% (12th) 67.22% (52nd) Putting average 1.786 (99th) 1.821 (159th) 1.769 (65th) Scoring average 71.01 (66th) 71.93 (155th) 71.05 (72nd)

Career at The Heritage

Graeme McDowell Ernie Els Ian Poulter Appearance 3rd 12th 4th Cuts Made/Missed 1/1 10/1 3/0 Wins 0 0 0 Top-10s 0 7 0 Top 25s 0 8 0 Best Finish T70 (2005) 2nd (2007) T47 (2006) Last Appearance/Finish 2006/CUT 2009 (T48) 2006 (T47) Scoring Avg. 74.00 69.67 72.67

EXPERT PREDICTIONS: We asked some of our PGATOUR.COM experts to predict which player will fare best this week at Augusta National:

Stan Awtrey: Graeme McDowell: He's not played well since early March, but Harbour Town is a course that should fit his strong iron game. He should do well at a place where accuracy is at a premium.

Craig Dolch: Els -- Ernie hasn't won at Hilton Head, but he's come close three times. He was second to Boo Weekley in 2007 and third in 2004 and 2000.

Melanie Hauser: Graeme McDowell. Tempting to go with the fashionable Poults and hoping Els figures out that putting stroke. But after two missed cuts, time for G-Mac to step back up.

FANTASY INSIDER: Putting continues to trouble The Big Easy, and it has to be messing with his confidence. He has such a strong record here (seven top-10s) that there is an expectation for a rebound this week, but there are more reliable options, says our Fantasy Insider.