Inclement weather caused Round 1 of the RBC Heritage to be delayed for more than an hour, making Harbour Town Golf Links play softer than what we saw in early-round play. Viktor Hovland (-7) leads the way, but we’ve seen Heritage winners come from behind with regularity. Jordan Spieth sat 32nd after Round 1 last year, Stewart Cink was second after his opening round in 2021 and C.T. Pan sat 53rd in 2019.

With the elevated status of this year’s RBC Heritage, we could see something similar to 2020, when most of the top players were in attendance - Webb Simpson won after sitting third after opening-round play. Still, with golfers potentially feeling the effects of a long week at the Masters, this tournament is far from over.

Hovland was among the early wave of players who completed their opener before the weather moved in, but he was far from the only player to go low: Brian Harman is in the house with a 6-under 65, while reigning U.S. Open champ Matt Fitzpatrick highlighted a six players who carded round of 66 to sit two shots behind Hovland. Jimmy Walker (-6) and Aaron Rai (-6) have two and three holes left, respectively, to try to catch Hovland, while Masters winner Jon Rahm opened with a 1-over 72.

Updated odds to win RBC Heritage (via BetMGM Sportsbook)

+450: Viktor Hovland

+1000: Scottie Scheffler

+1100: Sungjae Im

+1200: Matt Fitzpatrick

+1400: Xander Schauffele

+1600: Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose

+2000: Brian Harman

+2200: Patrick Cantlay

+2500: Aaron Rai

Here are some outright and derivative market plays to consider heading into Round 2 in Hilton Head, with odds via BetMGM Sportsbook unless otherwise noted:

Draws

Shane Lowry (-1, T47, +450 for top-10 finish)

One of the pre-tournament favorites, Lowry had a tough go on the greens today, losing 1.59 strokes with the putter. Conversely, he was one of the best iron players, gaining +2.01 and ranking inside the top 20 in Approach in Round 1. Lowry has been struggling with the flat stick over his last 24 rounds, losing close to 0.5 strokes per round. Still, he’s gained strokes putting in four of his six starts at Harbour Town. If you’re feeling frisky (like yours truly), sprinkling a little on his outright at +8000 may be an option. But the value play is a top-10 from this former major winner who I expect to climb the leaderboard as we get deeper into this tournament.

Chris Kirk (-2, T28, +550 for top-10 finish)

Kirk ranked Top-10 in Strokes Gained: Approach in Round 1, and his three bogeys on the card were misses from just under 11 feet and two under six feet. Routinely ranking as one of the best putters on TOUR, Kirk has gained strokes on the green in seven of his last eight measured starts. He’s due for some positive regression with the putter. Kirk has a win and four top-10s this season, one of which came at the Sony Open, a comparable seaside course similar to Harbour Town Golf Links. A top-10 finish is definitely in play, with this in-play price via DraftKings.

Fades

Viktor Hovland (-7, solo leader, +450 to win)

No one has been better over the previous two dozen rounds in ball-striking, ranking first in the field coming into this week. Hovland is making par saves, getting up-and-down and recorded another bogey-free opening round, similar to his opening play at Augusta National. Two top 10s and a third-place showing at THE PLAYERS Championship, another Pete Dye Design, warrants the short number. Still, it feels very “early rip, early rotten” of recent for Vik. Harsh, yes, but he’s second in Round 1 scoring average (68.2) across 10 rounds, and 98th in Round 4 scoring (70.2). Last year’s winner, Jordan Spieth, shot 66, and Webb Simpson, who won in 2020, shot 64. He’ll need to break his current trend of not showing up on Sundays to feel confident in betting him, especially at this number. We should see it before we believe it.

Brian Harman (-6, T-2, +2000 to win)

A fantastic round from Harman comes on the heels of five missed cuts over his previous seven starts, with finishes of T42 and T44 in his made cuts since February. Harman hasn’t gained with his irons in eight straight starts, and he has been equally bad with his short game while losing an average of 1.6 strokes around the greens in his last five tournaments. He was plus with his irons on Thursday, but this could be an outlier. His current price is a premium not worth paying to see.

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