The Heritage betting: Lighting up the lighthouse at Harbour Town

It appears golf fans collectively made a trade in 2019. In exchange for Tiger Woods' thrilling victory, the next three edtions of the Masters - at least - would be devoid of afternoon drama. Luckily, there's more to golf betting than outrights. While our matchups split 5-5 for a half-unit win, we managed a pair of top-20s with Dustin Johnson and Will Zalatoris, along with Woods making the cut and Bryson DeChambeau missing the weekend.

Scottie Scheffler validated the precipitous shortening of his odds, joining Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama in comfortably winning his first green jacket. But there's no excitement hangover after the season's first major championship. Perhaps that's why so many of the game's best players are staying in the area to compete in the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town.

Three draws

Collin Morikawa

Speaking of runaway wins, Stewart Cink left the field in his dust last year at Hilton Head. There was hope that Morikawa could make that Sunday interesting, as the young star was five shots back at 13-under through three rounds. Alas, Morikawa shot 1-over on Sunday and finished T7.

While I'm not a fan of backing a favorite, Morikawa gets to play a course this week that won't penalize his average length off the tee. If conditions are quiet, few are more capable of going low, and a -110 price for a top-20 is a good bet, even if his final round again leaves something to be desired.

Corey Conners

Another golfer with a combination of white-hot ball-striking and good course history, Conners tied for fourth last year and has six rounds in the 60s in his last two trips to South Carolina.

A metrics darling, Conners didn't disappoint last week, comfortably finishing in the top 10 again at Augusta National. For the second straight year, his results have seen an uptick with the TOUR's move to the Southeast and onto Bermuda grass. Plus-money for a top-20 is a good bet, and a flyer at 28-1 to win isn't a bad idea either.

Webb Simpson

Simpson has struggled with a neck issue, but he seems to have overcome that injury and may be trouble for the rest of the field at Harbour Town.

Here are his last five results at the RBC Heritage: 11th, fifth, 16th, winner, and ninth.

Simpson missed eight weeks and then walked into the wreckage at Sawgrass. But since an excusable missed cut there, he's made the cut at both stroke-play events he's entered. A win might be too much to ask in this field, but there's good value on Simpson (+210) for a top-20.

Three slices

Justin Thomas

With no DeChambeau in the field, there's no auto-fade for a missed cut bet. I'm not looking to make that bet on Thomas, but this is a warning not to back the co-favorite in this event.

It wouldn't be a stretch to think the Masters was particularly taxing for Thomas. Even his practice rounds were followed intently. A first-round 76 immediately took him out of contention, but he battled back to get on the leaderboard by Sunday.

Considering the week he just had, Thomas' decision to play the Heritage for just the second time since 2016 is odd. His only other appearance in that span came in 2020 when the tournament took place in June. It's been over a year since Thomas last won, and it would be a surprise if he did so this weekend.

Tyrrell Hatton

Hatton has shot over par in four of 10 rounds at the post-Masters edition of the Heritage. In a tournament that should have players going low in all four rounds, competitors can't afford that kind of slip-up. Never the coolest customer, Hatton was particularly aggravated at Augusta last weekend. At +225 to miss the cut, he might be worth a flier to fly off the handle and be slamming his trunk come Friday.

Jordan Spieth

Like Thomas, Spieth has seen his stature outgrow this event. He finished between ninth and 12th from 2013-15, but he's only played the week after the Masters once since. He finished 54th. Even when he played this event during the TOUR's 2020 restart, Spieth struggled. His season doesn't support a juicy +240 price on missing the cut, especially since his trademark par saves won't be enough to help him keep pace.

Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there’s a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.