The Masters is over, tied with a bow and safely tucked away for another year. New Jersey born but Texas-reared and educated, Scottie Scheffler stayed within a shot of the lead each day, briefly falling back early Sunday before taking control with clutch approaches at #9 and 10. The winds were tough Thursday after the bad weather rolled through; they were brutal Friday and Saturday. The fact only 8 golfers finished under par proved this to be true.
No former Bulldogs threatened, but there were some lurking on the 2nd page of the leaderboard. Here’s where they finished and the money earned.
Bubba Watson shot 74-80 and missed the cut. He then traveled to Athens to watch the ‘Dawgs clinch a share of the Women’s SEC tennis regular season. Good on ya.
Brian Harman had a disastrous second nine in his first round (completed Friday morning), shooting 47 and himself out of the tourney. Even a 72 in the terrifically windy and difficult 2nd round couldn’t help him play the weekend.
Russell Henley was +7 overall, but that was still good for T38 and $86,000.
Harris English finished +4, but that got him a top 25 (T22) sand a check for $175,500.
Chris Kirk carded the low round Saturday with a 68, and his +2 total earned him $310,000.
And Sepp Straka eventually arrived at the same +2 number, the same $310,000, and the same regret that a single stroke better would have earned an automatic invite back to the 2025 Masters (for top 12 and ties).
Now we turn to the east as the PGA Tour heads to the coast for a little relaxing break from the wind and stress of the Masters.
Tournament: RBC Heritage, April 18-21, 2024
Course: Harbor Town Golf Links, par 71, 7,213 yards. Located on the far western tip of Hilton Head Island, SC.
Purse: $20 million, with $4 million to the winner. This is the fifth of eight “Signature Events” with elevated purses and strict field qualifications.
Defending Champ: Matt Fitzpatrick. The Englishman held off Jordan Spieth in a 3 hole playoff, hitting his final approach to kick-in distance. Fitzpatrick vacationed on Hilton Head Island with his family as a youngster, so it was very fitting he captured the title here.
Fun Fact: It is estimated that walking the Augusta National course is akin to walking 40 flights of stairs… in both directions. The drop from #2 tee to the green is about 80 feet. The climb from #8 tee to green is just over 70 feet. And #10 drops over 100 feet down to the green.
Harbor Town has an estimated 4 or 5 feet of elevation change. In total. That’s like the walk over the Hogan Bridge. And probably the change from the front to the back of #6 green. This is a MUCH different course than last week, and challenging in a much different way as well.
TV Times: Thursday/Friday are on Golf Channel from 2-6 pm ET, and Saturday/Sunday are on Golf Channel from 1-3 pm and CBS from 3-6 pm ET.
‘Dawgs in the Field: 7. Brian Harman, Harris English, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Brendon Todd, Sepp Straka, and Kevin Kisner.
Players are coming off the grind of the Masters and a major, yet get no break from facing the best competition. This week being a Signature Event, and that qualified players can only miss one of these a season without a significant monetary penalty, means some big players are here on HHI where normally they would take a week off.
A tough ask, but it is such a relaxed atmosphere and very much a family-friendly event for both fans and the players themselves. Then the fact that there is no cut and making a minimum of $50k probably helps quite a bit. So even Scottie Scheffler, no doubt world #1 and fresh off a Green Jacket fitting, with a pregnant wife at home in Dallas about 2 weeks from her due date, is teeing it up.
Rory, Jordan, Justin, Xander, Wyndham, Max, Will – the gang’s all here. The only top-ranked player I know who withdrew is Viktor Hovland, who missed the cut at the Masters and pulled out the next day. That leaves our former Bulldogs an even better chance at making some waves on the Calibogue Sound.
The course is tight, with shot lines pretty well-defined by the trees. It isn’t long, but the doglegs force the shot distances so you’ll see 3 woods, long irons, and less-than-driver off many of the tees as pros try for position. The greens are relatively flat, with just subtle slopes on the surfaces. But there is plenty of water, sand, and natural waste bunkers all around to guard wayward approach shots. And did I mention trees
Henley, English, Straka, and Kirk all showed good form last week so there’s reason to believe that continues. Todd has two top 10s in the last 4-5 weeks so that’s a good sign. Harman’s blowup last week is surely just an outlier – he came back strong in the 2nd round under tough conditions so I’m not worried about him. Then there’s Kevin Kisner.
After a poor 2023 campaign, Kiz started the year missing 6 straight cuts. He did make the cut at the Valero a couple weeks back, and has a runner-up finish here at Harbor Town to fall back on, so I’m hoping things might turn around for the native South Carolinian.
This is a great tournament to view in person, as it isn’t particularly crowded and the atmosphere is what you’d expect from watching premier golf at a fairly private club. I hope you enjoy, and as always…
GO ‘DAWGS!!!