After a successful week 1 return, at least for Daniel, as Spike and I say, “WhataBerger, and not so much for Collin Morikawa, the tour now travels to Harbor Town Golf LInks in HIlton Head for the RBC Heritage this week.

Berger defeated Morikawa on the first playoff hole to capture the plaid jacket and the $1.35 M first place prize money at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club GC in Fort Worth. Morikawa, a promising 23 year old player who won the Barracuda Championship in 2019, missed a 3 foot par putt on the first playoff hole. It was kind of painful to watch. But the golf was phenomenal all weekend with all the heavyweights playing, many of whom were in contention. Jordan Spieth had another up and down tournament. He just can’t seem to control himself mentally on the course. I hate to say it, but the guy is now a bona fide head case on the course.

Last year’s winner at the RBC Heritage was C.T. Pan. The Taiwan native shot -11 to win by a shot over Matt Kuchar, the 2014 champion.

Patrick Cantlay, Shane Lowry and Scott Piercy finished 3rd, 2 shots back at -9.

Harbor Town GL will play 7,099 yards and is a Par 71.

No.8, a 473 yard par 4, is the No. 1 handicap hole and the course’s toughest. It also usually ranks as one of the toughest on the Tour. Its’ a dogleg left, so long and right off the tee is required. Theres’ a bunker in the middle of the fairway and a long bunker on the right side, so accuracy and length are both crucial. Bryson DeChambeau, who looks bulky and not much like a golfer, more like an offensive linemen, is leading the tour in driving distance with a ball speed of 185 miles an hour. He was 7 MPH faster than Dustin Johnson off the tee on one hole last week. But when it came time to make a 12 foot putt to get into a playoff last Sunday, DeChambeau couldn’t convert. He also air mailed it over the green on 16 on his approach and bogeyed that hole which was costly as well. He’s a bit of an annoying guy, and this adding 40 pounds of muscle to his frame, maybe some people thinks that works, but I’m not in agreement. We’ll see how it plays out in the next couple of weeks and by the PGA championship we should have a determination. Right now, not a big fan of that kind of bulk for golf. It’s great to be strong, but that bulk looks like it can take away from shot making. You have to be accurate and have good feel in golf, and that can very well take it away. Even putting can be hampered when you’re that big and tight. We’ll see how DeChambeau fares going forward with his overly muscular physique.

The second shot on 8 requires the player to keep it right and not overcook it and knock it in the waste area to the left of the green. The greens are pretty large at Harbor Town, but this one is a tough target on the approach.

No. 15 is a 585 par 5. Bunkers in the fairway and trees lining both sides. Dogleg left. Bunkers, water and waste areas are all over this hole. The green used to be impossible for players to hit in 2, but now these present day players are reaching it more often.

No.17, A 185 yard, par 3. On windy days it could be an issue. Long waste area and water to the left. A smaller bunker guarding the right side of the green. Large green. Winds more of a factor on Thursday and Sunday.

No.18, A 472 yard par 4. The No.2 handicap hole on the course and one of the most historic holes on Tour. Wide fairway off the tee shot. The player should aim his tee shot at the famed lighthouse behind the green. The second shot has water with an overcooked shot and a long bunker on the front left, which players will have to play over on Sunday if they’re in contention and need a birdie to tie or take the lead. Interesting hole for sure.

The top 5 players in the world rankings, Rory, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson are all in the field. There are 113 PGA tournament winners in the field, the most in any PGA event since 2000. There are 27 major champions playing. These guys want to play. Guys like Rickie Fowler, Spieth, DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and many other notables are also in the field.

Key tee times are 6:29 AM CT when Koepka, Patrick Reed and What A Burget tee off. At 6:40 AM CT Rory, Pan and Fowler tee it up. At 11:54 AM CT, Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland and HIdeki Matsuyama tee off. And at 12:05 PM CT, Justin Thomas, Justin Rose and Rahm go off.

Weather: Thursday, 82, slight chance of T-storm but mostly sunny. Wind SSE at 10 MPH. Friday, 83, Sunny for the most part, 20% chance of T-storm, wind ESE 8. Saturday, 84, Sunny, stray T Storm, 20%, NE 6 MPH. Sunday, Sunny, 86, Wind SW 10 MPH. So wind a little factor on Thursday and Sunday particularly. It may gust stronger with the course on the Atlantic Coast..

TV:

Thursday-Friday, 2-5 PM CT, Golf Channel. Saturday-Sunday, 12-2 PM CT, Golf Channel, 2-5 PM CT CBS.

FIGJAM

Phil “FIGJAM (“ExpletiveI’m good just ask me”) turned 50 yesterday. He’s been a controversial figure on tour in my opinion.

Golf Channel’s Jaime Diaz was asked if Mickelson was a top 10 player of all time and he said no, he’s 15 or so, and would label him overrated. One thing I did disagree with Diaz on is he put FIGJAM ahead of Nick Faldo in all time rankings. I got Faldo ahead of Hefty, though he has lost a lot of weight and looks fit.

He’s won 5 majors. I’d say he’s done doing that. He’s won 44 times on tour. He won the Masters in 2004, 2006 and 2010, the PGA Championship in 2005 at Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey and the Open Championship in 2013 at Muirfield in Scotland. He finished runner up 6 times at the U.S. Open with some colossal gag jobs. The best example of that would be 2006 after he won the 2005 PGA and the 2006 Masters. He had a one shot lead going into 18, he was in the last group and just needed a par. Instead of playing it smart and hitting 3 wood off the tee, he went with driver. He had only hit 2 of 13 fairways during the round going into 18. He Rick Flaired his drive right behind a tree and near a tent way off the fairway on the left side. Instead of chipping out and playing it safe for a shot at the victory or a playoff on the par 4, Mickelson went for the green. He ended up double bogeying the hole and lost by 2 to Geoff Ogilvy. It was a shocking meltdown.

He was never clutch like Tiger, Jack, Tom Watson, Faldo, Seve and guys before them. I would put him closer to 16 or 17 all time. There are several guys in front of him. And when he putted a moving ball at the U.S. Open in 2018 and told fans to “deal with it” afterwards, I had enough of the clown.

I would go with 1. Tiger (grudgingly) 2. Jack, 3. Ben Hogan, 4. Arnie, 5. Tom Watson, 6.Gary Player, 7. Sam Snead, 8. Lee Trevino. 9. Faldo, 10. Seve. There are some guys way back who are in there, so Mickelson about 17 or so seems about right.

Winner this week

I’m going to take the 27 year old from Lexington, KY, via the University of Alabama. He’s won 3 times since last August at the BMW Championship last August, the C. J. Cup in China last October, with a world class field, and the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii in January of this year with all tour winners from 2019 only playing in that tourney. So he’s playing outstanding golf. He finished tied 10th at Colonial last week. I like his putter to work well this week, and if it does, I like this guy to throw on the plaid jacket at Harbour Town on Sunday.

Justin Thomas

Sleeper

James Tyree, J.T. Poston

This 27 year old from Hickory, North Carolina, via Western Carolina University, won the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C. last August. He finished tied for 10th last week, finished tied 6th last year at Harbor Town shooting a 66 on Sunday. He went 68, 66, 67, 68 at Colonial last week. Wow, those should be good enough numbers to win a tournament, but not with this competition. I like him to have a great shot this week.