This year marks the launch of PGA Tour Pick ‘Em Live, a new free-to-play game that allows fans to make various picks and predictions throughout tournament week.
With guaranteed weekly prizes valued up to $5,000, participants will be asked to offer a range of picks from tournament winner to first-round leader and various head-to-head matchups. Picks are based on live odds via PointsBet Sportsbook, so while pre-tournament selections can be changed throughout the week the assigned odds will change accordingly.
Participants can also make selections after each of the first three rounds, with points increasing accordingly.
Here are players to consider when making pre-tournament selections this week for the RBC Heritage, as plenty of big names head from Augusta to the cozy confines of Harbour Town following the year’s first major:
Tournament Winner: Corey Conners (+2500): This course should suit the Canadian ball-striker in spades, especially coming off a T-6 finish in the Masters. Conners continues to level up and has now finished T-35 or better in five straight starts, including a third-place showing at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. After missing the cut in his first three trips to Harbour Town, he appears to have figured the place out: T-21 in 2020 and a T-4 finish last year, with six of his last eight rounds in the 60s. Already a winner on Tour and trending in the right direction, he could very easily slip into the tartan jacket this week despite the strong field.
Top-10 Finish: Troy Merritt (+725): I’ll roll the dice on a player who has contended here twice since 2015 and enters off a T-4 finish in San Antonio in his most recent start. Merritt doesn’t put one on the board very often, but when he does he can work his way into contention with surprising frequency. Merritt has made four straight cuts while getting progressively better with each result, topping out with his solid run at the Valero where he finished three shots off the pace. His second-round 61 back in 2015 shows his potential around Hilton Head, and four of his last five opening rounds here have been in red figures.
Top-20 Finish: Brandt Snedeker (+550): Snedeker is not the same guy he was when he won this event back in 2011, but at age 41 he can still put up some solid results on courses that suit his style. Look no further than his T-18 finish at the Valero Texas Open last time out, itself a deceptive result since he limped in with a closing 75 while playing in the tournament’s final group. Snedeker has made eight of 10 cuts here since that 2011 triumph, including four finishes of T-26 or better. He’ll need a streaky putter to cooperate, but each of the last two times he made the weekend - Valero and the American Express - he ended up inside the top 20.
First Round Leader: Matthew NeSmith (+10000): Taking a flier on a streaky player who should feel right at home in the Low Country. NeSmith is a South Carolina product who can put up a number in a hurry, as evidenced by a second-round 61 at Innisbrook that led to a T-3 finish just last month. He has started well in his two prior trips to Harbour Town, opening with 66 in 2020 and 68 last year. He’ll need to go a touch lower than that to take FRL honors but it’s certainly in the mix for a guy that has a tendency to go on occasional birdie binges.
Make Cut: Alex Noren (-250): There are some steep prices in this market for the Heritage, but I’ll ride with the Swede who has finished T-28 or better in each of his three trips to Hilton Head Island. Noren has been in the 60s in nine of his 12 career rounds at this week’s venue, including seven of his last eight while stringing together a pair of top-25 finishes. He failed to make the Masters but it wasn’t from a lack of effort, as he has made seven straight cuts including four straight finishes of T-26 or better. Expect him to hang around for the full hotel stay this week.
