{"id":612949,"date":"2026-04-18T19:02:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T19:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/612949\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T19:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T19:02:18","slug":"draws-and-fades-lean-toward-birdie-blitz-at-rbc-heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/612949\/","title":{"rendered":"Draws and Fades: Lean toward birdie blitz at RBC Heritage"},"content":{"rendered":"

18H AGO<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

5 Min Read<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Draws and Fades<\/p>\n

<\/a>*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Highlights<\/p>\n

Highlights | Round 2 | RBC Heritage<\/p>\n

*:not(style)~*:not(style){margin-top:0.5rem;-webkit-margin-end:0px;margin-inline-end:0px;margin-bottom:0px;-webkit-margin-start:0px;margin-inline-start:0px;}]]><\/p>\n

A<\/p>\n

Change Text Size<\/p>\n

Written by Brad Thomas<\/p>\n

Matt Fitzpatrick (+115) set the pace in the second round of the RBC Heritage with a bogey-free, 8-under 63. The 2023 champion now finds himself in a familiar position, right near the top of the leaderboard and in control of his own path heading into the weekend.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t just Fitzpatrick going insanely low, either. Akshay Bhatia (+17500) matched the 63, and in total there were six players who posted 65 or better on the day. Viktor Hovland (+310) was one of those 65s, and he sits just one shot off the pace. Hovland is very much in the mix as we head into Moving Day.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking at the board and thinking this is a two-man race, it\u2019s not even close. There are at least 10 players within striking distance, and with how this course is playing, there realistically could be more. Birdies are available, and they\u2019re available in bunches. All it takes is one super low round to jump five, six, even seven spots on the leaderboard. Because of that, there\u2019s no real reason to rush into placing any outright tickets right now. Let things play out, and instead shift your attention to where the value sits heading into Round 3.<\/p>\n

As far as conditions go, it should be more of the same. Winds have been in that 10 to 15 mph range with some gusts pushing into the low 20s, but with the way Harbour Town Golf Links is set up, players aren\u2019t feeling the full effect off the tee. The tree-lined fairways do a good job of shielding a lot of that. Where it shows up is into the greens, and more specifically, in the direction. Harbour Town is known for swirling winds rather than anything consistent, and that\u2019s where things can get tricky. It\u2019s not unplayable by any means, but it does force players to stay committed to their numbers. Even with that, there are still plenty of scoring opportunities out there.<\/p>\n

Robert MacIntyre Over 4.5 Birdies (-128) | Round 3 Top 10 (+120) DraftKings<\/p>\n

I do find myself a bit surprised at where Robert MacIntyre\u2019s (+3500) game is right now. He was one round away from winning the Valero Texas Open before things got away from him, and then that frustration seemed to carry into Augusta. But if you watched closely, the ball-striking was still there. The results didn\u2019t follow, but there were enough good swings to suggest he wasn\u2019t far off.<\/p>\n

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Robert<\/p>\n

Robert MacIntyre’s 139-yard approach sets up birdie on No. 16 at RBC Heritage<\/p>\n

At Harbour Town, he opened with a really solid 5-under 66. He gained 3.71 strokes tee-to-green, with 1.71 of that coming on approach (data via DataGolf). He hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation and was especially sharp early, hitting eight of nine on the front nine. That\u2019s the version of MacIntyre that was in contention in Texas.<\/p>\n

The second round depends on how you want to look at it. From a strokes-gained perspective, it wasn\u2019t great. He gained just 1.37 strokes total and lost 3.31 on approach. And that wasn\u2019t just one hole skewing the numbers. Yes, he lost over two strokes on 17, but he actually lost strokes on approach on seven different holes. It wasn\u2019t his best approach round by any stretch of the imagination.<\/p>\n

Even with that, and even with a double on No. 17 and a bogey on No. 18, he still posted a 3-under 68. Before that late stumble, he was sitting at 6 under for the round. That tells you how much he\u2019s doing well tee-to-green and how many chances he\u2019s giving himself.<\/p>\n

What made him such a strong look at the Texas Open was the combination of approach play and converting those looks on the greens. Through two rounds here, the putter hasn\u2019t been great, but it also hasn\u2019t hurt him. He\u2019s gained just 0.47 strokes putting, which leaves room for improvement, especially on greens that a lot of players are still figuring out.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s currently T7, and if he goes out and posts something like a 67 or better, there\u2019s a very good chance he finishes inside the top 10 for the round. That makes the +120 number appealing.<\/p>\n

That said, I actually prefer the birdies market. If he gets to five birdies, you\u2019re giving yourself some protection even if a couple of mistakes creep in. And with the way he\u2019s generating chances, that feels very realistic. Especially considering he has easily cleared this number in the first two rounds. Both bets are in play, but the birdies’ angle gives you a little more room to work with.<\/p>\n

Viktor Hovland Over 4.5 Birdies or Better Gained (-130) DraftKings<\/p>\n

There aren\u2019t many players playing better golf over their last three rounds than Viktor Hovland<\/a> right now, and this didn\u2019t just start this week. It goes back to his final round at Augusta, where he shot a 67 and gained 5.1 strokes on the field.<\/p>\n

He followed that with a 64 in the first round here, gaining 5.7 strokes, and then a 65 in the second round, gaining another 4.4. Across those three rounds, he\u2019s running a 43% birdie rate, which is exactly what you want to see when you\u2019re targeting a number like this.<\/p>\n

\"Viktor<\/p>\n

Viktor Hovland hits tee shot to 13 feet, sets up birdie on No. 17 at RBC Heritage<\/p>\n

The course fit also makes a lot of sense. During his rough stretch, it wasn\u2019t the irons that were the issue. It was the driver. Harbour Town takes that out of his hands on a lot of holes. It forces him to club down, limiting the damage off the tee, and letting him lean into his strengths. When Hovland is playing from the fairway and hitting quality approach shots, he becomes a very dangerous scorer.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s already cleared this number in both rounds this week. He made seven birdies in Round 1 and followed it up with eight in Round 2. Through two rounds, he\u2019s gained 5.0 strokes total, including 3.1 with the putter and 1.17 on approach. It\u2019s not just one part of his game carrying him. Everything is working well enough to keep generating opportunities.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying he has to win this tournament, and I\u2019m not even saying he needs to finish inside the top five. But with a 43% birdie rate, a number sitting at 4.5, and conditions that should stay consistent, this is a spot where I\u2019m comfortable backing him again for Round 3.<\/p>\n

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-11jnzpa>img,.css-11jnzpa>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-11jnzpa::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:66.66666666666666%;}]]>\"Image<\/p>\n

Apr 17, 2026<\/p>\n

Hovland handles Harbour Town, posts 65 to challenge Fitzpatrick<\/a>Latest<\/a>\"Image\"Image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"18H AGO 5 Min Read Draws and Fades *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]> Highlights | Round 2 | RBC Heritage *:not(style)~*:not(style){margin-top:0.5rem;-webkit-margin-end:0px;margin-inline-end:0px;margin-bottom:0px;-webkit-margin-start:0px;margin-inline-start:0px;}]]> A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-612949","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}