Preview and Prediction for the 2015 RBC Heritage

Congratulations, Jordan Spieth. Now that you’ve won the Masters, made witty banter about the nature of your receding hairline and worn the green jacket, without a breather, you will travel to Hilton Head and try to win another tournament.

You will undoubtedly face a letdown. The Category 5 emotional hurricane that was the four-day slam at Augusta National Golf Club heads out to sea. The wreckage left behind may have stripped you raw. Contending with the relatively meager stakes of the HBC Heritage in South Carolina could be underwhelming, like heading to a firing range with a water pistol.

This is good news for players who didn’t tie for the lowest score ever at Augusta on Sunday, who hope you slide back down Mt. Olympus and mingle among the low-life commoners looking for a paycheck.

Lest we forget, the tour carries on long after the azaleas loose their bloom.

Read on for a post-Masters preview and prediction for the RBC Heritage.

Where to Watch and Television Info

Darren Abate/Associated Press

Where

Harbor Town Golf Links

7,101 yards, Par 71

What

Total Purse: $5,900,000

Winning Share: $1,062,000

FedEx Points to Winner: 500

When

Thursday-Friday

3:00-6:00 p.m. ET, Golf Channel

Saturday-Sunday

1:00-2:30 p.m. ET, Golf Channel; 3:00-6:00 p.m., CBS

Notable Entrants

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Luke Donald

Jason Dufner

Matt Every

Ernie Els

Jim Furyk

Bill Haas

Russell Henley

Billy Horschel

Matt Kuchar*

Chris Kirk

Graeme McDowell

Sean O'Hair

Louis Oosthuizen

Ian Poulter

Brandt Snedeker

Jordan Spieth

Tom Watson

*: Defending champion.

The Favorites

Jordan Spieth

Here are Spieth’s results in the last four tournaments: Valspar Championship: won in a playoff. Valero Texas Open: second. Shell Houston Open: second in a playoff. The Masters: front-running win.

That's $4,112,400. That's makin' it rain.

It’s hard to believe he missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open back in early February.

2007 Masters champ Zach Johnson said in Mike McAllister’s PGATour.com story, “There’s something innate with him. Something intangible that probably a lot of athletes occasionally touch but rarely maintain.”

It’s hard to imagine Spieth has the energy to win this tournament, but winning the Masters was only a single step in what he hopes is his eventual ascension to being No. 1 in the world.

According to the Official World Golf Ranking, Spieth is 78.11 points behind current world No. 1 Rory McIlroy.

Matt Kuchar

Matt Kuchar won this event a year ago, and upholding that honor, donned in a Masters-juxtaposing plaid blazer, he sent a cannon shot into the ocean.

“It's been a course that I've enjoyed since day one,” he said in a Sports Xchange story (h/t Covers.com). “It rated extremely high on the tournaments that I wanted to put my name on their list of champions. I had a couple nice showings, and last year to come through and win it on Sunday was just such a thrill."

Kuchar has contended in just one tournament in 2015, the Sony Open, where he finished in a tie for third. And while he hasn’t been competitive, he’s made every single cut, all 11 of them, this season. That means he’s not doing anything to take himself out of tournaments.

Patrick Reed

The brash, cocky, energetic Patrick Reed will tee it off against Spieth and Co. As it stands right now, he’s not getting the love he deserves as a four-time winner under the age of 24. It was acknowledged, but Spieth’s recent charge (which included a win in a playoff over Reed at the Valspar) has snuffed out Reed’s flame.

If Spieth is the white knight, then Reed is the villain. After shooting a 74 in Round 3 at Augusta, Reed bounced.

CBSSports.com’s Robby Kalland wrote, “Being upset with a round is understandable and the Augusta State product puts a lot of pressure on himself at the Masters, but bouncing early is not a good look for the 24-year-old, who already has the image of being a bit immature.”

Reed has the game and an edge, and while he may be what golf traditionalists hate, he’s also what golf needs: someone who is a little frayed, someone to cut through the impeccable luster cast by Spieth.

The Dark Horses

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Ernie Els

Ernie Els was one of the surprises in the early rounds of the Masters. He fired a five-under 67 to open the tournament.

Els piped two sub-70 rounds at the Arnold Palmer Invitational two tournaments before the Masters. Coupled with his early run at Augusta, he appeared to have his groove back.

“(Spieth) is obviously playing great golf,” said Els in David Scott’s Charlotte Observer story. “I don’t want to wish anything bad, but if he takes his foot off the gas (he can give) you a bit of hope to catching him. I shot (67 and 68 two weeks ago). Let’s see where that takes me. That’s about as good as a man can do.”

Spieth kept going, and Els was the one who fell off the gas. He slipped back to two under for the Masters and remains a threat to win the RBC Heritage.

Graeme McDowell

Graeme McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champ, hasn’t had a winning go of things lately. He withdrew from the Valero Texas Open with an ankle injury and missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in consecutive weeks.

Entering the Masters, McDowell was excited and focused on parts of his game he felt were improving. McDowell said in a Press Assocation story (h/t The National):

"

Sometimes I have required a padded cell when I’ve walked off the 18th green because I have got frustrated, but I have learnt to understand why the course frustrates you, because it makes you play with the handbrake on. You have to take it off sometimes and play aggressively to conservative targets.

That’s a sort of sports psychology thing, but it means you take shots on that you fancy and if you don’t like it you have to play safe. Sometimes it can be dangerous to be playing extremely well coming in here because it gets you to take too much on.

"

It could be the start of an encouraging spring for McDowell. He made the cut at the Masters and wheels right back in the RBC, making him a viable dark horse.

Honorable mention: Sean O’Hair, Chris Kirk, Matt Every

Prediction

Kuuuuuuch!

Kuchar won this tournament a year ago with a dramatic chip-in on the 72nd hole to overcome a four-shot deficit.

"I heard the crowd go crazy," Kuchar told The Associated Press (via PGATour.com). "Then I went crazy."

Players who come in as the defending champion have a mental edge. Matt Every won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and Scott Stallings finished second in a playoff at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Spieth will have a letdown of sorts, and Kuchar will be there to take this tournament.