Coastal Winds, Cold Cash: My 2026 RBC Heritage Betting Guide

Unlike Rory McIlroy at The Masters last week, I wasn't able to defend my title, but I have another shot to go back-to-back at the 2026 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Last year, I hit Justin Thomas at +2000 to snap his losing skid at the RBC Heritage. That was the biggest golf betting win of my life, and man, I need another cash like that this week. 

I dropped -2.8 units (u) at The Masters, and my 2026 PGA TOUR bankroll fell to -12.86u. From backing a discounted Ludvig Åberg to finding "vibe" bets in links-specialist Robert MacIntyre, we’re hunting for elite iron players who thrive in coastal winds. Here are my best bets and a contrarian "One-And-Done" pick for the RBC Heritage to help me climb those Mayo Cup standings.

2026 RBC Heritage Best Bets

The following odds are based on my previous bets on the golfers listed below. Subject to change. 

• Ludvig Åberg +2432 (0.85u) and Top-5 with ties +398 (0.25u), both at Kalshi
• Robert MacIntyre +4000 via BetMGM (0.4u) and Top-10 with ties +265 (0.5u) via Kalshi
• Viktor Hovland +4544 (0.44u) and Top-10 with ties +330 (0.5u), both at Kalshi
• Akshay Bhatia +6566 (0.3u) and Top-10 with ties +425 (0.25u), both at Kalshi
• Sahith Theegala +7800 via DraftKings (0.26u) and Top-20 with ties +240 via Kalshi (0.5u)

Ludvig Åberg 

Simply put, this is just a "good number". Ludvig closed at +1600 for The Masters last week, and I found a +2432 at Kalshi for the RBC Heritage. This is an easier field without Rory, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Tyrrell Hatton, and Harbour Town is a much easier course than Augusta. 

Åberg is trading for a higher price this week because people are butt-hurt that he was only T21 at The Masters after finishing second as a debutant in 2023 and 7th last year, and Augusta is a better fit for his skill set. Ludvig is, at worst, a top-three driver in golf behind maybe Rory and Bryson, and guys use "less than driver" off the tee a lot at Harbour Town. 

Ludvig Åberg hits a tee shot on the 11th hole during the third round of the 2025 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo credit: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

But the Swede's maiden PGA TOUR victory, The 2023 RSM Classic, was on another short course on an island, similar to Harbour Town, and he has been crushing it lately. Before The Masters, Ludvig finished a T3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and two T5s at THE PLAYERS Championship and the Valero Texas Open. 

Lastly, there is a narrative that guys who contended at The Masters typically struggle at the RBC Heritage the following week because they are disappointed by not winning a green jacket, and mentally and physically drained. Well, Åberg was never in the mix at The Masters last week, and he is young and athletic, so he won't be worn down from walking the hilly Augusta terrain. 

Robert MacIntyre

This is a "vibe" bet because MacIntyre has sucked in both visits to Harbour Town and last week in Augusta. He finished T66 in last year’s RBC Heritage and T59 in 2021. 

Plus, you need to be dialed in with your irons to win at Harbour Town, and Bobby Mac ranked 123rd on TOUR Strokes Gained (SG): Approach (APP) entering The Masters. Then, MacIntyre lost the second-most strokes with his irons after the first two rounds at Augusta last week and missed the cut. 

Nevertheless, I’m going out on a limb and betting Bobby Mac to get off the mat this week because he hit his irons well when finishing fourth at THE PLAYERS Championship last month and T2 at the Valero Texas Open in his last two starts before The Masters. 

More importantly, Harbour Town should be a good place for him. This is a links-style course with coastal winds, which are more of a thing in Europe, and MacIntyre is Scottish, and he won the 2025 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship this past October. 

Finally, Harbour Town is a "gettable course," where you have to score birdies. Well, Bobby Mac ranked fifth on TOUR this season in birdie-or-better rate (BoB%) entering The Masters last week and second in Par 4 scoring, and there are 11 Par-4s at Harbour Town.

Viktor Hovland 

The RBC Heritage is essentially a pitch-and-putt contest. Chipping is Hovland’s kryptonite, but gaining strokes around the green at Harbour Town is easy. Also, Thomas won last year’s RBC Heritage despite losing strokes off the tee. Harbour Town is a "less than driver," which has been the weakest club in Viktor’s bag this season. 

Viktor Hovland hits out of the bunker during the 2025 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town. (Photo Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images)

However, he is one of the best on TOUR with his irons, and nearly half of the approach shots at Harbour Town are within 150-200 yards. Viktor is 17th in this field for SG: APP this year, and he leads this field in proximity to the hole from 150-200 yards, according to Betsperts Golf. That just leaves putting, where Hovland has been average this season. 

Yet, we’ve seen Hovland putt his way to victory at the Memorial in 2023, the BMW Championship later that season, and the Valspar last year. Lastly, he finished T13 at Harbour Town last season and shot in the 60s in all four rounds, while gaining strokes across the board: Driving, on approach, chipping, and putting.

Akshay Bhatia 

I picked JT here last year because he was lighting courses up, and my whole thing was "scoring". Well, Akshay is second in this field in BoB%, third in SG: APP, and fourth in SG: Putting over the last 20 rounds, per Betsperts Golf, which includes three signature events, THE PLAYERS and The Masters. 

Furthermore, you don’t need to be good off the tee to win at Harbour Town because the driver usage is 13.3% lower here than the TOUR average. Bahtia won the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month despite losing more than four strokes with his driver. 

Akshay missed the cut at The Masters last week. But, I’m overlooking that because Augusta is a completely different course than Harbour Town, and he had a weird lead-up after playing the Hero Indian Open on the DP World Tour for sponsors between THE PLAYERS and The Masters. 

Bhatia finished T6 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February while gaining strokes across the board, and Pebble Beach is a links-style course with small greens, like Harbour Town.

Sahith Theegala

I've lost so much money on Sahith over the years, but he's back in my good graces after cashing a Top-20 ticket for me at the Texas Children's Houston Open last month by finishing T10. Theegala sucked at Harbour Town last year (69th) and in his debut in 2022 (T70), but he finished T5 in 2023 and 2nd two years ago. 

The driver is by far Sahith's weakest club in the bag. He is a spike-iron player and elite on and around the greens when playing well. I'm overlooking last year's 69th because Theegala's 78-to-1 odds fit my RBC Heritage budget, and he had an injury-plagued 2025 season. 

Otherwise, he's had five Top-20s in 10 starts and is gaining across the board over the last 24 rounds. Meanwhile, Sahith's Top-20 with ties is a lock, and I'd be pissed if he won and didn't have an outright bet on him, which probably isn't the smart way to bet golf, but whatever. 

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RBC Heritage 2026 ‘One-And-Done Pick’: Ludvig Åberg 

2026 Mayo Cup Season Standings: 4,217th with $2,232,642

As you can see, Ludvig will have low ownership, probably because of the aforementioned reasons: Only tying for 21st at The Masters last week, and he uses his best club, the driver, less at Harbour Town than at your average PGA TOUR stop. Moreover, since I have to gain ground in the Mayo Cup, I'm using Åberg as a contrarian play. 

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Follow me on X @Geoffery-Clark, and check out my OutKick Bets Podcast for more betting content and random rants. I'll add bets to my PGA Tour 2026 betting record via X throughout the entire season.