RBC Heritage tips: Scottie Scheffler holds appeal, Shane Lowry and Sam Burns in running

Usually considered a mid-tier PGA Tour event, this year sees its status upgraded to one of the Tour's 14 'elevated events' which means a strong field will assemble here at Hilton Head, although we may see a few high-profile call-offs after a gruelling week weather wise in Augusta.

This track is one of architect Pete Dye's most famous creations and has hosted this event for over 50 years now.

Bermuda grass surfaces, plenty of sand and water with a signature finishing hole, a 467-yard par 4 with the iconic lighthouse in the background.

It shares a strong correlation with both other Dye designs and the various shorter courses used on tour. It also boasts a strong course history record with multiple winners of this event.

The course itself couldn't be more different from last week's venue - we're swapping wide open fairways for narrow tree-lined corridors, accuracy from the tee is at a premium here.

Measuring in at 7,125 yards, it ranks amongst the shortest on tour, meaning the big hitters will find their length advantage negated.

We will see plenty of drivers being left in the bag this week as finding not only the fairway, but the right side of the short stuff, is key to attacking the small but relatively flat greens here.

The course cannot be overpowered and will require a range of shot making as players will need to move the ball left and right to avoid overhanging branches.

Overall, this is a short, fiddly and technical test that requires every shot in the bag.

With Rory McIlroy's withdrawal, the three at the top of the betting are last week's winner Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay.

Of those three, Scheffler holds the most appeal although he is battling an ice-cold putter. Any improvement on the greens will see him go close here.

I'm content to look slightly further down the market this week with a pair in the 28-1 to 35-1 price range, starting with Shane Lowry, who is likely to be a popular pick this week.

He was highly impressive from tee to green last week at Augusta and has finished third here at Harbour Town twice in the last four years.

Next up is Sam Burns. His five previous PGA Tour wins have all come on shorter courses, including twice at the Valspar Championship at Copperhead which is a good comparison course for Harbour Town, and an eye-catching victory at The World Matchplay three weeks ago on another Pete Dye design.

With this event coming at the end of a hectic spell of golf for most of the others in the field, both are well rested after missing last week's Masters.

Dahman's best work comes on shorter courses, he was 16th on debut in 2020 and 12th here last year.

Wallace, meanwhile, arrives after winning his first PGA Tour title on a short course in Puerto Rico three weeks ago - and has plenty of experience on this type of narrow, tree-lined set-up from his time on the European Tour.