Steve Palmer's RBC Heritage final-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

When to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 1pm Saturday

Best bets

Daniel Berger to win twoball
4pts 4-6 Betfair

Chris Stroud to win twoball
1pt 23-10 Hills

Story so far

The first two events in the PGA Tour's revised post-lockdown schedule have been wonderfully competitive affairs and the RBC Heritage is wide open with 18 holes to play.

Last week's Charles Schwab Challenge went down to the wire, with Daniel Berger finally defeating Collin Morikawa in a playoff, and there is a fair chance of extra holes in the RBC Heritage.

Four players are tied for the lead at the Harbour Town Links, South Carolina, with a round to go and 21 are within three shots of top spot. Webb Simpson is favourite, but freely available at 9-2.

Tyrrell Hatton, Abraham Ancer and Ryan Palmer are tied for first place with Simpson at 15 under par, and Berger is only one shot behind, seeking back-to-back triumphs. English duo Ian Poulter and Matthew Fitzpatrick are among the pack that are two shots off the pace, while the group at 12 under par is stacked with quality.

Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau are all three shots behind – and Koepka and Johnson will form a mouthwatering 5.40pm (UK and Ireland time) twoball. The final twoball of Hatton and Ancer is scheduled to tee off at 7.10pm, with Simpson and Palmer out ten minutes earlier.

Leaderboard
-15 Tyrrell Hatton, Abraham Ancer, Ryan Palmer, Webb Simpson
-14 Carlos Ortiz, Daniel Berger, Joel Dahmen
-13 Joaquin Niemann, Chris Stroud, Sergio Garcia, Erik van Rooyen, Michael Thompson, Ian Poulter, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Corey Conners
-12 Brice Garnett, Alex Noren, Andrew Landry, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau

Best prices
9-2 W Simpson, 13-2 T Hatton, 7 A Ancer, 11 R Palmer, 12 D Berger, 20 J Dahmen, B DeChambeau, M Fitzpatrick, 25 I Poulter, S Garcia, 28 B Koepka, 30 D Johnson, 33 J Niemann, C Conners, C Ortiz, 40 E Van Rooyen, 66 bar

Final-round preview

The RBC Heritage weekend puzzle seems even more challenging than that for the Charles Schwab – confidently predicting the champion is bold in the extreme.

Last weekend, Xander Schauffele was nominated as the value option at 10-1 – a wager which looked excellent until his short par putt at the 71st hole suffered a horseshoe lip-out. It is doubtful that any chickens can be counted at the Harbour Town Links until the final putt drops – there is an army full of top-class talent in contention.

Racing Post Sport followers can be pleased that they are on the favourite at 30-1 ante-post – Simpson seems the most likely winner – but this is not a time to be screaming “This will not be beaten!” from the rooftops. Simpson will have to play extremely well to convert this position into the trophy – there is precious little margin for error with so many class acts swarming all over the leaderboard.

Ian Poulter, another Racing Post Sport ante-post selection at 80-1, provides useful back-up to Simpson from a share of eighth place, but it would be a perfectly acceptable tactic to add players to the stable for this one-round shootout. Simpson, Poulter and one other would mean approaching what is likely to be an epic Sunday scrap with a bit more hope.

Punters yet to get involved should consider the 9-2 Simpson – a fair price about a man full of self-belief in the wake of his gutsy Phoenix Open victory in February. The former US Open and Players Championship winner has grown into a fierce competitor – his short-game skills among the best in the business – and Harbour Town Links is an ideal venue for him.

Anyone on Simpson at much juicier prices, though, should concentrate on the dangers – of which there are many for a hot, humid day with light breezes. It may be that the record 72-hole Harbour Town total of 20 under par – set by Brian Gay in 2009 – may need to be broken to access the silverware this time.

Daniel Berger at 12-1 is the best option for those already on Simpson and Poulter. There is every chance that Berger goes close to back-to-back victories in the wake of his third-round 63. Two birdies in his final three holes of a clean Saturday back-nine sent the Floridian to bed bursting with self-belief.

The current circumstances curtail hearty celebrations, so Berger could not mark his Colonial Country Club heroics with anything lavish. He was on the charter flight to Harbour Town with his game-face on – and it has shown over the first three rounds.

Simpson, Berger, Poulter and Matthew Fitzpatrick could be the best options in the outright betting, while Berger looks rock-solid at 4-6 to win his 6.50pm twoball against Carlos Ortiz.

A more speculative twoball selection is Chris Stroud to beat Sergio Garcia (6.30). Garcia may be unsettled by the fact he travelled alongside Nick Watney to Harbour Town this week. They took a private flight together from Austin, where they both live. Watney has subsequently tested positive for Covid-19.

If the Spaniard struggles to concentrate on his game, Stroud, who like Berger carded a Saturday 63, is in good enough form to upset the odds.

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport