Five things we learned from the RBC Heritage
Let's be honest, we're all incredibly busy. Nobody has time to sit down and watch four rounds of golf coverage -- unless, of course, you watch TV for a living, and if that's the case, please email us your number. So in an effort to condense the tournament coverage for you into a few quick hits, here are five things we learned from the RBC Heritage
Carl Pettersson is on a roll — It's funny how things can change in the blink of an eye. Just a week after Carl Pettersson missed his second consecutive cut of the season at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he showed up and posted a second-place finish at the Shell Houston Open. Despite missing out on the Masters, he kept the good vibes going two weeks later, winning for the fifth time in his PGA Tour career. Now 35th in the Official World Golf Ranking, the Swede is currently in the field for the 2013 Masters. And after another brilliant performance, finishing the week tops in putts per GIR and greens in regulation, there's a good chance this could be the start of a nice run for Pettersson. And to think, all it took was missing two cuts to make it happen.
It's time to put out an APB for Luke Donald's putting stroke — We tend to take players like Luke Donald for granted. One of the most consistent golfers on tour, you just expect him to show up and post top 10's. When you have one of the most pure putting strokes on tour, people just assume you're going to contend. But over the last couple of weeks, Donald's putter has gone ice cold. After averaging 1.61 putts (including four three-putts) at the Masters, things continued to go downhill at the RBC Heritage. Donald averaged 1.857 putts per GIR (tied for 69th in the field), a figure that seems unfathomable for one of the game's best putters. It's hard to tell where things went wrong for the No. 2-ranked player in the world, but something's clearly off at the moment.
Harbour Town Golf Links wins the distance battle — As club manufacturers continue to produce clubs that make the ball go a country mile, courses have tried their best to combat the increase in distance by growing out the rough and adding an additional 400-500 yards in an effort to make things interesting. At just 7,101 yards, you'd think Harbour Town Golf Links, one of the shorter tracks on the PGA Tour, would get killed. But that doesn't appear to be the case. Only 23 players in the field managed to break par for the week, and the course played over par all four days. With postage stamp greens and some of the narrowest fairways on tour, Harbour Town once again proved you don't have to be 7,600 yards to give golfers a serious test.
Another strong week for Harris English — Georgia Bulldogs have been making some noise on the PGA Tour this year. One week after Bubba Watson won the Masters, rookie Harris English posted his fifth top 25 finish of the season with a T8 at the RBC Heritage. The 22-year-old has only missed two cuts all season and seems to be embracing the life of being a professional golfer. He may not win a tournament this year, but based on the level of consistency he's produced, there's a good chance we'll see him in the winner's circle in the future.
Chip shots — Zach Johnson never had a chance to win the RBC Heritage, but his second-place finish was his best showing since a T3 at last year's John Deere Classic. ... John Daly made his second consecutive cut on the PGA Tour, finishing the week T52. ... Colt Knost's third-place finish was the best of his PGA Tour career.
