Sandman Golf Crush & Fade: The RBC Heritage + Corales

Welcome to Crush & Fade on Enter Sandman Sports. Or should I say Crushed & Faded?  After a lengthy hiatus I am back to talk golf with Sandman Nation.  For those that don’t know I just got a new job recently and I have been heads down trying to ramp up and get off to a good start.  But, after getting my feet underneath me a little bit I thought it was time to get back to the golf picks!

TGL

I haven’t talked with you all since the end of the inaugural season of TGL.  What did you all think of it?  I would love to hear your takes at bill@entersandmansports.com.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and congrats to the Atlanta Drive who bested the New York Golf Club 2-0 in the best of three final series.  I didn’t expect either of these teams to be there in the end but the quality of the matches was there throughout the playoffs.  The team of Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel and Justin Thomas (w/sub Lucas Glover) seemed to have great camaraderie all season and made clutch putts and great swings down the stretch to capture the first ever SoFi Cup.  Here is to hoping that the league continues to make tweaks and improvements and add superstar talent and big personalities to the league.  I heard a rumor that Dallas might be an expansion team soon and it would be awesome to add Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and others to the indoor golf mix.

The Masters

Rory McIlroy.  Rory McIlroy.  Rory McIlroy.  Say it with me people…in one of the most unforgettable sporting events of my lifetime he lost the tournament, the Green Jacket, the career grand slam and his mind multiple times on Sunday.  Then only to rebound and rally every single time culminating in a 1^st playoff hole victory over his good friend and Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose.  This tournament delivers every single year on the most iconic course on the PGA Tour.  The 89^th Masters was one for the ages.  Congratulations to Rory (and to Harry Diamond his lifelong friend and caddie) for becoming the 6^th man every to complete the Career Grand Slam.  Incredible theater.  Incredible drama.  Incredible golf.  Just awesome from start to finish.

RBC Heritage (Signature Event)

This week the Tour heads north to Hilton Head to play at Harbour Town Golf Links and compete for another jacket.  This time tartan.  Every year this feels like a weird booby prize after the thrills of Augusta National.

The defending champion is Scottie Scheffler.  He rolled to a 19-under performance last year topped off by a dominant 8-under 63 on moving day Saturday.

I have my eyes on a few guys this week who have shown the proven capability at Harbour Town the past few years.

Sandman Top Bets

If it ain’t broke pick of the week…Scottie Scheffler +425 to defend his title and grab his first PGA Tour victory of the 2025 campaign. 

A reminder that each week I will highlight some players I think might be good plays in this category. I might stretch to find the value and steer clear of the chalky plays in some tournaments.

I am a golf picker that loves recent form and course history more than anything.

So as I jump back in on making my weekly Crush & Fade picks, I am locked in on Top10 plays and really like defending champ Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners, Shane Lowry and a longer play with Christiaan Bezuidenhout this week.

• Scottie Scheffler is the defending champ and I secures his 1^st victory of 2025 this week.  While it feels like he has been fairly mediocre this season after his hand injury at the beginning of the season he is right there poised for a breakthrough win.  In 7 starts this year he has 7 Top25s with 4 Top10s.  He is due.
• Corey Conners has all the pieces working right now.  He was mediocre around this golf course last year but his form has been stellar coming in.  He continues to rack up Top10 finishes and his ball striking is always on point.  This course doesn’t require the short-game wizardry that Augusta National does and Corey has been finding improvements with the flatstick as well so I look for him to compete for the Tartan Jacket this week.
• Shane Lowry is eager to show how his game translates here after a slow 2024 performance.  He had good 1^st and 3^rd rounds last year with poor 2^nd and 4^th rounds taking him out of contention.  Shane’s game has been really solid and even though he was not firing on all cylinders Sunday around Augusta I think his accuracy and iron play will be well-suited for this course. 
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout has been playing solid and has the game to compete at Harbour Town.  Throw out one bad round last year and he easily slots into the Top10.  He completed his tournament in 2024 with a solid 6-under 65 so he has good vibes teeing off on Thursday.

CRUSH: Scottie Scheffler WIN +435 CRUSH: Corey Conners Top10 +210 CRUSH: Shane Lowry Top10 +200 CRUSH: Christiaan Bezuidenhout Top10 +1000

Picking guys to FADE can be a bit trickier given there isn’t a bet you are playing but rather looking at some of the chalkier picks that I think might struggle this week.

Matt Fitzpatrick is a former champion of this event.  His family vacationed here and he seems to be very comfortable around the golf course.  But, I’m still not completely buying his mini-resurgence around Augusta National this past week.  I would FADE him on any Top5 or Top10 plays until he shows a bit more consistency.

Jordan Spieth is also a former champion.  But, his game is so all over the place and Harbour Town demands accuracy off the tee as well as with your irons on approach.  Jordan’s ability to manufacture a score out of some horrendous situations is uncanny, but I think ultimately the inconsistency in his tee to green game costs him a Top10 finish this week.

FADE: Matt Fitzpatrick Top10 +500 FADE: Jordan Spieth Top10 +275

Corales Puntacana Championship (alternate event)

Short and sweet for my Corales picks this week.  I’m going with three picks to WIN the golf tournament.  When in the Dominican Republic go big or go home!

• Aldrich Potgieter bombs the ball which plays well at the Corales.  I look for him to be a good risk vs reward play to top the podium this week.
• Rafael Campos has all the vibes going his way after competing at Augusta National last week for the first time.  He returns to his home away from home where he has had a ton of success over the years.  I look for him to rinse & repeat on this golf course.
• Alex Smalley is my horse for the course this week.  He has cooled considerably coming in this week but is four-for-four with four Top25s here including a T2 and a T6 last year.

CRUSH: Aldrich Potgieter WIN +3300 CRUSH: Rafael Campos WIN +12500 CRUSH: Alex Smalley WIN +1600

Good luck this week!

The Sandman