A tradition unlike any other.
No, we’re not talking about the Masters. We’re talking about going to Hilton Head Island the week after the year’s first major.
The RBC Heritage, played a few hours north of Augusta in South Carolina at Harbour Town Golf Links, has been a PGA Tour staple since 1969, when Arnold Palmer won. This year, an 80-player field will tee it up for the signature event that boasts a $20 million purse with the winner collecting $3.6 million.
From its field, course, history, tee times and how to watch, here’s what you need to know for the 2025 RBC Heritage.
2025 RBC Heritage Field
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler headlines the field, while Rory McIlroy opted not to play this week.
But with it being the fifth of eight signature events this season, a majority of the game’s top stars will tee it up on Hilton Head Island.
That includes 43 of the top 50 players in the world ranking and 56 players who competed in the Masters, seven of whom placed top-10: Justin Rose (runner-up), Scheffler (4th), Sungjae Im (T5), Ludvig Åberg (7th), Xander Schauffele (T8), Jason Day (T8) and Corey Conners (T8).
Players who earned a spot in the field via the Aon Swing 5, earning the most FedExCup points at the Puerto Rico Open, Valspar Championship, Texas Children’s Houston Open and Valero Texas Open for those not already exempt into the RBC Heritage, are Ryan Gerard, Karl Vilips, Gary Woodland, Ryo Hisatsune and Sami Valimaki. Aside from Woodland, they are all making their signature event debuts this year, along with Bud Cauley and Matt Kuchar.
The four sponsor’s exemptions are Rickie Fowler, Kuchar, Mackenzie Hughes and Jordan Spieth, who won this tournament in 2022 and lost in a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick two years ago
2025 RBC Heritage: Harbour Town
The vibes at Harbour Town are chill compared to Augusta National.
“Augusta, everything is really big at times and then you come here and everything is really, really small it seems like,” Scheffler said ahead of last year’s RBC Heritage. “It’s a great golf course. I think it’s a lot of fun to play. I think it’s very interesting.”
It’s not quite a British Open setup, but on the Calibogue Sound, it feels little like a links course. And at 7,213 yards, the Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus design does not put a premium on driving distance, as it’s one of the Tour’s shorter courses. Accuracy, though, is a different story—and windy conditions can throw a wrench into that game plan.
“I think for some people, distance debate type people if they’re ever looking at golf course design and how to combat people only trying to hit the ball really far, they need to come here and do a case study on this golf course because it’s really, really good,” Scheffler said. “You’ve got to curve the ball both directions, and you have to control your distance. You have to control where the golf ball is going. It’s not just a place where you can go bomb it.”
The par-71 is littered with trees, has an average green size of 3,700 square feet (the smallest on Tour), 51 bunkers and water in play on 18 holes. In 2024, it was the 35th hardest course on Tour (out of 50) with a scoring average of 69.351 (1.649 strokes under par).
Harbour Town’s hardest hole last year was the 192-yard, par-3 14th, which has water on the right half of the green. The hole’s scoring average was 3.127 (+0.127), making it the 140th toughest hole on Tour. Meanwhile, the course’s easiest hole is the 550-yard, par-5 2nd, which last season had a scoring average of 4.438 (-0.562), the 38th lowest on Tour.
The course’s 472-yard, par-4 18th has the widest fairway on Tour, at 81 yards. It’s not a gimme, though. Wind blows from the west and trees line the right.
One of the most famous blunders on No. 18 came in 1987. Steve Jones, who got into the field as an alternate, was leading on the 72nd hole when he sent his drive right, out of bounds. After re-teeing, he eventually made double and handed David Love III his maiden Tour victory. Love III went on to win a record five titles at Harbour Town.
If Tuesday at the #RBCHeritage were a movie, it would look like this. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/rsVGMrxQsT
— RBC Heritage (@RBC_Heritage) April 15, 2025
2025 RBC Heritage History
It won’t happen this year since McIlroy is not in the field, but only two players have followed a Masters triumph by slipping on a red tartan jacket at Harbour Town seven days later.
It was first accomplished in 1985. After winning his first Masters, Bernhard Langer found himself in a playoff against Bobby Wadkins, the brother of Hall of Famer Lanny, at the Sea Pines Heritage Classic. Wadkins hit his approach on the first bonus hole into the greenside bunker and couldn’t get up-and-down for par, while Langer safely two-putted for the win.
Langer was the first player since Gary Player in 1978 to follow the Masters with a win the next week. That year, Player won the MONY Tournament of Champions in California (today it's the Sentry set in Hawaii). The RBC Heritage wasn’t played in April until 1983.
Of course, Scheffler had back-to-back jacket ceremonies last year. The world No. 1 followed up his second career major win with a three-stroke victory over Sahith Theegala. It was his fourth win in five events and the first time since 2006 that someone won a major and Tour event in consecutive weeks (Tiger Woods at the ‘06 PGA Championship and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational).
Following in Langer’s and Woods’s footsteps, though, wasn’t necessarily on Scheffler’s mind wearing the tartan jacket.
“It was part of our plan this week to come here and play,” Scheffler said. “I was able to go home for a couple days and celebrate. I didn’t really put much thought into (going back-to-back). I had committed to playing the tournament. That’s really all it was. There really wasn’t too much thought on that. I committed to playing here, it was part of the plan, so we stuck to the plan.
“I talked about it at the beginning of the week; I didn't show up here just to have some sort of ceremony and have people tell me congratulations. I came here with a purpose.”
Scheffler continues to make history.
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) April 22, 2024
He’s the first player to win @TheMasters and @RBC_Heritage in back-to-back weeks since Bernhard Langer in 1985. pic.twitter.com/NS56Q2YGZ6
2025 RBC Heritage How to watch (all times EST)
- Thursday: 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
- Friday: 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
- Saturday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
- Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
ESPN+ will also have featured coverage each day, starting between 7:15 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m.
2025 RBC Heritage Round 1 and 2 tee times
Pairings and starting times for the first and second rounds of the RBC Heritage pic.twitter.com/oochrfFWoR
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) April 15, 2025
This article was originally published on www.si.com as 2025 RBC Heritage: How to Watch, Field, Course, History, Tee Times.
