Verizon Heritage

April 16 - 19, 2009
Harbour Town Golf Links
Hilton Head, South Carolina
Par: 71/ Yardage: 6,973
Purse: $5.7 million with $1,026,000 going to the winner
Defending Champion: Boo Weekley

List of Champions & Scores

Results & Scores 2008 Verizon Heritage

Box Score of 2008 Verizon Heritage

Tournament facts:

Tournament information:

The first Verizon Heritage Classic was played to great fanfare in 1969 even though it was a "turkey" of an event. Originally it was just going to be an regular tournament on Hilton Head Island, giving away $45,000. But Charles Price, founding editor of Golf Magazine, talked to a few people including Charles Fraser who owned the new course Harbour Town and suggested that instead of a small tournament he should apply for PGA sanction. They scrambled around and raised the purse to $100,000, then got a date for the tournament which was Thanksgiving weekend. Jack Nicklaus, who was helping Pete Dye on the course played and brought some friends including Arnold Palmer who went out and one the first MCI Classic. They say that thanks to Palmer winning it put the tournament on the map and help create a nice tradition for a tournament in its first year.

The Verizon Heritage Classic was played over Thanksgiving weekend in its first four years. It was moved in 1974 to September and then the next year to March. Since 1983 its been played the week after the Masters.

Course information:

For a more comprehensive look at the course, look at this Course Overview done by PGA Tour.com

The Buzz:

As for winner Angel Cabrera, he arrived in his home of Villa Allende, Argentina on Tuesday, again to a hero's welcome. 30 years ago Cabrera started as a caddy and has risen to great success.

One person in attendance this week is Boo Weekley, the defending champion and he has been the greatest thing for the event. He is one of the most personable people in golf, people love to be with him and he shows everyone a good time. Other players on the PGA Tour should take notice of all of this, doing things like this is good PR and attracts other sponsors. Now Boo is going after the hat trick, and Doug Ferguson is reporting that in talks with the PGA Tour, the last player to make the same tournament his first three victories on the PGA Tour was Leonard Gullett, who captured the Wisconsin PGA in 1929, 1933 and 1934.

Now that the Masters is over, one-third of the season is gone and the next big event is the Players Championship, followed by the U.S. Open a month later. Couple of players with back problems, Mark Calcavecchia won't play at Version. Also out with a back injury but returning this week is Jeff Quinney who hasn't played since the Northern Trust.

Here are some things to look for this week:

Photo: © Rusty Jarrett/WireImage Looking down the 18th fairway at the Harbour Town links.

• Key stat for the winner:
  Harbour Town is one of the best courses in America, it's a totally different experience in which ball placement is upmost over power. Hitting it hard and far doesn't work at this venue so look for a precision player to win.
  So what will it take to win this week's Verizon Heritage Classic?
• What makes the course tough is the greens, at 4,300 square feet they are some of the smallest greens on the PGA Tour. Over the last eight years they have been difficult to hit, of all the tournaments the U.S. Open is the only one that ranks harder to hit than the greens of Hilton Head.
• Over the years putting and hitting greens have been key to winning at Harbour Town. It you look at the list of Heritage champions all of them are good putters, especially from the ten to twenty feet range.
• With greens as small as those Hilton Head scrambling is a very important element in being able to win. Just look at the recent winners to see how important this stat is. In 2007 Boo Weekley only took 97 putts and won the category, Aaron Baddeley was 7th in his win in 2006, Davis Love III was 3rd in his 2003 win, Justin Leonard was 7th in his 2002 win, Jose Coceres was 5th in 2001 and Nick Price was 3rd in 1997. Last year Weekley won with 107 putts and was T23rd.
• Heritage always seems to have dramatic finishes. In the last eight of the ten Heritage's, four of them have had playoffs, three have had a one stroke margin of victory while the other was two. Can't get any more excitement than in 2007 when Boo Weekley beat Ernie Els by a shot but he chipped in on 17 and 18 for the win. Last year's title was very different than past events as Weekley won by three shots.
• One other very important factor will come into effect this year, Mother Nature. Now the Masters may of had seven sunny great days and conventional wisdom says that it can't stay that good but it's going to. Look for perfect conditions for the four days of the championship.
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