This April marked the 43rd Heritage Tournament on Hilton Head Island, and hopefully not the last. While as of this writing the tournament's future is in doubt, (more on that in a moment) the immutable fact is this event has been a marquee stop on the PGA Tour, and both a fan and player favorite for more than four decades. It seems impossible to consider the tournament disappearing, but if all good things must come to an end, at least there are some indelible memories, and an incredible roster of past champions to hang our collective community hat on.

The tournament has had more name changes than the late Elizabeth Taylor. It began as the Heritage Classic in 1969. It morphed into the Sea Pines Heritage Classic a few years later. Then it was the MCI Heritage Classic, then the MCI Classic, then the Worldcom Classic, The Heritage, the Verizon Heritage, and now once again, The Heritage. But with apologies to Shakespeare, a PGA Tour event at Harbour Town in springtime, by any other name, would smell as sweet. It goes beyond the seaside setting, the gentle breezes swaying moss-draped hardwoods, the sunlit fairways, and the bonhomie of what can generally be described as an ultra good-looking and well-dressed crowd.

Although some big names will be missing, the field of 144 that tees off Thursday includes half of the top 10 in the FedEx points standings, world top-10 performers Luke Donald, Brandt Snedeker and Matt Kuchar and seven of the top 14 on this year’s earning list.   Eleven are major champions, including two from 2012 — Webb Simpson (U.S. Open) and Ernie Els (British Open). The entire cast of the U.S. Open finish —Simpson, Graeme McDowell, Michael Thomson and Jim Furyk — will compete for the winner’s share of the $5.8 million purse. The age spectrum includes Vijay Singh, who is pushing 50, and Jordan Spieth, the teenage phenom who earned more than $500,000 in his first four events.

“Our objective is to learn and do better,” said longtime tournament director Steve Wilmot.

For the first time, the SCGA will host a hospitality tent for the general public during the RBC Heritage and will at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday and Friday and at 10:30 on Saturday and Sunday.


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