The PGA Tour is all set to host the RBC Heritage tournament at the Harbour Town Golf Links. The upcoming tournament has a history of over 55 years, and was started way back in 1969. Arnold Palmer was the inaugural winner of the event and was 40 years old at that time of his win.
Interestingly, World Golf Hall Of Fame members such as Hale Irwin, Sir Nick Faldo, and Bernhard Langer won the RBC Heritage as their first official victory on the PGA Tour. Meanwhile, another Hall of Fame member, Hubert Green’s first prominent win on the Tour came at Harbour Town Golf Links, way before his two major wins.
Apart from these four players, Jack Nicklaus, Payne Stewart, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Davis Love III, and Tom Watson are among the other World Golf Hall Of Famer members to win the RBC Heritage in their careers.
Exploring History, Previous Champions, And Interesting Facts About The RBC Heritage
The RBC Heritage tournament is one of the five events of the PGA Tour with an “invitational” status. It has a limited field of 132 players and has different sets of eligibility criteria. The event is scheduled in the week following the Masters Tournament.
RBC Heritage is played on the Harbour Town Golf Links which was designed by Pete Dye, with inputs from legendary Jack Nicklaus. It is a par 71 course stretching across to 7,191 yards. Since 2023, the tournament has offered a massive prize purse of $20 million, with the winner receiving $3.6 million in prize money.
Here are some facts about the previous winners and the tournament:
- Davis Love III is the most successful player in the history of the tournament. He has won the prestigious event five times in 1987, 1991, 1992, 1998, and 2003. Hale Irwin (1971, 1973, 1994), and Stewart Cink (2000, 2004, 2021), are the tied second most successful players with three wins each.
- In the 2013 RBC Heritage, a record-tying 91 players made the cut after 36 holes.
- Also, the Harbour Town Golf Links tournament happens to be Sir Nick Faldo’s first PGA Tour victory in 1984. Interestingly, he became the first Englishman since Tony Jacklin in the 1972 Greater Jacksonville Open, to win a tournament on American soil.
- In 1990, Payne Stewart became the first player to successfully defend the RBC Heritage title. Later on, Davis Love III became the second and last player to achieve this feat.
- Hale Irwin’s 1994 win was his 20th and last PGA Tour win.
Matt Fitzpatrick is the defending champion this year. The golfer finished in the top-10 at the Valero Texas Open and the Players Championship, but he ended up at T22 at the Masters leaderboard. Fitzpatrick has had an average season so far, missing the cut in two events. He will hope to gain back his form with a win at the upcoming tournament.
