The RBC Heritage, known for much of its history as the Heritage Classic or simply The Heritage, is a

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

event in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, first played in 1969. It is currently played in mid-April, the week after

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major golf championships, men's major championships in Professional golf tours, professional golf. Schedul ...

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. The venue for its entire existence has been the Harbour Town Golf Links at the Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island. The Harbour Town course, which frequently appears on several "Best Courses" lists, was designed by famed golf course architect Pete Dye, with assistance from

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, the first two rounds were played on both the Harbour Town Golf Links and the Ocean course at Sea Pines, with the final two rounds at Harbour Town. Originally played in late November, it moved to mid-September in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, March in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, and April in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. The inaugural champion in 1969 was forty-year-old

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

, his first win in over a year. Course co-designer Nicklaus won in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, two weeks before his fifth Masters win.

Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III (born April 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has won 21 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship: the 1997 PGA Championship. He won the Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. He was in th ...

leads with five victories in the event,

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. ...

and Stewart Cink have three, while seven others have won twice. From

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

through

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, it was sponsored either by MCI (under both the "MCI" and "WorldCom" names) or its eventual purchaser,

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

. The tournament operated without a title sponsor in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, and the

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...

has been the title sponsor of The Heritage since

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. It is currently organized by The Heritage Classic Foundation.

Course

*The course length at the inaugural event in 1969 was .

Invitational status

The Heritage is one of only five tournaments given "invitational" status by the

, and consequently it has a reduced field of only 69 players in 2024 (as opposed to most full-field open tournaments with a field of 156 players). The other four tournaments with invitational status are the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Charles Schwab Challenge, the

Memorial Tournament The Memorial Tournament (branded as the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Inc., Workday for sponsorship reasons, and also referred to as simply the Memorial) is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on ...

, and the Genesis Invitational. Invitational tournaments have smaller fields, and have more freedom than full-field open tournaments in determining which players are eligible to participate in their event, as invitational tournaments are not required to fill their fields using the PGA Tour Priority Ranking System. Furthermore, unlike full-field open tournaments, invitational tournaments do not offer open qualifying (aka Monday qualifying).

Field

The field consists of 69 players invited using the following criteria: # RBC Heritage winners prior to 2000 and in the last five years # U.S. Open or

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

winners prior to 2005 playing 15 events in prior year #

The Players Championship The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as THE PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The ...

and major championship winners in the last five years # The Tour Championship and

World Golf Championships The World Golf Championships (WGC) were a group of annual professional golf tournaments played from 1999 through 2023 created by the International Federation of PGA Tours as a means of gathering the best players in the world together more freque ...

winners in the past three years # Winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and

in the past three years # Prior year

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

winner (if still amateur) # Winner FedEx Cup in the last five years # Playing member of last named U.S.

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

team; current PGA Tour members who were playing members on last named European Ryder Cup team, U.S.

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

team, and International Presidents Cup team # Top 50

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

through two weeks prior to the commitment deadline # 8 sponsors exemptions – 2 from

Korn Ferry Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

finals, 2 members not otherwise exempt, and 4 unrestricted # Commissioner exemption - 2 foreign players # PGA Section (Carolinas) champion/player of the year # Career Money Exemption # Life members # Top 125 from prior year's

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...

points list, including top 125 (medical) # Members in the top 125 non-member category whose non-WGC points equal or exceed the points by the player finishing in 125th on the prior year FedEx Cup points list # Tournament winners (PGA Tour eligibility category 10) # Top 20 on current FedEx Cup points list through Friday prior to the tournament # Next five available players not otherwise eligible from current year's FedEx Cup points list # Remaining positions filled using standard PGA Tour eligibility ranking after top 125 non-member category

Playing history

The tournament has been played in the month of * November (1969–72) * September (1973) * March (1974–82) - usually two weeks before the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

* April (1983– ) - usually the week after the Masters Tournament ** Exception: In 2020, it was postponed until June due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Winners

''Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.''
Sources:

Multiple winners

Ten men have won this tournament more than once through 2024. *5 wins **

: 1987, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2003 *3 wins **

: 1971, 1973, 1994 ** Stewart Cink: 2000, 2004, 2021 *2 wins **

Johnny Miller John Laurence Miller (born April 29, 1947) is an American former professional golfer. He was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s. He was the first to shoot 63 in a major championship to win the 1973 U.S. Open, and he ran ...

: 1972, 1974 ** Hubert Green: 1976, 1978 ** Tom Watson: 1979, 1982 **

Fuzzy Zoeller Frank Urban "Fuzzy" Zoeller Jr. (; born November 11, 1951) is an American professional golfer who has won ten PGA Tour events including two major championships. He is one of three golfers to have won the Masters Tournament in his first appea ...

: 1983, 1986 **

Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane acciden ...

: 1989, 1990 ** Boo Weekley: 2007, 2008 ** Jim Furyk: 2010, 2015

Highlights

* 1969:

wins the inaugural edition of the tournament. He finishes three shots ahead of Richard Crawford and Bert Yancey. * 1971: Future three-time U.S. Open Champion,

, makes Heritage his first ever PGA Tour victory. He beats Bob Lunn by one shot. * 1976: Hubert Green wins by five shots over

Jerry McGee Jerry McGee (July 21, 1943 – March 31, 2021) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Early life and amateur career McGee was born in New Lexington, Ohio. He attended Ohio State University an ...

. It was Green's third consecutive win in as many weeks. * 1980:

George Archer George William Archer (October 1, 1939 – September 25, 2005) was an American professional golfer who won 13 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the Masters in 1969. Early life Archer was born in San Francisco, Cali ...

sets a PGA Tour record for fewest putts in a 72-hole tournament, 94. The previous mark was 99 set by

Bob Menne Robert Menne (February 19, 1942 – June 2, 2023) was an American professional golfer. He played on the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour, and the European Seniors Tour. Early life and amateur career Menne was born and raised in Gardner, Massach ...

. Kenny Knox would subsequently break Archer's record at the 1989 MCI Heritage Golf Classic. * 1984:

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...

wins his first PGA Tour event by one shot over

Tom Kite Thomas Oliver Kite Jr. (born December 9, 1949) is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He won the U.S. Open in 1992 and spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1989 and 1994. Early life a ...

. He is the first Englishman to win on

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

soil since Tony Jacklin at the 1972

Greater Jacksonville Open The Greater Jacksonville Open was a PGA Tour event that was played from 1945 until 1976. Shortly after World War II, the Jacksonville Open began play as a PGA Tour event in Jacksonville, Florida at the Hyde Park Golf Club until it was discontinu ...

. * 1987:

wins by one shot over Steve Jones. Jones had come to the 72nd hole leading by one but made a double bogey after his tee shot went out of bounds. * 1990:

becomes the first Heritage champion to successfully defend his title. He beats Larry Mize and Steve Jones in a sudden death playoff. * 1994: Hale Irwin collects his 20th overall and last PGA Tour win at Harbour Town. He wins by two shots over

Greg Norman Gregory John Norman (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian former professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as List of World Number One male golfers, world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA ...

. * 1998: Davis Love III becomes the first four-time Heritage winner. He wins by seven shots over Glen Day. Day would avenge his loss the next season for his only PGA Tour win. * 2003: Davis Love III wins his fifth Heritage by defeating Woody Austin in a sudden death playoff. To get in the playoff, Love chipped in from off the green at the 72nd hole. * 2005: Peter Lonard wins by two shots over

Darren Clarke Darren Christopher Clarke (born 14 August 1968) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions and has previously played on the European Tour and PGA Tour. He has won 21 tournaments worldwide on ...

, Jim Furyk, Billy Andrade, and Davis Love III. Clarke was tied for the lead when teeing off on the 72nd hole, but like Steve Jones did in 1987, he hit his tee shot out of bounds and made double bogey.

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

breaks Mark Calcavecchia's record of 93 putts in a 72-hole tournament by hitting only 92 putts. * 2007 Boo Weekley chips in on the last two holes for his first ever PGA Tour victory. He wins by one shot over Ernie Els. * 2010: Jim Furyk defeats Brian Davis in a sudden death playoff. On the first playoff hole, Davis calls a two-shot penalty on himself after he touched a loose impediment in a hazard with his golf club. * 2013: A PGA Tour record-tying 91 players make the 36-hole cut, (a record set at the 1981 Greater Hartford Open).

Jesper Parnevik Jesper Bo Parnevik (; born 7 March 1965) is a Swedish professional golfer. He spent 38 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking in 2000 and 2001. Early years and amateur career Parnevik was born in Botkyrka, Stockholm County, a ...

bogeyed the 18th hole, giving Parnevik and 21 additional golfers entry into the third round. * 2017: Wesley Bryan earns his first PGA Tour win by one stroke. * 2024:

Scottie Scheffler Scott Alexander Scheffler (born June 21, 1996) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He is currently ranked world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, and has held that position for over 100 weeks. He has won th ...

becomes the first golfer in 39 years to win the RBC Heritage after winning the Masters.

References

External links

*
Coverage on the PGA Tour's official site
{{coord, 32.136, N, 80.810, W, display=t, type:event PGA Tour events Golf tournaments in South Carolina MCI Communications Recurring sporting events established in 1969 1969 establishments in South Carolina Hilton Head Island, South Carolina