Verizon Heritage: Final-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Boo Weekley used a good formula to secure his first PGA TOUR win on Monday: He finished the week T5 in Total Driving and 6th in Putting Average. • Weekley earned $95,205.64 in 2002, his only other year on the PGA TOUR. With his win Monday ($972,000), he has already pocketed $1,672,825 in the 2007 season.  Once again, Ernie Els fell just short of victory at Harbour Town. (Steve Grayson/WireImage)
• Ernie Els is still looking for his first Verizon Heritage title. He has finished in the top-10 in 8 out of 10 starts in the event, with this year's solo second being his best finish. • With his victory, Boo Weekley earns an invitation to the 2008 Masters Tournament. Weekley is the first player eligible for the newly reinstated rule that grants all PGA TOUR winners during the regular FedExCup season an invite to the next Masters Tournament. • Weekley becomes the fifth player to win the Verizon Heritage in his first appearance at the event. Stewart Cink (2000), Jose Coceres (2001), Bob Goalby (1970), and Arnold Palmer (1969) all won the title in their first visit to Hilton Head Island. • Zach Johnson, who moves to ninth in the FedExCup standings, finished in solo sixth a mere eight days after claiming the title at the 2007 Masters Tournament. Johnson's finish is the best by a Masters winner playing in the Verizon Heritage the next week since Vijay Singh finished T3 in 2000. Bernhard Langer (1985) is the only Masters Champion to win the Verizon Heritage the week after winning the green jacket. • Weekley earns 4,500 FedExCup points with his win and vaults into eighth on the 2007 FedExCup points list. Vijay Singh, who did not play this week, remains atop the list with 12,361 points on the year. • Weekley's final-round 68 tied Stephen Leaney for the day's low round. They each joined Justin Leonard (69) as the only three players able to break 70 in the final round. • Monday's final round was delayed for 15 minutes to allow for the Harbour Town G.L. grounds crew to better prepare the golf course. Play began at 8:00 a.m. ET. • The PGA TOUR'S last Monday finish, this year's Honda Classic, also featured a first-time winner when Mark Wilson defeated Jose Coceres on the fifth playoff hole to claim his first victory. Boo Weekley and Camilo Villegas went out in the playoff on the second hole. The last time the Verizon Heritage ended on a Monday was in 2001, when Coceres was able to claim his maiden PGA TOUR victory. • Boo Weekley led the field in total eagles for the week with three. Nathan Green, who also had a double eagle in round two, and Jerry Kelly were tied for second with two each. • Weekley was the only player in the field to post all four rounds in the 60s. He joins Billy Mayfair (2006) as the only player to have pulled off this feat at the Verizon Heritage since 2003, when a record six players did so. The last winner to post four rounds in the 60s was Davis Love III in 2003. • Stephen Leaney quickly grabbed the lead on Monday morning when he played holes two through six in 6 under par (eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie). Leaney's front-nine score of 30 was the lowest for the final round and tied Stephen Ames (second round) for the lowest all week. • Defending champion Aaron Baddeley played well in his first career title defense. The Australian carded rounds of 70-66-70-72 en route to finishing T10 on the week. That marks the best finish by a defending champion in the event since Stewart Cink finished T10 in 2001 after winning his first of two Verizon Heritage titles in 2000. Baddeley collected 575 FedExCup points and moves to sixth on the FedExCup points standings for the 2007 season.
• Kevin Na recorded his first top-10 on the PGA TOUR since he lost to Geoff Ogilvy in a playoff at the 2005 Chrysler Classic of Tuscon. Na's dramatic chip-in for birdie on the par-4 18th allowed him to finish T4. • The low round of the week came from the first group off of No. 10 on Thursday. Jerry Kelly's round of 63 set the early standard and was not matched. • Kelly, who was the leader heading into the final round, fired a 77 on Monday and wound up T8. That marks his highest final round of the 2007 PGA TOUR season and highest since the 2006 Memorial Tournament when he shot 79. • The phrase "drive for show and putt for dough" certainly applies to this year's Verizon Heritage. Boo Weekley, Ernie Els, Stephen Leaney, Vaughn Taylor, Kevin Na, Sean O'Hair, Carl Petterson, Jerry Kelly, Tom Pernice Jr., and Ken Duke all finished in the top-10 for putting average on the week as well as the top-10 of the leaderboard. • The anticipation of strong winds forced tournament officials to move final-round tees on the par-3 17th from 185 yards to 132 yards. Players still struggled as the final round scoring average on the hole was 3.471, making it the hardest hole of the fourth round. • Harbour Town's final-round scoring average of 73.871 makes it the second-toughest final round course on the PGA TOUR in 2007 (in relation to par). Only the Bay Hill Club & Lodge have played harder with a final-round average of 74.513. • Weekley earns his first career PGA TOUR victory in his 35th career professional start on the PGA TOUR at the age of 33 years, eight months and 24 days. The victory earns him a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR that will take him through the 2009 season, as well as exemption into several invitational tournaments in 2007, most notable THE PLAYERS Championship, PGA Championship, World Golf Championship-Bridgestone Invitational. Next season he earns spots in the 2008 Mercedes Championships in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii and the Masters Tournament. • Weekley's victory comes in his first start at the Verizon Heritage. He becomes the 10th player to earn his first PGA TOUR victory at the Verizon Heritage, he joins: (1971) Hale Irwin, (1977) Graham Marsh, (1980) Doug Tewell, (1984) Nick Faldo, (1987) Davis Love III, (1999) Glen Day, (2001) Jose Coceres, (2005) Peter Lonard and (2006) Aaron Baddeley. • Weekley joins Aaron Baddeley (2006) and Bob Tway (1995) as the only players to win at Harbour Town Golf Links without playing in the Masters Tournament the prior week. He is the 10th player in 39-year history of tournament to win and not have a major championship under his belt, including five of the last 10. • He is the first United States-born player to win the Verizon Heritage since Stewart Cink won the event in 2004, as Australians Peter Lonard and Aaron Baddeley won the last two years. He is also the fourth first-time winner on the PGA TOUR in 2007, following Mark Wilson (Honda Classic), Henrik Stenson (World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship) and Charley Hoffman (Bob Hope Chrysler Classic). Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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