E-Notes: Happy 40th birthday, Verizon Heritage

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• This week will mark the 40th playing of the Verizon Heritage. Since the first playing in 1969, major championship winners have won the event 28 times. Among the past champions at Harbour Town are Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Bob Goalby, Tom Watson (twice), Hale Irwin (3 times), Johnny Miller (twice), Nick Faldo, Davis Love III (five times), Bernhard Langer, Greg Norman, Payne Stewart (twice), Nick Price, Bill Rogers, Bob Tway, Justin Leonard, Fuzzy Zoeller (twice) and Hubert Green (twice).

• Winning the Verizon Heritage has often led to outstanding seasons. Of the previous 39 winners, 19 finished in the Top 10 by season's end with 13 finishing among the Top five.

Love III

• Davis Love III has not only won this event a record five times, he's also finished in the Top five nine times and the Top 10 11 times.

• Boo Weekley became the 10th first-time winner in Verizon Heritage history when he won in 2007. He is also the third consecutive first-time winner at this event, joining Peter Lonard in 2005 and Aaron Baddeley in 2006. The others are Hale Irwin (1971), Graham Marsh (1977), Doug Tewell (1980), Nick Faldo (1984), Davis Love III (1987), Glen Day (1999) and Jose Coceres (2001).

• Defending champion Boo Weekley will be looking to keep a 14-year streak intact. No defending champion has missed the cut at the Verizon Heritage since Davis Love III didn't make it to the weekend in 1993.

Weekley

• By winning in 2007, Boo Weekley became 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.

• Davis Love III, a five-time champion at Harbour Town and the tournament's leading money earner, will be making his 23rd straight appearance on Hilton Head Island. Love, from nearby Sea Island, Ga., has won 19 PGA TOUR events and more than $35 million in his career. Love turned 44 last week. He has celebrated his birthday numerous times at this event but never won the title on his birthday. Three of his wins have come on April 19, while the others have been on April 20 and April 21.

• The last three winners on the PGA TOUR have been in their 20s. Andres Romero (26) started the streak at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans followed by Johnson Wagner (28) at the Shell Houston Open. Trevor Immelman (28) continued the trend last week at the Masters Tournament.

• More on the 20 somethings: Six of the first 17 events this year have been won by players in their 20s D.J. Trahan, J.B. Holmes, Sean O'Hair, Andres Romero, Johnson Wagner and Trevor Immelman.

Snedeker

• One more on young guys: Of the Top-30 players on the FedExCup points list, eight are in their 20s -- the six players listed above, plus Brandt Snedeker and Steve Marino.

• With Trevor Immelman taking this week off, Bernhard Langer (1985) will remain the last player to win the week after winning the Masters. The closest anyone has come since was Vijay Singh who finished tied for third in 2000 at the Verizon Heritage.

• Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, will play in the event for the fourth time, after a sixth-place finish in 2007. It was the best performance by a Masters winner at the Verizon Heritage since Vijay Singh's tie for third in 2000.

• A look at a number of successful PGA TOUR players shows that while they struggled in their first season on TOUR, they learned something from it and came back the next time with the type of game needed to prosper. Just take a look at this list of players who lost their card in year one, but came back with a much better year two:

• So far this season, three other second-year TOUR players are showing similar signs of improvement: Parker McLachlin, John Merrick and Nicholas Thompson.

McLachlin is currently 93rd on the money list after finishing 137th last year, while Merrick has improved from 135th to 38th. Thompson played the TOUR in 2006 and finished 180th, but returned this year and is currently 46th.

What did they learn in year one? A look at the stats would indicate that they found they needed to tighten up their short games. Each player has made significant strides in improving some aspect of his short game. Here's a look at the key areas for each:

• There's still much of the PGA TOUR's Regular Season to go before the Playoffs begin for the FedExCup, but these three players have taken something from their first go-round and improved in ways that may result in all of them not only keeping their cards this time, but to advancing far into the Playoffs.