Graeme McDowell confirms appearance in The Heritage golf tournament – Golf news
Graeme McDowell has confirmed his appearance in the 43rd edition of The Heritage golf tournament, which will take place at the Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island from 18 – 24 April, 2011.
The Professional Golfers Association Tour event has $5.7 million on stake with $1.026 million going to the winner. 132 players will compete for the winner prize and 500 FedEx points.
The world number four was not certain about his appearance in the tournament, as it was facing trouble in finding a major sponsor. However, after failing to relish success in past two events on the PGA Tour, the player decided to give it a shot. He committed with the tournament to make a comeback in the event he had been skipping for six years. McDowell’s last appearance in The Heritage was in 2005, when he failed to make the halfway cut into the weekend.
The Northern Irish golfer does not share a good chemistry with the course and the event. The highest finish he relished was a share in the 70th spot in 2004. However, that happened seven years back, when McDowell was new on the PGA circuit.
Currently, the situation is different. The veteran is the fourth seed in the world and the winner of US Open 2010. This means that he has strong chance of winning, provided he harbours his form on the par-72 course.
However, the 31-year-old is not alone in te bid for the victory. He will be joined by the defending champion Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, Trevor Immelman and Matt Kuchar. Players like these will help attracting sponsors for the next season’s event, as the future of the tournament seems in jeopardy. The tournament officials failed to entice a major sponsor for the event and instead had to return to the county for funds.
Despite facing the failure, the governor of South Carolina, where the tournament will take place swore to protect the future of the event. Nikki Haley said, “We will not lose it,” in front of locals at Hilton Head High School, where he broke the news of several professionals coming to the county.
