The Top Five Most Memorable Moments in The History of The Heritage Tournament

~ Wire-to-wire! - In 2009, Brian Gay won the Verizon Heritage by a commanding 10 strokes for the second PGA TOUR victory of his career. Gay led the entire tournament wire-to-wire for one of the most dominating performances in the championship's history. ~

Undoubtedly, The Heritage, a long-standing PGA TOUR tournament hosted on the Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus-designed Harbour Town Golf Links, is generally overlooked by the Masters Tournament, which typically precedes it each year.

However, in spite of its lack of attention from the general public, the tournament has definitely provided its fair share of memorable moments for both golf fans and PGA TOUR professionals alike throughout the past forty years.

With such former champions as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Tom Watson, the tournament has annually attracted some of the game's most talented and beloved players since its founding in 1969.

Here are five of the most memorable tournaments in the entire history of The Heritage -

Davis Love III Collects His Record Fifth Victory (2003)

Throughout the 2003 season, Love was arguably playing the best golf of his entire career. With victories in both the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players Championship prior to the 2003 MCI Heritage, Love was competing like a man on a mission - week in and week out.

As he approached the 72nd hole of the tournament that year, he knew he needed a birdie in order to tie Woody Austin for the lead and to challenge him during a sudden-death playoff. After hitting a mediocore approach shot to the par-four 18th, he chipped in from 67 feet for a birdie to force a playoff with Austin. The shot is known as one of the greatest in Love III's PGA TOUR career and will always be remembered as one of the finest clutch shots in the history of The Heritage.

Love would go on to defeat Austin during the fourth hole of the sudden-death playoff after hitting a six-iron approach shot to three feet on the famed 18th hole and then converting the birdie putt.

Brian Gay Makes History (2009)

Prior to earning his second PGA TOUR victory at the 2009 Verizon Heritage, Gay was known as a journeyman pro who had enjoyed prior successes on the TOUR, but had never reached his full potential.

That all changed after Gay shot rounds of 67, 66, 67, and 64 to set a tournament record of 20-under-par for a 10-stroke victory over Briny Baird and Luke Donald.

Throughout the entire tournament, Gay hit laser-like iron shots and made seemingly every putt that he looked at. Gay's performance will likely remain the most dominating and awe-inspiring in tournament history for years and years to come.

Although he has been unable to play at such a high level in the tournaments in which he has competed in since, he did win the 2009 St. Jude Classic by five shots for yet another wire-to-wire victory. Only time will tell if Gay will be able to collect more TOUR victories in such a record fashion as he did on Hilton Head Island in April 2009.

Payne Stewart Successfully Defends His Title (1990)

Following his victory in the 1989 PGA Championship, Payne Stewart had become one of most popular and successful golfers in the entire world - and he continued to acquire victories in some of the TOUR's most regarded tournaments throughout the 1990 season.

In 1989, Stewart had defeated Kenny Perry by five strokes for the first MCI Heritage Golf Classic victory of his career, as well as his fourth PGA TOUR tournament win in just his seventh season on the TOUR.

Yet, his victory in 1990 was not obtained quite as easily. Following a sudden-death playoff with eight-time PGA TOUR winner Steve Jones and 1987 Masters champion Larry Mize, Stewart became the first individual in tournament history to successfully defend his title.

To this day, Stewart remains one of only three players to win consecutive Heritage tournaments.

Arnold Palmer Wins First Annual Heritage Golf Classic (1969)

In 1969 Arnold Palmer was no longer the most dominating golfer in the world; at that time champions like Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Billy Casper had begun to replace him as the most consistent members of the PGA TOUR.

However, Palmer was still no stranger to winning. With his three stroke victory over Dick Crawford and seven-time TOUR winner Bert Yancey, Palmer collected a PGA TOUR win for the fifteenth consecutive season - one of the best streaks in the history of golf.

Palmer remains one of the most popular - if not the most popular - champions in Heritage history more than 40 years after his first and only Heritage victory.

Bernhard Langer Follows His Masters Victory with a Win at The Heritage (1985)

As hard as it may be to believe, 42-time European TOUR winner Bernhard Langer has only earned three PGA TOUR victories throughout his highly successful career - and two of them were obtained in two consecutive weeks.

Following his two-stroke victory over Seve Ballesteros, Raymond Floyd, and Curtis Strange at the 1985 Masters, Langer continued his hot streak at the Sea Pines Heritage - just one week after wearing his first green jacket.

Langer finished 11-under-par for the week after shooting rounds of 68, 66, 69, and 70. The finish was strong enough to tie Bobby Wadkins, the brother of 1977 PGA Champion Lanny Wadkins. Upon defeating Wadkins in a sudden death playoff, Langer had earned the second of his four worldwide victories that year for one of the most successful campaigns of the entire 1985 season.