HILTON HEAD, S.C. -- Boo Weekley had a flair for the dramatic at the 2007 Verizon Heritage as he won his first PGA TOUR title. Weekley chipped in for par on the 71st hole and then did the same on the tournament's closing hole to outlast Ernie Els by a stroke.

That win was part of a career year for Weekley, who went on to play for the first time at THE PLAYERS Championship, the U.S. Open, the British Open the PGA Championship and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. He finished 25th in the FedExCup and earned $2,613,211.

Weekley comes into the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links after a solid performance at the Masters Tournament last week. He tied for 20th in his first appearance at Augusta National.

This season, Weekley has two top-10 performances -- ties for ninth at both the FBR Open and the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship -- and is 33rd in the FedExCup standings.

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.

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.

Three players with South Carolina ties who are also rookies on the 2008 PGA TOUR are in the field at this week's tournament. Kyle Thompson (lives in Columbia) and Tommy Gainey (native of Darlington, lives in Bishopville) have been awarded sponsor exemptions, while Dustin Johnson (native of Columbia, lives in Myrtle Beach) earned a spot in the field because of his position on the money list.

Thompson is the only player out of the three to have made a start at the Verizon Heritage. Thompson played in the 2003 event but missed the weekend. Thompson was a three-time All-American at the University of South Carolina.

Ernie Els, a two-time U.S. Open champion as well as a winner of the British Open, has compiled seven top-10 finishes at Harbour Town, including top-10s in his last four starts. The South African fell just one stroke short of winning last April, nearly holing out for eagle from the fairway on No. 18 that would have forced a playoff.

Jim Furyk, the No. 9-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking, will be playing at Harbour Town for the 10th time since 1995. Furyk, who has won 13 PGA TOUR events and more than $36 million, owns three top-10 finishes on Hilton Head, including a pair of second-place showings (2005 and 2006).

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 tied for third in 2000.

Every Verizon Heritage champion since 1999 is playing this week, including multiple winners Davis Love III and Stewart Cink. Love won five times on Hilton Head Island, the first coming in 1987. He also won in 1991, 1992, 1998 and 2003.

Cink is a two-time champion at Harbour Town Golf Links (2000 and 2004), and he comes into the event on the strength of a tie for third at last week's Masters Tournament. Other past champions playing this week are Bob Tway (1995), Glen Day (1999), Jose Coceres (2001), Justin Leonard (2002), Peter Lonard (2005), Aaron Baddeley (2006) and defending champion Boo Weekley.

With a second-place finish at the Masters last week, Tiger Woods widened his overall lead to 7,664 points over Phil Mickelson. Vijay Singh, Geoff Ogilvy and K.J. Choi are in the third-through-fifth positions. Trevor Immelman made a big leap after winning the Masters. He picked up 4,950 points and moved from 149th place to 13th. A year ago, Immelman finished 40th in the season-long points competition.

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