Tartan take two: Weekley repeats as Verizon Heritage Champion

Boo Weekley's first victory at the Verizon Heritage, which doubled as his first victory on the PGA TOUR, bordered on improbable. Weekley holed out from a greenside bunker on back-to-back holes at 17 and 18 to overtake Ernie Els during a weather-induced Monday finish in 2007. This year was more dominant than dramatic.

Dealing with ideal scoring conditions for the majority of the week, Weekley flirted with the overall scoring record, extended his run of rounds in the 60s to seven, a tie for the second most all-time at South Carolina's only PGA TOUR stop with Nick Price and displayed a knack for getting the ball in the cup despite lacking his best stuff on his way to another Heritage win and another berth in the Masters.

"It feels more like an achievement now," Weekley said during the champion's post-round press conference. "Not saying I did it back-to-back, but I did it in a way that I knew I could. I struggled at the beginning of the week because I had some irons that had some bad issues, and Cleveland kind of helped me out and we rebuilt a new set of irons. Put them in play and it kind of, I reckon, it got me back to where I needed to be. And I felt like the way I'm hitting it, I had to do something different. This win, it does mean just as much to me as the first one did."

Weekley scorched Harbour Town Golf Links over the first three rounds, posting a 15-under-par score of 198, a shot better than his winning total in '07. The final round was more of a battle of attrition as Weekley countered five bogeys with five birdies to shoot an ever-par 71

"It was ugly," Weekley remarked. "I still struggled with the driver high and right. I actually hit a couple of good iron shots, but a lot of them they were everywhere. I just couldn't get nothing, actually didn't feel right, the swing didn't. The putter more or less kept me in the game, where at least I was able to shoot even par."

"Boo played great," said Anthony Kim. The 21-year-old Kim contended all week at Harbour Town and eventually settled into a tie for second place with 2006 champion Aaron Baddeley. "He hung in there. He didn't have his best game today. But he got it up and down when he needed to, and hit the right shots when he needed to."

Weekley became the third player in the history of the Verizon Heritage to repeat at champion, joining Payne Stewart (1989-90) and five-time winner Davis Love III (1991-92). He also eclipsed Arnold Palmer, who tied for third place in 1970 after winning the inaugural tournament the previous year, for the best start to a career at Harbour Town Golf Links.

The Milton, Fla. country boy may have also earned himself the title of most beloved champion at the event, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, after only two starts. Crowds clamored to see Weekley all week long and chanted his name as he approached the 18th green Sunday.

"It's always fun to be able to look out on the crowd and see all the people pulling for you and chanting your name," he said after shooting a 64 on Friday. "I'll always have a place in my heart for this place. It's great to be able to come back here and say I was the defending champ at one time and might still be coming up."

Weekley became one of nine players who have won the Heritage multiple times; they include: Hale Irwin (3), Johnny Miller (2), Hubert Green (2), Tom Watson (2), Fuzzy Zoeller (2), Payne Stewart (2), Stewart Cink (2) and Davis Love III (5).