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 Boo Weekley started playing golf at the age of 13, and just eight months later he was breaking par, something most average golfers only dream of.
His method might sound a bit unusual for someone embarking on the path to professional golf today, but Weekley's first instructor insisted on it.
Under strict orders, Weekley wasn't allowed to play until he was well-versed in the game and had the skills to navigate an 18-hole course.
"I'd hit 500, 1200, 1500 balls a day," Weekley remembered. "My teacher wouldn't let me go play. The first time I teed it up after having a lesson, I shot 74. I had never played 18 holes of golf.
"We'd go out and play one or two," he continued. "But never played 18. Guy wouldn't let me. He wanted me to learn to hit the ball consistently in the air a certain distance, certain number and how to drive it straight. Once I got to where I could do all them, he said we're ready to play."
Verizon Heritage Tournament Director Steve Wilmot and Weekley's fans in the Carolina Lowcountry are glad he waited.
Weekley again proved to be a quick study in 2007, chipping in on both No.17 and No. 18 at Harbour Town Golf Links to earn a one-shot victory over Ernie Els to claim the Verizon Heritage title and Tartan Jacket that goes to the winner in his first ever appearance in Hilton Head.
A year later, Weekley proved that his first PGA victory was no fluke, repeating as the Verizon Heritage champion by shooting three rounds in the 60s en route to a three-shot victory.
Weekley says the Pete Dye layout with small greens and narrow fairways that call for accuracy over length suit his game well.
"I shape my ball, hit it left to right, right to left," he said. "It's target golf. Just because you're in the fairway (at Harbour Town) does't mean you have a shot at the pin."
Since it's inception in 1969, when the event was played Thanksgiving weekend and won by Arnold Palmer, the Heritage's champions have been among golf's most accomplished players.
The list of winners in Hilton Head includes Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, who served as Dye's player consultant in Harbour Town's design, Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin, Payne Stewart, Greg Norman and Davis Love III.
Weekley would be the only man to win three consecutive Heritage crowns. That feat hasn't been an easy one to achieve on the PGA Tour. Over the last 36 years on the PGA Tour 36 golfers have repeated their victories from a previous season, but only seven of those 36 have gone on to win a third title.
 It might take a return to familiar and positive surroundings to bring Weekley's game back to life. The Milton, Florida native is coming off of his first missed cut of 2009 at The Masters and hasn't finished better than a tie for 52nd in his last five starts.
However, his past success at Harbour Town makes Weekley the prohibitive favorite this week. But the two-time defending champion knows it won't be easy.
"It would be a real honor to win three in a row, but I know the other players aren't just going to let me do it," Weekley stated. "There's no doubt I'm going to have to play well to do it."
Weekley will encounter a somewhat watered-down field. Only seven of the top 25 in the latest Official World Golf Rankings will be in Hilton Head this week, including Paul Casey, Camilo Villegas, Jim Furyk and Rory McIlroy, all of whom made the cut at last week's Masters.
Casey is having an impressive season thus far, finishing second to Geoff Ogilvy at the World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play Championship and capturing his first ever PGA Tour victory two weeks ago at the Shell Houston Open.
McIlroy will be making his first appearance at the Verizon Heritage, and has drawn significant praise for his play here in the United States during the opening third of the PGA Tour season. But McIlroy was introduced to his first controversy last week at Augusta, when he apparently kicked the sand in a greenside bunker out of anger. After it was determined by the Masters Tournament Committee that no rule was breached, McIlroy was allowed to stick around for the weekend.
Other entrants into this week's tournament include past champions Aaron Baddeley and Davis Love III, plus past Masters winners Zach Johnson and Trevor Immelman. South Carolina-native Dustin Johnson and Todd Hamilton, who had a good showing last week in Augusta, will also be in the fied.
PGA Tour veterans Stewart Cink, Ernie Els, Jose Maria Olazabal, Lee Janzen and Justin Leonard are also in Hilton Head this week, as well as former Ryder Cup Captain Tom Lehman and current captain Corey Pavin.
For more information on the tournament, visit www.verizonheritage.com.
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