Two Gloves, Beef and Arnie’s grandson join the RBC Heritage lineup
Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey, whose promising start at last year’s RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing was undone by back spasms, will get another opportunity after accepting a sponsor exemption into next month’s field.
The Hartsville native received one of three exemptions handed out Thursday, joined by Sam Saunders and England’s Andrew “Beef” Johnston.
They join a lineup that features two-time winner Jim Furyk, current champion Branden Grace, reigning Masters titleholder Danny Willett and such recent Harbour Town champions as Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell and Brandt Snedeker.
Tournament officials earlier announced exemptions for Beaufort’s Mark Anderson, reigning Players Amateur champion Cheng Jin, Bryson DeChambeau and Camilo Villegas.
The 49th edition of Heritage Week begins April 10 with the traditional opening ceremonies fronting Calibogue Sound, with competition getting underway three days later.
Daily tickets, priced at $65, along with weeklong badges and a selection of clubhouse packages are available through RBCHeritage.com, at Kroger locations in Hilton Head Island and Bluffton or by calling the tournament office at 843-671-2448.
All prices will increase by $20 starting Saturday. Starting April 8, tickets and badges may be purchased in person only at Harbour Town.
Gainey, whose career path includes one PGA Tour win and another on Golf Channel’s old “Big Break” reality series, gets an eighth start at Harbour Town after last year’s was cut short by a cruel break midway through the second round.
Just two shots off the lead, Gainey’s back locked up after an iron shot caught too much ground at No.10. He played one more hole before retiring to the medical trailer.
Diagnosis: Two herniated discs and two bulging discs. He spent seven months in rest and rehab before making three starts near the end of the year.
“It took me five months to get 100 percent healthy,” he told reporters during a visit to RBC Heritage media day.
“When you deal with an injury like I had with my back ... the mental side of it was the biggest hurdle for me. I’m still fighting it, though not as bad as I was. I feel like now my game has gotten better than the start of this year, and it’s only going to get better for me.”
Gainey was third at Harbour Town in 2011, one shot out of the playoff that saw Snedeker outlast Luke Donald on the third extra hole.
Saunders, grandson of inaugural Heritage champion Arnold Palmer, will make his fourth RBC Heritage start. He was in weekend contention last week at the Puerto Rico Open, finishing with a share of fifth place.
That came one week after missing the cut on home turf at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the first since his granddad’s death last September.
Johnston is in his rookie PGA Tour season after notching three European Tour victories in his career. The bearded, smiling Englishman has become a fan favorite on both sides of the Atlantic, even landing an endorsement deal with Arby’s.
Jeff Shain: 843-706-8123, @jeffshain
Current RBC Heritage commitments
Mark Anderson, Aaron Baddeley, Blayne Barber, Ricky Barnes, Brooks Blackburn, Zac Blair, Jonas Blixt, Jason Bohn, Steven Bowditch, Scott Brown, Wesley Bryan, Chad Campbell, Bud Cauley, Alex Cejka, Greg Chalmers, K.J. Choi, Stewart Cink, Chad Collins, Ben Crane, Glen Day.
Bryson DeChambeau, Graeme DeLaet, Luke Donald, Jason Dufner, Ken Duke, Ernie Els, Bob Estes, Matt Every, Derek Fathauer, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Jim Furyk, Tommy Gainey, Robert Garrigus, Brian Gay, Lucas Glover, Fabian Gomez, Branden Grace, Bill Haas, Adam Hadwin, James Hahn.
Brian Harman, Tyrell Hatton, David Hearn, Russell Henley, J.J. Henry, Jim Herman, Charley Hoffman, Morgan Hoffmann, Billy Horschel, Charles Howell, Mark Hubbard, John Huh, Billy Hurley III, Yuta Ikeda, Freddie Jacobsen, a-Cheng Jin, Andrew Johnston, Sung Kang, Martin Kaymer, Jerry Kelly.
Michael Kim, Si Woo Kim, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, Patton Kizzire, Colt Knost, Russell Knox, Jason Kokrak, Matt Kuchar, Martin Laird, Danny Lee, Marc Leishman, Spencer Levin, David Lingmerth, Luke List, Andrew Loupe, Shane Lowry, Peter Malnati, Steve Marino.
Ben Martin, Graeme McDowell, William McGirt, Troy Merritt, Bryce Molder, Francesco Molinari, Grayson Murray, Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen, Ryan Palmer, Rod Pampling, Pat Perez, John Peterson, Carl Pettersson, D.A. Points, Ian Poulter, Chez Reavie, Kyle Reifers, Sam Saunders.
John Senden, Webb Simpson, Vijay Singh, Brandt Snedeker, Kyle Stanley, Shawn Stefani, Brett Stegmaier, Robert Streb, Brian Stuard, Daniel Summerhays, Hudson Swafford, Nick Taylor, Vaughn Taylor, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Harold Varner III, Camilo Villegas, Johnson Wagner, Boo Weekley, Danny Willett.
Note: Even though a player has committed, he can remove his name from the roster anytime before the April 7 entry deadline of 5 p.m.
This story was originally published March 30, 2017 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Two Gloves, Beef and Arnie’s grandson join the RBC Heritage lineup."