Aaron Baddeley joins Heritage field, marking 10 years after Easter triumph
Aaron Baddeley, whose first PGA Tour victory came at Harbour Town 10 years ago after delivering the Easter Sunrise message, has accepted a sponsor exemption to return for next week's RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.
The Australian pro was added to the lineup Monday along with Scott Brown, a former USC-Aiken standout who owns three top-10 finishes in the past five weeks, former Bluffton resident Kyle Stanley and World Golf Hall of Famer Vijay Singh.
They join a field that features world No. 1 Jason Day, Open Championship titleholder Zach Johnson and 10 other former Harbour Town winners including recent champions Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell, Brandt Snedeker and five-time winner Davis Love III.
Reigning champion Jim Furyk remains doubtful following wrist surgery in early February. He also is sitting out this week's Masters Tournament in Augusta.
The 48th Heritage Week begins next Monday with the traditional opening ceremony along the Calibogue Sound waterfront. The full field will be locked in Friday evening, after the 5 p.m. deadline for players to add their name to the lineup.
Weeklong badges and daily tickets are available for purchase at RBCHeritage.com, Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce offices or via Kroger outlets in Hilton Head Island and Bluffton.
A three-time PGA Tour winner, Baddeley may never be able to replicate the intersection of golf and faith on that Sunday at Harbour Town.
A devout Christian, he eagerly agreed to participate in the Easter service weeks ahead of the Heritage, not knowing if he'd even make the cut. Instead, he entered the final round tied for the lead with Furyk.
He kept his commitment on Sunday morning, then birdied twice on Harbour Town's back nine to fashion a 1-under-par 70 that left him one stroke ahead of Furyk.
After struggling with his game in recent years, Baddeley has rebounded with three top-10 finishes this season.
Brown, an Augusta native, has three top-10s since the PGA Tour schedule left the West Coast in late February. He tied for 10th at the Honda Classic in South Florida, was seventh two weeks later at the Valspar Championship outside Tampa and fifth two weeks ago in Puerto Rico.
Singh, who owns 34 wins since breaking onto the PGA Tour in 1982, will make his 12th start at Harbour Town. He owns three top-5 finishes at the Heritage, most recently in 2001.
Jeff Shain: 843-706-8123, @jeffshain
Provisional RBC Heritage commitments
Tyler Aldridge, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Aaron Baddeley, Blayne Barber, Ricky Barnes, Charlie Beljan, Zac Blair, Scott Brown, Bronson Burgoon, Chad Campbell, Paul Casey, Roberto Castro, Alex Cejka, Kevin Chappell, Stewart Cink, Chad Collins, Erik Compton, Ben Crane.
Jon Curran, Glen Day, Jason Day, Brendon de Jonge, Bryson DeChambeau, Graeme DeLaet, Luke Donald, Jason Dufner, Ken Duke, Ernie Els, Harris English, Matt Every, Derek Fathauer, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Brian Gay, Lucas Glover, Fabian Gomez, Andres Gonzales, Jason Gore.
Branden Grace, Bill Haas, Chesson Hadley, Adam Hadwin, James Hahn, Brian Harman, David Hearn, Russell Henley, J.J. Henry, Jim Herman, Justin Hicks, Charley Hoffman, Billy Horschel, Charles Howell, Mark Hubbard, Hiroshi Iwata, Freddie Jacobsen, Thongchai Jaidee, Zach Johnson.
Matt Jones, Sung Kang, Jerry Kelly, Michael Kim, Si Woo Kim, Whee Kim, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, Patton Kizzire, Colt Knost, Russell Knox, Jason Kokrak, Matt Kuchar, Danny Lee, Marc Leishman, Justin Leonard, Spencer Levin, David Lingmerth, Luke List.
Andrew Loupe, Davis Love III, Jamie Lovemark, Will MacKenzie, Jeff Maggert, Peter Malnati, Steve Marino, Ben Martin, Graeme McDowell, William McGirt, George McNeill, Kelly Mitchum, Bryce Molder, Francesco Molinari, Kevin Na, Seung-Yul Noh, Sean O'Hair, Carlos Ortiz, Jeff Overton.
Greg Owen, Ryan Palmer, Carl Pettersson, Scott Pinckney, Ian Poulter, Chez Reavie, Kyle Reifers, Ryan Ruffels, Rory Sabbatini, John Senden, Vijay Singh, Brandt Snedeker, Kyle Stanley, Brendan Steele, Shawn Stefani, Brett Stegmaier, Robert Streb, Chris Stroud, Daniel Summerhays.
Hudson Swafford, Nick Taylor, Vaughn Taylor, Justin Thomas, Brendon Todd, David Toms, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Harold Varner III, Camilo Villegas, Johnson Wagner, Boo Weekley, Mike Weir, Steve Wheatcroft, Will Wilcox, Mark Wilson.
Note: Even though a player has committed, he can remove his name from the field anytime before the Friday's 5 p.m. entry deadline.
Your Guide to the RBC Heritage
This story was originally published April 4, 2016 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Aaron Baddeley joins Heritage field, marking 10 years after Easter triumph."