Island Packet Verizon Heritage 2008 Coverage | Harbour Town, Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head Island, SC

It was the longest drought of Arnold Palmer's illustrious career to that point -- 14 months without a tournament victory.

Writers were already talking of the untimely demise of the "King" when Palmer came to Sea Pines to compete in the inaugural Heritage Classic on Thanksgiving Day 1969.

But the rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated.

Palmer led the Heritage wire to wire, holding off Bert Yancey and Rich Crawford to win by three strokes.

Palmer, who said he had been putting too much pressure on himself in prior tournaments, pocketed $20,000 for the victory and the Heritage Classic was instantly legitimized by his win.

"I wanted to win this tournament as much as if it were the U.S. Open or The Masters or any other tournament," a relieved Palmer said after the victory.

John Gettys Smith, former vice president for public relations for Sea Pines, said if Palmer had not won the first Heritage, the tournament might not have become a regular spot on the tour.

"When Palmer was coming down 18 with the lead I was so nervous," Smith said. "(There) was no star behind him, no one who approached his caliber. I remember standing at the edge of the harbor kicking dirt. Soon after, Charles (Fraser, Sea Pines Company founder) came out and said, 'Is something wrong?'

"I said, 'Do you have any idea that if he wins what a super story it will be and what will happen if he loses and the winner is not a superstar?'

"He just said, 'Oh' and wandered away."

Palmer made a 10-foot putt for par on Harbour Town's now-famous 18th hole to take the first Heritage crown.

"That round saved us," Smith said.

When the struggling Palmer started to turn his game around after two days at Harbour Town, the national media descended upon Hilton Head.

"All the sports writers began charging to Hilton Head Island," Fraser said. "Dan Jenkins of Sports Illustrated was here, the New York Times was here, AP and UPI. Our little press tent was barely able to handle the surge. But there were stories all over the world Monday about Palmer's victory."

After Palmer's win, Smith said Sports Illustrated's Jenkins came back down to Hilton Head to do a longer feature story on the new course.

"They called it, 'Nothing less than a work of art,' " Smith said.

Harbour Town Golf Links architect Pete Dye said Palmer's victory also helped launch his career. Though he had already designed at least two other notable courses before Harbour Town -- Crooked Stick in Indiana and The Golf Club in Ohio -- both were private courses.

"Arnold Palmer winning really put a positive light on the course," Dye said. "That gave me a big boost. It was entirely a different type of course, and it was public, which meant more people would have a chance to play it. And a lot of people wanted to after Mr. Palmer won there."

The popularity of both Harbour Town and the tournament began to grow thereafter, even though the Thanksgiving date was after the regular PGA Tour season and the weather was often chilly.

The crowd at the first Heritage was an estimated 4,500 -- by design.

Smith said they wanted to keep the tournament crowds small so the fans could get better views of the action.

"The first couple of years it wasn't a problem," Smith said. "People weren't knocking down the door for tickets" mainly because the island's population was so small.

The date was then moved from Thanksgiving to September, then to early spring, then, in 1985, to the week after The Masters.

But the tournament really began to take off around 1975 when it was televised, Fraser said.

"Television was the key to widespread knowledge of Hilton Head Island," Fraser said. "There was more purse money and the crowds began to grow larger.

"The local residents did a superb job with it. The players' families loved coming here. In fact, Palmer's wife (Winifred) said, If he's not coming here, I am.'"