Weekley delights crowd at Heritage Media Day

Boo Weekley might feel more comfortable at the outdoor superstore Cabela’s than he will at Augusta National Golf Club this coming April when he competes in his first Masters.

He might have a better understanding of the nuances of duck hunting than he does of match play golf but the small-town, country boy from the Florida panhandle certainly knows how to captivate an audience when he speaks.

Weekley’s infectious sense of humor was on display this week at the annual Verizon Heritage Media Day at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head. Weekley is the event’s defending champion after he chipped in twice during Monday’s final round to defeat Ernie Els and claim his first PGA TOUR victory last April. Weekley not only earned his first tour win, but he also picked up an invitation to the 2008 Masters tournament in the process.

“I hear the folks up there are so tight and wound up that if you touch them, they just might blow up,” Weekley joked about Augusta’s reputation.

Much like the Verizon Heritage, a tournament he has gladly and consistently represented as its defending champion over the past 10 months, is to the pressure-packed Masters tournament it follows on the PGA TOUR schedule, Weekley is a breath of fresh air on Tour.

He gladly admits that his passion for hunting and fishing eclipses his love of the game of golf. In fact, in the process of squeezing in an extra morning in the brush before this year’s Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii, Weekley managed to allow a few bullets from his rifle to roll into his carry-on bag which caused him all sorts of trouble at the Pensacola airport.

Weekley was in disbelief as his bag was continually scanned and eventually searched.

“I said, there can’t be any bullets in that bag,” Weekley recalled. “All the bullets are in my truck.”

Airports are a major part of the new lifestyle Weekley lives thanks to his success and notoriety gained on the PGA TOUR. He also says he is treated much nicer at his local bank.

Weekley first earned his Tour Card in 2002 and soon experienced a lifestyle completely different than what he had grown accustomed to.

“It was great to finally get to where I wanted to go in life,” said Weekley. “I felt like a minnow in a pond full of bass. I had only been on four airplanes in my life, and the next thing I know I’m flying all over the world.”

His life changed overnight but he never felt comfortable in his first stint on tour. Weekley missed 19 of 24 cuts that first season and as a result spent the next four years on the Nationwide Tour before returning to the PGA Tour last year.

Now, he is a player that warrants watching every week. He already has three top-10s and five top-25s in six events. Weekley is currently 18th in the FedEx Cup Standings; his goal is a top-20 finish.

Weekley also said he wants to win at least twice on the Tour this season, including a repeat performance at the Verizon Heritage.

“It’s an honor to come back,” Weekley said in reference to being back in Hilton Head at the site of his first PGA TOUR victory. “It’s always an honor to win (on the PGA TOUR), but it’s even more of an honor to come back and be your champion again.

“(Last year) I got lucky enough and chipped in twice in some very difficult weather,” said Weekley. “I still lay in bed and wonder how it all unfolded. It goes to show you, anything can happen in this game.”

His willingness to represent the Heritage tournament by filming television spots, meeting with sponsors and signing autographs has been celebrated by Verizon Heritage tournament director Steve Wilmont and the event’s trustees.

The Heritage has had its share of famous champions such as Arnold Palmer, who won the inaugural tournament in 1969, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Fuzzy Zoeller and Davis Love III. Weekley might just go down as the most-liked winner in the tournament’s history.