What is the history of the plaid jacket at the RBC Heritage?

The RBC Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina has long been one of the regular season highlights on the PGA Tour. The fan-favorite tournament has been played each year at the esteemed golf links since 1969. Much like The Masters, the winner of the tournament earns himself an iconic jacket.

The tournament has been played the week after The Masters since the 1980s. In 2024, Scottie Scheffler earned his second green jacket and his first plaid jacket in back-to-back weeks.

Scheffler was the first player since Bernhard Langer in 1985 to win The Masters and the RBC Heritage in back-to-back weeks and the second player ever to do it. The iconic plaid jacket has a long history at Harbour Town Golf Links.

In the early 1970s, the organizer of the tournament, Charles Fraser wanted to change the yellow jacket they gave out to the winner to a more unique themed color.

The exact jacket is made in Scotland and not sold to the public, making it coveted by golfers around the world, knowing there was only one way to get their hands on one.

---

Which players have had the most success at the RBC Heritage?

Jordan Spieth and Davis Love III at the 2023 RBC Heritage opening ceremony (via Getty)

With the RBC Heritage being one of the PGA Tour's premier regular season events for decades now, some ofthe game's greatest players have found an abundance of success at Harbour Town Golf Links. Arnold Palmer was the winner of the innaugural tournament in 1969. Since its inception, 10 players have won the tournament multiple times.

Davis Love III stands above everyone else in the history of the RBC Heritage, having won the event a whopping five times in his career. The 21-time PGA Tour winner won the RBC Heritage in 1987, 1991, 1992, 1998, and in 2003. He dominated Harbour Town like no other player ever has.

Both Hale Irwin and Stewart Cink have won the tournament three times. Irwin's first win at Harbour Town came in 1971, with his third win coming 23 years later in 1994. Similarly, Cink's first win at the RBC Heritage came in 2000, with his third win coming 21 years later in 2021.

Seven other players have won the tournament twice: Johnny Miller, Hubert Geen, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller, Payne Stewart, Boo Weekely, and Jim Furyk. In the years to come, Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, and Matthew Fitzpatrick all aim to join the list of multiple-time winners in the near future.