The Heritage 2011: Brandt Snedeker Tops Luke Donald In Playoff

Luke Donald had a chance to keep his dreams of being the world’s No. 1 golfer alive — and his putt on the third playoff hole at Hilton Head was just slightly too firm, giving Brandt Snedeker a title at The Heritage and forcing Donald to wait to reign over the golf world.

Snedeker fired a final round 7-under 64 to tie Donald after 18 holes on Sunday — Donald had a chance to win outright with a birdie on his 18th hole, but couldn’t — then went birdie-par-par on three playoff holes to earn his first PGA Tour victory since 2007, a year in which he claimed PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors.

Luke Donald’s third round one-under 70 at Hilton Head gives him the lead entering Sunday’s final round at The Heritage. But it’s also got him in great position to claim the title of world’s top-ranked golfer.

Donald was solid coming in, with eight pars and one birdie on his back nine, in compiling his 70. He sits at 11-under after three rounds at Hilton Head, one shot clear of defending champion Jim Furyk and two shots ahead of Brendan de Jonge and Scott Verplank.

The second round of The Heritage has passed and Luke Donald holds a one shot lead over the field. Some of the more recognizable names of the PGA Tour occupy the top spots on the leaderboard, including Jim Furyk, Camilo Villegas and Ian Poulter. All sit within striking distance of Donald as 14 players are within four shots of the leader.

Saturday’s third round gets underway early on Saturday morning with the first tee time scheduled for 8:25 a.m. The real action begins in the afternoon as the those near the top of the leaderboard begin to tee-off shortly after 1 p.m.

The 2011 edition of The Heritage tees off early Thursday morning, when John Daly, Jesper Parnevik and Kevin Na get going at 7:20 a.m.

Full tee times and TV listings are available here.

On Thursday, the 2011 PGA Tour moves to Hilton Head, South Carolina, where The Heritage golf tournament will tee off. The TV schedule is set, with the Golf Channel broadcasting the first two rounds at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday. CBS will pick up the third and fourth rounds, which will be broadcast at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday.

The field will be missing some of golf’s biggest stars, as Phil Mickelson, World No. 1 Martin Kaymer, and noted golf enthusiast Tiger Woods will be absent. Defending champion Jim Furyk will be present, however, as will John Daly, Masters contender Jason Day, and Kevin Na, who found himself the subject of attention for rather unfortunate reasons at last week’s Valero Texas Open. Boo Weekley, who won the Heritage in both 2007 and 2008, is also in the field.