Four golfers, including five-time tournament champion Davis Love III, committed Monday to play in the Verizon Heritage PGA Tour event set for April 17-20 at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Joining Love are Tom Lehman, Charles Howell III and Stephen Ames, according to tournament director Steve Wilmot. They will be among those competing for the winner's check of $990,000 from a record purse of $5.5 million.

Love, a five-time champion at Harbour Town and the tournament's leading money earner, will be making his 23rd straight appearance, a streak that includes 11 top-10 finishes. Love, from nearby Sea Island, Ga., has won 19 PGA Tour events and more than $35 million.

Lehman, a former British Open winner, has earned five wins during his 26 years on tour. He has three top-10 finishes at Harbour Town, including a runner-up showing in 2000.

Howell, a two-time Junior Heritage champion from Augusta, will be making his first Harbour Town appearance in five years.

Ames, a native of Trinidad who now makes his home in Canada, has three PGA Tour victories and more than $13 million in earnings. He's had a pair of top-10 Harbour Town finishes.

Wilmot said earlier this week that he expects the Heritage to sell out this year, although a few tournament badges still can be purchased:

On site at tournament headquarters, 71 Lighthouse Rd., Suite 4200 in Sea Pines Center.

On site at the Hilton Head/Bluffton Chamber of Commerce's three locations -- the mid-island office next to the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina at Shelter Cove, the welcome center on the north end of the island next to the Crazy Crab Restaurant and at the Liberty Saving Bank building located at Belfair Towne Village.

On site at Golf Outfitters at Shops on the Parkway, through Thursday.

On site at the Village Golf Shop in Sheridan Park in Bluffton, through Thursday.

By phone at 843-671-2448 or 1-800-234-1107.

Online at www.verizonheritage.com.