We introduce a phase field model of wetting of surfaces by sessile drops. The theory uses a two-dimensional non-conserved phase field variable to parametrize the Gibbs free energy of the three-dimensional system. Contact line tension and contact angle hysteresis arise from the gradient term in the free energy and the kinetic coefficient respectively. A significant advantage of this approach is in the constitutive specification of hysteresis. The advancing and receding angles of a surface, the liquid-vapor interfacial energy and three-phase line tension are the only required constitutive inputs to the model. We first simulate hysteresis on a smooth chemically homogeneous surface using this theory. Next we show that it is possible to study heterogeneous surfaces whose component surfaces are themselves hysteretic. We use this theory to examine the wetting of a surface containing a circular heterogeneous island. The contact angle for this case is found to be determined solely by the material properties at the contact line in accord with recent experimental data. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.