Sometimes, just sometimes, someone makes winning a golf tournament look extremely easy. This weekend, that man was Brian Gay, and now it looks like he better re-evaluate what he was sure to be a week off of golf this coming week, as he’s officially pushed himself directly into the U.S. Open. That’s right, Brian Gay’s impressive 5 stroke victory over the rest of the field gave him a punched ticket into Bethpage Black this week, an event he was almost positive he’d miss.
64-66-66-66 For Win
Brian Gay started out this tournament extremely strong 64 on the first round, and how did he follow it up? How about shooting back-to-back-to-back 66’s to end the tournament at 18-under-par. How do you think the rest of the field felt trying to keep up? David Toms shot 4 rounds in the 60’s including a final round 65 and still came up 5 full strokes short. Wow. Nevertheless, it was impressive considering he only had a slim one-stroke lead after each of the first three rounds. It took birdies on three of the first six holes he faced on Sunday to take any drama out of the day. A final birdie on 18 sealed the deal and put 500 Fed Ex Cup points in his name, and a cool million dollars in his pocket.
Phil & Daly Tie for 59th
So how did Phil and Daly do? A lot of eyes were on them for two very different reasons…Phil for the emotional response, and Daly for the welcome back party. At the end of the day, perhaps the emotions got to Phil, and Daly wasn’t quite as ready as he’d like to be to come back. Both men ended the tournament at 1-over-par. A closing round 75 put Mickelson a lot further down the leaderboard than he’s accustomed to, but nevertheless, it was great to see both the bravery and the heart of him playing after receiving such terrible news.
U.S. Open is Next!
The bottom line is, this tournament made us absolutely excited for the U.S. Open. Thank goodness we only have a few days to wait until the drama begins to unfold. One thing is for sure, all eyes will be on Tiger and Phil, but it’ll be good to see Brian Gay mix it up out there…let’s just hope he’s ready!
(Image via Badz/PGA TOUR)
Brian Gay enjoyed a good stretch a few years back and then just fell of the face of the earth. Now it seems he’s on a comeback. Two very good wins both in low scoring fashion. However, the next step is taking it up a notch and competing with the AAA talent the likes of Tiger Woods. He’ll get that chance at Bethpage this week.