Brian Gay Runs Away with Another One at the St. Jude Classic

Want to know how to win golf tournaments?

Hit fairways and greens and make putts.

Sounds like a pretty simple game, doesn’t it?

Well it is if your name happens to be Brian Gay.

If you are looking for massive drives, astonishing recovery shots, or animated displays of emotion, you won’t find it from Brian Gay.

But, just because Brian Gay doesn’t draw large, boisterous galleries or bring a course to its knees with his sheer power doesn’t make him any less intimidating in his own right.

For the second time in two months, Gay has taken a 54-hole lead, ran with it and completely demolished the rest of the field.

Exactly two months ago at The Verizon Heritage Classic, which was played at Harbour Town Golf Links, Gay held the 54-hole lead and then proceeded to bury the rest of the field when he fired a seven under par 64 in the final round. 

Gay wound up winning The Verizon Heritage by 10 strokes which set a tournament record for margin of victory and made him only the ninth player since 1970 to win a PGA Tour event by 10 strokes or more.

Yesterday at the St. Jude Classic, which was played in Memphis, TN, Gay once again held the 54-hole lead, and the outcome was eerily similar to what transpired in Harbour Town just eight weeks ago.

Gay, who started the final round with a one-stroke lead over Bryce Molder, immediately began to close the door on the field when he birdied three out of his first six holes.

And that’s when the intimidation factor began to set in.

Now at first glance, Brian Gay would appear to be the furthest thing from an intimidating individual.

He is small in stature, doesn’t hit the ball long and is very quiet and unassuming.  Gay’s dark sunglasses rarely come off his face and seem to be more of a shield he puts up to conceal his shy personality.

But, in this day and age when so many players are having such a tough time closing out tournaments, Brian Gay is one of the few players on tour who have shown an ability to go out and close the door on Sunday.  

In just two months, Gay has gone from a paycheck golfer who made a great living through accurate ball-striking and precision around the greens, to a three-time PGA Tour winner who now processes an intimidation factor when holding a 54-hole lead.

After Gay went out yesterday and immediately created some separation between himself and the rest of the field, those in pursuit of him began to alter the way in which they played the golf course.

“Got off to another good start. Kind of the plan….Just wanted to go out and hit good shots and make birdies early and try to separate myself. I was able to do that.” said Gay after his round.

The likes of Bryce Molder, Robert Allenby, David Toms, and Woody Austin, who all began the day within a few strokes of Gay, became impatient and began pressing a little too hard.

Why?

Because back at Harbour Town, Brian Gay made it known to everyone that he is not the type of guy who squanders a 54-hole lead.

Molder, Allenby, Toms and Austin were forced to fire at pins they wouldn’t normally attack because they knew they didn’t have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for Gay to collapse; it simply wouldn’t happen.

As Gay quietly went about his business and shot one-under-par on the back-nine yesterday, he looked as if he were out for a nice Sunday afternoon stroll, while those chasing him down appeared as if they were greyhounds frantically trying to catch the electronic rabbit; but as we all know, the greyhounds never actually catch the rabbit.

Gay led from wire to wire at the St. Jude Classic and bogeyed just seven out of 72 holes all week.  When the heat was on yesterday afternoon, Gay quietly went about hitting 71 percent of fairways and 72 percent of greens in regulation.

Gay’s win yesterday in Memphis was his second in five starts and his third win on the PGA Tour in the past two years.

Prior to winning the St. Jude Classic, Gay had not qualified for this week’s US Open at Bethpage.  

But having now won twice between the 2008 and 2009 US Opens, Gay will have to quickly stop by his home in Florida and pick up some clean cloths, as he has now earned himself a spot in this week’s US Open field.