Brian Gay is only 13 months from Champions Tour eligibility but he locked up a spot on the regular PGA Tour for the next two years with a stunning win Sunday afternoon at the Bermuda Championship.
Gay, who turned 49 in December, claimed his first Tour victory with a birdie on the first playoff hole to squash Wyndham Clark’s hopes of a first-ever Tour win.
The tournament boiled down to two men down the stretch — Wyndham and Gay. Gay was playing a hole ahead of Clark, who played a near-perfect round of golf through the first 11 holes. He had five front-nine birdies then added two more at 10 and 11 to go seven-under for the day and 16-under for the tournament. After that, he made four straight par and hit every green through the 15th hole. At the par three 16th he made his first mistake when he pushed his tee shot into a right greenside bunker. He made a poor blast, barely getting it out and leaving it on the bank of the trap. He ended up with bogey that dropped him back to 15-under.
Gay got to 15-under after back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 and had a birdie opportunity at the par five 17th ahead of him. He hit a sloppy wedge for his third into 17, leaving himself 40 feet from the hole. His first putt ran seven feet past the hole and he’d miss. His bogey left the door wide open for Clark. But Clark hit a snap-hook off the tee and had to lay up. His third left him 20 feet for birdie and he left his putt dead-center short.
Gay hit a poor drive at the 18th, leaving himself right of a cart path with a big side-hill lie. He hit a pure wedge shot that stopped just outside a foot. He tapped in, posted 15-under then watched as Clark hit a bomb off 18 tee, leaving just 70 yards to the hole. His short wedge stopped 10 feet from victory. But Clark wasn’t up to the task, missed the putt and set out for a playoff with Gay.
The second trip down 18 saw Gay apply the pressure, he hit his approach to 12 feet. Clark responded and hit another short wedge shot to seven feet.
Gay then ran in yet another birdie to put the heat on Clark. Clark missed and Gay had his fifth win.
“Pretty unbelievable,” was how Gay described his victory. “I’ve been playing awful since the COVID (restart).” It’s been more than seven years since Gay last won at the 2013 Humana Challenge.
Will Zalatoris finished in a tie for 16th at eight-under par and earned enough FedEx points to gain special temporary playing status on the PGA Tour. He needed just three points to achieve special temporary membership and he earned 59 with his finish.
Bermuda Championship Scoreboard:
Phil Mickelson Will Play In Houston Open:
The last anyone heard from Phil Mickelson, he was undecided as to his possible entry in this week’s Houston Open.
Lefty was concerned about the PGA Tour’s decision to allow 2,000 fans per day at Memorial Park, site of this week’s event.
It will mark the first time spectators have been allowed at a regular PGA Tour event since The Players.
Mickelson committed to the tournament last Thursday, a day before the deadline, along with Jordan Spieth.
Dustin Johnson, who has missed the last two tournaments due to a positive COVID-19 test, will be back along with Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau.
2 Comments
baxter cepeda
Beautiful views. They could make some improvements to the course there. Imo.
Gay for gay.
That shot on 18 was super clutch after the 3 putt on 17, which was odd for one of the best putter on tour.
I loved the way Gay told his caddie to forget about the numbers that he was just gonna hit and hope on 18. They were starting to take too long to get the numbers. Gay was so smart to quickly transition to instincts which worked amazing.
Then another big putt to seal the deal on the playoff.
Helps to be a great putter still on the pga tour.
Tom Edrington
Amen to that, nearly 49? Helluva great win.