Gainey lands win with magical round
A course-record 60 in the final round at Sea Island helped Tommy Gainey to secure his maiden PGA Tour at the McGladrey Classic.
A course-record 60 in the final round at Sea Island helped Tommy Gainey to secure his maiden PGA Tour at the McGladrey Classic on Sunday.
Gainey found himself seven shots off the pace of Davis Love III and Jim Furyk and tied for 29th at the start of the day, but he conjured up a magical 10-under-par to finish one shot ahead of David Toms.
The American is the fourth player this year to come from at least seven shots behind in the final round to win on the PGA Tour and it certainly was a round to remember.
His flawless round included eight birdies and an eagle with seven straight threes on his way to a 29 on the back nine.
He was forced to wait more than two hours to see if the likes of Furyk and Love could match him and, even though Toms produced an equally impressive 63, his effort was too good.
“I’m very proud to be in this tournament and very proud to win,” Gainey said at a press conference.
“You’re playing with the best players in the world; 99% of these guys have already won, and won majors, won big tournaments. The only show I can say I’ve won is ‘The Big Break’ (a TV reality show).
“Now I can sit here and say I’ve won the McGladrey Classic here at Sea Island, Georgia.
“It’s been a whirlwind day. I didn’t know having 24 putts and shooting 60 would be like this, so I’m pretty stoked about it.”
He added: “It’s been a hard year for me and finally we got it right.”
Gainey had a chance to card only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history as he had a 20-foot putt for birdie on the final hole, but it finished just short.
Furyk finished with a one-under and was two shots off the winner while his Ryder Cup captain Love was tied for fourth after a 71.
“I think what I’m most disappointed about is when it came down the stretch, hitting the ball pretty much as good as I can, I made really, really poor swings at 17 and 18 with a 7-iron and 8-iron,” Furyk said.
“So to play those two holes and not get one good look at it for birdie was disappointing.”
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