Gay sets scoring record, wins Verizon
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Brian Gay put on a record-setting show at the Verizon Heritage. And this time, he didn’t have to share the spotlight with anyone.
Gay shot a 7-under 64 Sunday to win at Harbour Town Golf Links by an astounding 10 shots. He broke the 13-year-old scoring record, finishing at 20-under 264 on the way to his second PGA Tour victory.
“Just another unbelievable day,” Gay said.
There have been many more of them the past two years for the former Florida Gator, who remains the only player to win two Southeastern Conference championships.
But finding golf success has been a struggle for the 37-year-old, who did not break through for his first win until his 293rd start in February 2008 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico.
Bad luck for Gay, that triumph came the same weekend Tiger Woods’ finished off the field at the World Golf Championships’ Match Play event.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of validation,” Gay said.
And perhaps one of the PGA Tour’s more dominating performances.
He had the tour’s largest margin of victory since Phil Mickelson won the 2006 BellSouth Classic by 13 strokes.
Gay bested Loren Roberts’ mark of 19 under in winning the 1996 Verizon Heritage. Gay’s 10-shot edge over Luke Donald (66) and Briny Baird (68) shattered the seven strokes five-time champ Davis Love won by in 1998.
Besides a $1.026 million first prize, Gay earned a spot in next year’s Masters.
Gay carried a three-stroke margin over Tim Wilkinson into the final round. He essentially wrapped things up two holes into the round.
Gay struck his approach to 10 feet on No. 1 for a birdie to increase the lead to four. A hole later, he rolled in a curling, uphill 57-footer for an eagle-3.
A birdie on the par-5 fifth gave Gay a seven-shot edge that no one could dent.
Champions Tour
Nick Price won the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am at Lutz, Fla., for his first Champions Tour victory, overcoming three double bogeys in a final-round 71.
After a par putt on the 18th hole, Price finished with a two-shot victory over Larry Nelson to end an 0-for-38 streak on the Champions Tour and win his first title since the 2002 MasterCard Colonial, a span of 111 tour events.
The 52-year-old Price overcame the double bogeys with seven birdies to shoot even par and finish at 9-under 204. Nelson finished with a 70 on the TPC Tampa Bay.
European PGA Tour
Australia’s Scott Strange won the Volvo China Open in Beijing, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory over Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.
Strange had an 8-under 280 total on the Beijing CBD International course. Fernandez-Castano finished with a 72.