Brian Gay holds up the Verizon Heritage trophy to applause after winning the 2009 tournament at Harbour Town Golf Links Sunday afternoon. Sarah Welliver, The Island Packet
By SAM McDOWELL
smcdowell@islandpacket.com
843-706-8123
As Brian Gay stood over a 10-foot birdie putt on the first hole of his final round Sunday, he heard a sound that would make most golfers cringe -- the unmistakable ring of a cell phone from the gallery at Harbour Town Golf Links.
"Didn't you hear that phone?" his caddie, Kip Henley, asked afterward.
"Yeah, I heard it ringing," Gay responded.
"Why didn't you stop then?" Henley questioned.
Gay eyed his caddie, a laid-back look spread across his face, and simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh well," he said.
It was going to take a lot more than that to rattle the ultra-reserved Verizon Heritage leader on this day.
After taking a three-shot lead into Sunday, Gay ran away from the field with a 7-under-par 64 to win the 41st Heritage and a payout of $1.026 million. Gay set a tournament record with his 20-under-par score over the four days and added his name to another page of the book by winning by 10 strokes over second-place finishers Luke Donald and Briny Baird. Lee Janzen and Todd Hamilton finished 11 shots back in a tie for fourth place.
"It wasn't as easy as it looked," Gay said.
He could've fooled his counterparts Sunday.
Gay followed the birdie on No. 1 with a 57-foot eagle putt on No. 2 -- to which he responded with the most emotion he showed all day when he held his putter in the air as the ball fell in the hole.
"That was pretty lucky," he said.
It was a product of Gay's aggression, which never diminished despite him holding the lead the entire day.
Gay played a forceful style after his learning experience in his only other PGA Tour victory, the Mayakoba Golf Classic last February. He entered the final round of that event with a five-shot lead, which turned into a two-shot victory after he admittedly played timid over the final 18 holes.
"I learned a lot from that," he said.
Things went in the opposite direction from the outset Sunday.As second-place Tim Wilkinson struggled with his putter, the club that had him in contention after the first three rounds, Gay widened his three-shot lead to eight strokes through the first five holes.
"I just told myself to keep my head down, keep plugging along," Gay said. "I didn't watch any boards. I didn't look at anything. I just kept playing, trying to make birdies."
And he simply continued to roll along, however quietly.
By the day's end, he had one eagle, six birdies and just one bogey. None of those could force a reaction from Gay, who displayed more flash in his outfits -- which included lime green pants on Sunday -- than he did at any point on the golf course.
His personality kept the pressure from mounting and instead allowed him to blend into the crowd of golfers at Harbour Town on the tournament's final day, so much so that a group of 20 or 30 fans outside the clubhouse cheered as a golf cart drove by after Gay had just tapped in a putt on No. 18 to win the tournament. Applause soon stopped after one fan pointed out that the man in the front seat was not Brian Gay.
"I'm not the most recognizable face," Gay calmly observed.
He at least gave the fans a reason to remember his name for a while.
He hopes many others will hear it next year. With the Heritage win, Gay earned an invitation to the Masters in 2010, an offer for which he's long been waiting. Twice in his career he's finished just one spot too low on the money list to qualify for it.
"I've had a lot of heartache not getting into that tournament," he said.
That's a worry no more for a golfer who spent the first 10 years of his life within a short stroll of Augusta.
Gay appeared determined to rid himself of that distress. He had only one snafu in the final round, which he quickly saved by settling for bogey on the 12th hole.
"If Brian Gay just decided to take one more week off, we'd be having a good time back there on 18," Baird said.
Instead, it was Gay having all the fun on the final hole.
He even managed to crack a smile as he slipped into his tartan jacket on the 18th green -- even though it wasn't exactly a good fit for his snazzy wardrobe.
"My wife said, 'Maybe you shouldn't wear the lime pants today because it's not going to match the jacket,' " Gay said.
Oh, but it felt comfortable just the same.
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