ATLANTA, (Reuters) – American Brian Gay, helped by a monster eagle putt at the second hole, charged to a scintillating 10-shot victory at the Heritage Classic in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina yesterday.
Three ahead of the field overnight, Gay clinched his second PGA Tour title after closing with a sparkling seven-under-par 64 at the picturesque Harbour Town Golf Links.
Gay, who wore his trademark sunglasses all week, birdied three of the last six holes to post a record tournament total of 20-under 264, eclipsing the 265 set by American Loren Roberts in 1996.
“This feels great,” Gay said in a greenside interview after making only two bogeys in four rounds on a narrow tree-lined course.
“It was just a phenomenal week, virtually mistake-free. I didn’t see a leaderboard all day. We were just out there doing our thing. I just wanted to stay focused and I kept looking down.”
Britain’s Luke Donald closed with an eight-birdie 66 to share second place at 10 under with American Briny Baird (68).
Twice former U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen bogeyed the last for a 71 to finish a further stroke back in a tie for fourth with fellow American Todd Hamilton (70).
Gay, widely regarded as one of the best putters in the game, set the tone for his unforgettable day by rolling in a 10-footer to birdie the par-four first.
He eclipsed that by sinking a 60-footer on the second green and picked up further shots at the fifth and eighth to reach the turn in five-under 31, seven strokes clear.
Gay, who had gone 37 holes without making a bogey, surprisingly stumbled at the par-four 12th after missing the green to the left with his approach.
However, he immediately recovered with a birdie at the par-four 13th, coaxing in a curling 10-footer to regain his seven-shot cushion.
After Baird bogeyed the 14th to drop back to 10 under, Gay hit a wedge to seven feet at the 15th and knocked in the putt to stretch his lead to nine.
Despite ending up in a fairway divot off the tee at the par-four 16th, Gay struck another superb wedge approach over a tree to 16 feet and holed the putt to get to 20 under.
He comfortably parred the last two holes to add a second PGA Tour title to his breakthrough win at last year’s Mayakoba Golf Classic.
It was the first double-digit victory margin on the U.S. circuit since American Phil Mickelson triumphed by 13 shots at the 2006 BellSouth Classic.
