Bermuda Championship: Brian Gay gets unexpected win
By Tim Letcher
On a day when some young players looked to get their first PGA Tour win, it was veteran Brian Gay who won the title at the Bermuda Championship.
Brian Gay came out of nowhere on Sunday to win the Bermuda Championship on the PGA Tour. It was a most unlikely victory for a tour veteran who had not won a tour event in a number of years.
Gay entered the final round in fifth place after rounds of 70-68-67 in the first three days at Port Royal. He trailed 54-hole leader Doc Redman by three shots with 18 holes to play. Gay knew that he would need something really special to happen in Sunday’s final round to have a chance at getting a fifth PGA Tour win.
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And that’s exactly what the 48-year-old Florida native did on Sunday. On a day where there were some good scores on the course, Gay had the round of the day.
He started his round with pars on the first two holes before a birdie on the par-3 third hole got him into red figures. He would par the fourth and fifth holes to stay at that number.
Gay then birdied the sixth and seventh holes to get to 3-under on his round. However, he bogeyed eight, slipping back a shot. But he made up for that with a birdie on nine to finish his front nine with a 3-under par 33.
On the back nine, Gay put together the round that allowed him to get back into the PGA Tour’s winner’s circle.
He started his back nine with a birdie on the par-4 10th hole. He then parred the 11th hole before another birdie, this one on the 12th hole, got him to 5-under par on his round.
Gay would par the 13th hole before birdies on the 14th and 15th holes got him to 7-under on his Sunday round. He seemed to be in control of the event at that point.
He did slip a bit down the stretch. After a par on the 16th hole, Gay bogeyed the par-5 17th hole to slip back to 6-under par. However, in a totally clutch move, Gay then stuck his approach shot on 18, leaving about 18 inches for a birdie that would get him into a playoff with Wyndham Clark.
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On that first playoff hole, the 18th, Gay hit his approach to about 10 feet, then rolled in the uphill putt for birdie. Meanwhile, Clark missed his putt and Gay took home the title.
It was his first win on tour since 2013, when he won the Humana Challenge. The win was the fifth in Gay’s career, and by far the most unexpected.