Verizon Heritage: Final-round notebook
By John Bush, PGA TOUR Staff
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Brian Gay posted a 7-under 64 (the round of the day) on Sunday to finish at 20-under 264, cruising to the 2009 Verizon Heritage title by 10 strokes over Luke Donald (66) and Briny Baird (68). The victory is the second of Gay's career (2008 Mayakoba Golf Classic) and comes in his 330th career start on the PGA TOUR.
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• Gay's 264 winning score breaks the previous scoring record at the Verizon Heritage, which was set by Loren Roberts in 1996 (19-under 265). The 10-stroke winning margin is also a tournament record, besting Davis Love III's seven-stroke win in 1998.
• Gay managed just two bogeys (No. 10 in the second round, No. 12 in the fourth round) this week at Harbour Town -- the fewest at the Verizon Heritage since 1983. The previous low during that time was three, set by Roberts in 1996.
• Gay's 10-stroke victory is the largest on the PGA TOUR since Phil Mickelson won the 2006 BellSouth Classic by 13 strokes. His win is the ninth in TOUR history (dating back to 1970 when records begin) with a double-digit winning margin.
• Gay's victory comes in his 10th start at Harbour Town, with four made cuts (tied for 42nd in 2001, tied for ninth in 2006, tied for 16th in 2007, won in 2009). In 2009, he has notched 10 made cuts in 11 starts, with three top-10 finishes (won at Verizon Heritage, tied for fifth at Sony Open in Hawaii, tied for sixth at FBR Open). The victory is worth 500 points and moves the Fort Worth, Texas, native from No. 29 to No. 7 on the FedExCup points list (927). Geoff Ogilvy retains the lead, with 1,350 points.
• Gay is now two for three when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead, with his last two attempts with the lead leading to the winner's circle (2008 Mayakoba Golf Classic, 2009 Verizon Heritage). The only time he failed to win when holding the 54-hole lead/co-lead was at the 2004 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (tied for 14th).
• With the victory, Gay will earn his first-ever invitation to the Masters Tournament in 2010. He is a former resident of Louisville, Ga., located approximately 50 miles from the Augusta National Golf Club.
• Former Clemson University standout Jonathan Byrd finished tied for 69th in his 200th career start on the PGA TOUR.
• Defending champion Boo Weekley's two-year reign at the Verizon Heritage ended this week with a tie for 13th finish. The tournament has not had a defending champion miss the cut since 1992 champion Davis Love III did so the following year.
• Tim Wilkinson's tie for sixth is the best finish by a lefthander at the Verizon Heritage since Mickelson finished third in 2002.
• The runner-up finish by Luke Donald is the seventh of his career and first since the 2008 Honda Classic. The second-place effort by Briny Baird is the fourth of his career, and first since the 2004 FUNAI Classic at Walt Disney World Resort.
• Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (tied for 58th) failed to record a top-20 finish for the first time in six starts this season. His previous five starts included the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (tied for fifth), Honda Classic (tied for 13th), WGC-CA Championship (tied for 20th), Shell Houston Open (tied for 19th) and the Masters Tournament (tied for 20th).
• Eight of the nine past champions of the Verizon Heritage made the cut this week. The list includes: Weekley (tied for 13th), Aaron Baddeley (tied for 21th), Peter Lonard (tied for 48th), Stewart Cink (tied for 62nd), Love (tied for 21th), Justin Leonard (tied for 48th), Jose Coceres (tied for 48th), Glen Day (76th) and Bob Tway (missed cut).
• Wilkinson led the field this week with 97 putts, the fewest in a tournament so far this season. The all-time TOUR record is held by David Frost, with 92 putts at the 2005 Verizon Heritage. The Kiwi also led the field in fairways hit in regulation (50 of 56).
• Matt Weibring, making just his 10th career start on the PGA TOUR, posted his first top-10 finish (tied for eighth).
• Since the Verizon Heritage moved into its slot after the Masters Tournament in 1983, just five players have won the tournament without having competed in the Masters the week before: Gay (2009), Weekley (2007), Baddeley (2006), Tway (1995) and Love (1987).
• The tie for 48th by Ernie Els this week marks just the third time in 11 starts that he has failed to finish inside the top 20 at the Verizon Heritage (tied for 68th in 1997, missed cut in 2008, tied for 48th in 2009). His best showing among seven top-10 finishes at Harbour Town was a runner-up effort in 2007.
• After missing the cut in his inaugural Verizon Heritage appearance in 2001, 2006 champion Baddeley has reeled off four consecutive top-25 finishes at the tournament (won in 2006, tied for 10th in 2007, tied for second in 2008, tied for 21st in 2009).
• Love tied for 21st in his bid this week for a sixth Verizon Heritage title. Love has now made 24 consecutive starts (with 13 top-25 finishes) at the annual Hilton Head event. In addition to his wins in 1987, 1991, 1992, 1998 and 2003, he has six additional top-10 finishes for a tournament-record 11 such finishes.
• A player has posted four rounds in the 60s 24 times throughout the history of the Verizon Heritage, with 2009 champion Gay the only player to perform the feat this week.
• The scoring average for the week at Harbour Town was 71.468. The daily averages were 71.962 on Thursday, 71.785 on Friday, 70.397 on Saturday and 71.179 on Sunday.
• The season-long Kodak Challenge, where players must play at least 18 of the 30 Kodak Challenge holes throughout the year to be eligible for a $1 million prize, included this week's 452-yard, par-4 18th hole at Harbour Town. Steve Lowery (thru 8 holes) and Chris DiMarco (thru 7 holes) both birdied the picturesque hole this week to move into a share of the lead in the season-long event at 6 under par
• The par-3 14th hole played the toughest this week with a 3.309 average. The par-5 second hole was the easiest at 4.554.
• The third-round leader/co-leader has won 13 of 16 (81.25%) events so far this season, including Pat Perez at the 90-hole 50th Bob Hope Classic presented by Arnold Palmer. Because of a final-round wash-out in Pebble Beach, Dustin Johnson emerged victorious as the 54-hole leader. By comparison, only 22 of 46 (48%) third-round leaders/co-leaders went on to victory in 2008, including Boo Weekley at the Verizon Heritage.
• Bogey-free rounds on Sunday were turned in by Rory Sabbatini (66), Paul Casey (66) and Bill Lunde (69), bringing the total for the week to 16.
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