The Daily Wrap-up, Round 4: St. Jude Classic
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Brian Gay thought so little of his chance to play his way into the U.S. Open in his last possible chance that he had plans for a week off. Not even a tentative plan sketched out just in case.
Well, he better figure something out pretty quick. His wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx punched his ticket to Bethpage Black.
"Right now I don't know if we're going home first or what we're going to do, whether we spend tomorrow traveling, going home and repacking," Gay said. "Get to work on Tuesday I guess."
Gay came to Memphis as one of seven players with a chance to grab the Open exemption as a multiple winner in the last calendar year. He responded with his second win in his last five events and the third victory of his career, beating David Toms and Bryce Molder by five strokes.
"I felt I had to go out and play golf. If I won, I'd get the chance to play," Gay said.
He grabbed the 500 FedExCup points and $1,008,000 winner's check at TPC Southwind in runaway style, too.
Gay led by only a stroke after each of the first three rounds, then shot his third straight 4-under 66 to pull away. He birdied three of the first six holes to take all the suspense out of the final round, and birdied the 18th to finish at 18-under 262.
Toms finished with a 65, and Molder had a 70. John Senden (64), Paul Goydos (68) and Robert Allenby (69) tied for fourth at 12 under.
"It was a pretty good golf tournament except for one guy stealing the show," said Toms, the tournament winner in 2003 and 2004.
Phil Mickelson, in his first event since announcing wife Amy has breast cancer, and John Daly, playing for the first time on TOUR in six months, tied for 59th at 1 over. Mickelson closed with a 75, and Daly shot a 70.
It wasn't as large a victory as in April when Gay won by 10 at Hilton Head. It just felt like that on a day where no one could get close enough on wet fairways that stopped balls with almost no roll. Officials had moved up the start by four hours hoping to beat incoming storms that popped up in the morning to delay the start of the final round -- by four hours. It didn't rain again.
Gay needed only 100 putts to become the fourth wire-to-wire winner in the tournament's 52-year history and first since Justin Leonard in 2005.
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Gay started pulling away on the par-3 fourth. After his tee shot landed near the pin and rolled 20 feet past, he rolled in the birdie putt to reach 16 under. Molder hit into a bunker and bogeyed -- a swing that gave Gay a four-stroke lead. Gay rolled in a 30-footer on No. 6 and a 17-footer on No. 9 for birdies.
The club let him down on his two bogeys.
He found a greenside bunker pin-high on No. 7 and blasted out to 15 feet, but two-putted. He missed a 9-footer for par on No. 10.
But Gay made up for that by sticking an iron a foot away for birdie on the par-3 11th hole -- the island green -- for birdie to go back to 17. That's when Molder was convinced this was Gay's tournament.
"I didn't even get close to catching him," said Molder, who had his best finish on TOUR.
From there on, Gay parred six straight holes before finishing in style. He stuck an iron 163 yards to 5 feet of the pin on No. 18, then stroked in his 27th putt of the round for birdie. He celebrated with a fist pump, a high five with his caddie and hugs and kisses from his young daughters.
Mickelson spent the week trying to figure out how to play golf and deal with all the emotions resulting from his wife's illness. He accomplished that even if the results on course didn't. He started the final round 10 strokes behind Gay and shot the 75 that featured a triple bogey, three bogeys and three birdies.
"I needed to get a little bit of play in, see where my game was at and get back on the golf course in a competitive frame of mind if I was going to have a chance next week," Mickelson said. "I'm looking forward to next week's U.S. Open.
Now he wants to focus on his putting after needing 120 putt this week.
Six children treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital met him coming off the 18th green wearing shirts and a banner that read "Thinking of Amy." The hospital is this event's lone charity.
Mickelson talked with the children and signed their shirts.
"These are some pretty cool kids going through something we're going to go through ourselves here in a few weeks," he said.
| Other top finishers at the St. Jude Classic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sunday's Best |
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The par-5 16th hole was the easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.316.
The par-4 ninth hole was the toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.197.
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Robert Allenby didn't get off to a great start on Sunday, but his eagle on the par-5 16th hole turned his day around. 
Graeme McDowell's bogey-free, 7-under 63 on Sunday moved him from a tie for 23rd into a tie for seventh. INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Brett Wright offers these observations from Sunday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
Memphis, Tenn., has been the source of so many things that are purely American. From wonderful blues by Muddy Waters to the amazing rock and roll by Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley, music and Memphis have gone hand-in-hand for years. Then there are the world-famous barbeque pork ribs and sandwiches by Rendezvous, Corky's or the Commissary.
This week at the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx, that American style was on display in many ways:
• Incredible sympathy and prayers were given to the Mickelson family from players, fans, media, and most visibly the wonderful children at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. When Phil Mickelson walked off the 18th hole on Sunday, there were children from the hospital holding up a banner urging Amy Mickelson to get well. That's American style.
• John Daly exhibited his new wardrobe of Loudmouth clothing in his first PGA TOUR event of 2009. His clothes had names like Creamsicle and Maui Wowie. That's American Style.
• Brian Gay - one of the shortest hitters on the PGA TOUR -- made every putt in sight to squash the hopes of anyone who had their sights set on victory at TPC Southwind. Even when the course was softened from rain before the final round, which benefits every long hitter in the field, no one could catch Gay. Not benevolent at all - but purely American style.
"Drive for show, putt for dough" is the often overused cliché that has been in this game since Willie Park Sr. won his fourth Open Championship in 1875. It has never been truer than this week at the St. Jude Classic. Gay put on a absolute putting clinic, not only by making every putt he was supposed to make but also leaving his long lag putts and short chips within 3 feet of the hole almost every time. It was truly textbook golf from Gay, and he will head to Bethpage Black and the U.S. Open with a great deal of confidence. He will not be favored at this year's Open because of the course's monster length, but if the greens are not too firm then Gay can hit his hybrid and 4-wood as straight as most players hit their 5-irons. It's just tough to hold firm greens with those longer clubs.
Great tournament, Brian. Great tournament, St. Jude. Great country, America.
| This week's Kodak Challenge hole | |
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| This week at the Kodak Challenge hole | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round-by-round statistics on the par-3 14th at TPC Southwind | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Live Essentials | ||||
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