"Two Gloves" goes 2-under in Heritage debut
HILTON HEAD
ISLAND
The highlight of Tommy Gainey’s first
Verizon Heritage came at his last hole on Thursday. The Bishopville native,
known courtesy of Golf Channel’s “Big Break” reality series as “Two Gloves,”
came to Harbour Town Golf Links’ short ninth hole at 1-under-par – an
accomplishment already – but seeking more.
He got it, hitting his approach to about
six feet, then rolling in his birdie putt as a small but vocal (and, given the
lateness of the hour, somewhat chilled) group of fans roared their approval.
And afterward, Gainey, 32, admitted he
probably owed his 2-under round, tied for 23rd on a day for scoring,
on the worst moment he could’ve imagined.
That happened on the first hole, when the
man used to making clutch shots and putts when he won his second “Big Break”
go-around missed a par putt – from a foot.
“I missed it right, moved my head and
shoved it,” Gainey said.
And his response? It wasn’t despair, or a
feeling of unworthiness, something you might expect given his background. No,
Tommy Gainey was … mad.
“It woke me up. No, more than that; it
made me angry. I was hot, no question.”
And he took his anger out on Harbour Town,
which wasn’t a bad thing to do at all.
He
strung together seven pars; then, at the course’s signature 18th
hole, a brutal par-4 of 452 yards usually buffeted by the winds off Calibogue
Sound, Gainey drained a 20-something-foot putt for birdie.
“The first hole? Nerves,” said his caddie,
former USC golfer Scott Feaster. “But he settled down, played solid. I think he
was playing the best he has all year.”
It’s been a tough start for Gainey in
this, his rookie year on the PGA Tour. The product of mini-tours here, there
and everywhere, the former factory worker (his worst or at least itchiest job,
he said, was wrapping insulation around water heaters) has made three cuts in
six tournaments, falling victim to the tour’s MDF (made cut, did not finish)
rule once and earning a bit over $30,000.
But on his “home” course (Gainey got in
via a sponsor’s exemption), he got off to a solid start – his round, not the
first hole, obviously – and a better finish.
“I hit a lot of good shots and a few bad
ones, I putted well and hit my targets,” he said. The birdie at No. 9? “Very
important,” he said. “I’d just bogeyed the par-3 (No. 7), and that ticked me
off.”
He grinned. “Dinner’s going to go down a
lot nicer now,” he said.
It was, too, for Gainey’s father, Tom Sr.,
better known as “Smokey” – “Everyone in Lee County knows me by that,” said the
elder Gainey, who called his son’s showing a perfect 61st birthday
present.
Smokey Gainey had wondered at the first
hole. “I told William Watkin (a friend from Bishopville Country Club), ‘Tommy
might have a little nerves here,’ and soon as I said it, he missed that putt.
“I thought he was trying too hard, not
wanting to disappoint everyone, but he settled down, got into his rhythm. And
No. 18, that’s the worst hole out there, that (birdie) really gave him a boost.
He never got in serious trouble, never had a chance to make 6 or 7. And I think
he and the group (of hometown supporters) fed off each other.”
For Gainey, all the fan support was a
mixed blessing: “It gave me a boost of confidence, but the pressure’s on you to
perform,” he said. “It was up to me to keep them happy and supportive, not
disappoint everybody.”
With his first round at Harbour Town on
the books, Gainey admitted he would breathe a sigh of relief before heading
into Friday’s round, where the goal would be to make the cut and position him
for a strong weekend.
“I’m under par, and (the lead being at)
5-under, I’m not out of it, no way,” he said.
Gainey had one final reflection on the
first hole, a notion that it had worked out for the best.
“I probably have birdied the first hole 80
percent of the time out here,” he said, “and today I bogeyed it.
“But I came back, shot a great round,
instead of having a train wreck.”
All in all, not a bad start.
BOB GILLESPIE
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