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Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey spent last week exhaling.
What had been a miserable rookie season on the PGA Tour was rescued on Nov.9 when Gainey finished second in the final event of the year, at Disney World, giving him a reason to be excited about 2009 rather fretting over where he might be playing.
His second-place finish allowed him to vault from 228 {+t}{+h} on the money list (the definition of nowhere) to 148 {+t}{+h} with conditional PGA Tour status next year.
It means Gainey can count on playing about 15 tour events and perhaps a full schedule since he's now exempted into the final stage of tour qualifying school in December.
If that goes well, he's out on tour full-time again. If not, he will play the Nationwide Tour when he's not able to get into big tour events.
“Last week meant everything,” said Gainey, who had planned to play a second-stage qualifying event in Florida this week. “It was so gratifying.”
Despite being a star of sorts thanks to his exposure on Golf Channel's “Big Break” series, Gainey, who lives in Bishopville, S.C., didn't attract much attention with his play. He made just five cuts before the Disney tournament.
The culprit was putting. Gainey ranked 177 {+t}{+h} on tour in putting entering the final tournament. All that buys you is weekends off.
At the urging of his caddie, Gainey went by the Rife putting studio in Orlando before the Disney event. A comprehensive session there revealed his alignment was off by approximately one foot, meaning he had missed most putts before he ever hit them.
An alignment correction and a shorter putter – a 34-inch Rife Barbados model – transformed Gainey in one week.
“You know how they say opposites attract. Well, I went from last in putting to first that week,” he said.
“It's amazing what seeing a couple of putts going in does for your confidence. I feel now like every putt I get over, I have a chance to make it.”
Despite his lack of success, Gainey enjoyed his first season on the PGA Tour. He became friends with comedian George Lopez, who hosted the Bob Hope event, and he also struck up a friendship with Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson after they played a pro-am together.
With some down time before the qualifying school finals, Gainey is already thinking about getting back out where Tiger, Phil and Sergio play next year.
“I just want to play the PGA Tour,” he said. “I don't want to go back to the Nationwide Tour.”
Chip Shots
The First Tee of Charlotte will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday at Revolution golf course, where its new facility will be housed. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m.
Tickets for the 2009 Wachovia Championship will go on sale today with no price increase over last year.
The event is scheduled April 27-May 3 at the Quail Hollow Club with Anthony Kim the defending champion. For ticket information, visit www.wachoviachampionship.com.
Next year, you could be the person who plays the U.S. Open course – Bethpage Black – before the championship on national television.
Golf Digest, the USGA and NBC are again holding a national contest to find one golfer to play Bethpage in Open setup.
Here's the catch – you must explain in six words or less why you think you can break 100.
For more details, visit www.gdopencontest.com.
