Allan Henry-US Presswire
Tommy Gainey (pictured) returned a season’s best round of 60 shots to win The McGladrey Classic by one shot from Jim Furyk. This is Gainey’s first win on Tour and it came about after he posted a clubhouse target of 16 under and then had to wait more than two hours for the other players to complete their rounds.
Before this week Gainey had finished second on one occasion and third five teams on the PGA Tour. His best effort this season was a third place finish at the Crowne Plaza Invitational in May. He has missed the cut 13 times in 30 tournaments.
Gainey began the final round 7 strokes behind the overnight leaders Furyk and Davis Love. No player has gone lower this season and his final round included eight birdies, an eagle and no bogeys. His chip in eagle on the par 5 15th was the highlight of the round.
Furyk needed a birdie on the last to force a play-off but came up short. He missed the green with his approach shot to the 18th and he never looked like chipping in. Love’s challenge faltered when he missed a short putt and double bogeyed the 16th.
Recent form and world rankings worked out at the Perth International with Bo Van Pelt winning the tournament and Jason Dufner finishing second. Two bogeys in his last five holes did not prevent Van Pelt from ensuring a second overseas win by a two shot margin.
The two US based players were two of the just four players from the top 100 in the world rankings who contested this event co-sanctioned by the European Tour and PGA of Australasia. The field was predominantly made up of local players who are based in the Southern Hemisphere.
Greg Chalmers is currently 58th in the standings and he finished tenth and second best of the local players. Charl Schwartzel was the other top 100 player and he missed the cut. Dufner got within a shot of the leader on the back nine but a bogey on his 16th hole proved to be costly.
Van Pelt’s only PGA Tour win was the Milwaukee open of 2009 but he also won the Asia Pacific Classic in 2011. He had a top 10 in the regular season ending Tour Championship so he has proven recent form at the highest level.
Dufner has won twice in the States this year helping him to his current world ranking and a place in the Ryder Cup. He will no doubt be pleased with his effort in Australia but also somewhat frustrated that he could not record a first win outside the States.
