Despite a fine 68 (-4) today, Brian missed the 5-under cut by two. Ken Duke, currently #31 on the Money List and only $266 behind Brian, is playing well and currently is among the leaders. So, it looks like Top 30 status is out for this year.
Nevertheless, it has been a wonderful year for Brian. It included his first win and is his best yet. Look for Brian next in January as he tees it up in Hawaii with the other 2008 PGA TOUR winners at the Mercedes Championship.
Not to be lost in all this . . . John Riegger is having a fine tournament. He followed Thursday's fine 68 (-4) with today's 69 (-3). Through 36, his 137 total (-7) is T-40.
I cannot emphasize enough the caliber of this golf. The field is tightly bunched: One shot less (one-half shot per round) is T-27, and two shots less (one shot per round) is T-19. And, more than likely, only one-quarter shot per round will separate the winner from the runner-up.
All of which, of course, is what keeps these guys up at night and on the practice ground the next day.
Lynn, what is the 'off-season' like for a PGA pro?
Will Brian take a few weeks well earned R&R or will he get straight back into it?
__________________ The student senses his teacher’s steadfast belief and quiet resolve: “This is doable. It is doable by you. The pathway is there. All you need is determination and time.” And together, they make it happen.
Lynn, what is the 'off-season' like for a PGA pro?
Will Brian take a few weeks well earned R&R or will he get straight back into it?
I've not talked with Brian about his year-end plans. However, for those professionals not in demand for 'silly season' money, the off-season is pretty much that . . . "off".
Last year, he worked on his physical conditioning program, and it wouldn't surprise me if that will be the case again this year.
John Riegger closed today with a fine 68 (-4). His 68-69-74-68=278 (-9) put him in 47th place and earned $13,340.
The Greats of the Game will always be great, and The Greatest among these will be debated wherever golfers gather. For my money, Bobby Jones got it right when he said: "All you can ask of any man is to beat everybody who was around when he was around."
In complement, just behind these sainted few is the host of others whose lives and careers rest just a few shots back. This has always been the case, but now more than ever, the gap between the great and the near-great is quite narrow.
Indeed, the caliber and depth of non-winning golf on today's tours around the world is astonishing.
Watching Brian Gay play golf in person is a real treat... I can hardly wait to see him on the West Coast & in LA in 09. And Yoda has graciously made that possible the last few years.
A review of Brian's stats to date for 08 is interesting...obviously this has been his best year on the PGA Tour. Without basically making no more cuts than prior years, this year Brian won his first title and has had 6 top tens and 12 top twenty five finishes. Brian is 31st in overall earnings and 2nd on Tour with a scoring average of 70.11. He ranks 7th in putting average and putts per round. An eye opening stat series is Brian ranks 4th in scoring average before the cut (70.03), 12th in round 3 (69.70)and T58 in round 4 (70.80).
This is truely a brutal game at this level of quality....if Brian could shave a stroke off his scores on Sundays he would vault big time up the leader board.
By winning and getting in the Mercedes, that will give him a very nice head start on the money list from next year. He shot play that video game the Chopra did.
The FedEx didn't seem to be fair, because he played better then Billy Mayfair but didn't get into the Tour Championship which was guarantee of $112,000.
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