Bermuda Championship: Brian Gay Defeats Wyndham Clark in Play-Off

Bermuda Championship: Brian Gay Defeats Wyndham Clark in Play-Off

American Brian Gay claimed his first PGA Tour title in seven years, at the Bermuda Championship, on Sunday.

Gay had only made one cut in his last 19 starts but a birdie at the first playoff hole was enough to claim his first victory since the 2013 Humana Challenge.

Final Round Overview

Gay started his round with back-to-back pars before a birdie on the par three third. Consecutive birdies on the sixth and seventh moved the American up the leaderboard. He would close out his front nine with a bogey and birdie to stay at three-under-par.

Clark, on the other hand, started the better of the two as he made three birdies in his first four holes. Consecutive birdies on the sixth and seventh meant the American went out in only 31 shots on the front nine.

Starting the back nine, Gay needed a strong showing if he was to stay in contention, and four birdies in his next six holes helped massively as he started to pull away from the pack. Clark carried on his exceptional front nine with back-to-back birdies on the 10^th and 11^th to also pull away from the pack with Gay.

The 27-year-old soon went off the boil with four consecutive pars and then a dropped shot at the par three 16^th; this meant that he would need to birdie one of the last two holes to beat Gay, who was in the clubhouse at 15-under-par. Clark couldn’t convert any of his chances though, missing a 10-foot-putt on the last hole for the outright victory.

Both players returned to the 18^th for a play-off and both hit great second shots into the green for birdie. Faced with a 15-foot-putt, Gay would find the middle of the hole for his birdie. This meant that Clark would have to hole his slightly shorter putt to extend the contest. The American missed his putt to the left of the hole, handing Gay his fifth PGA Tour title, the first since 2013.

Notable Performances

Ollie Schniederjans had his best result of the season, finishing outright third. The American shot a five-under final round to finish two strokes back.

Denny McCarthy shot a round of the day 63 as he to enjoyed his best result of the season, finishing T4.

McCarthy was joined on 12 under by former major champion, Stewart Cink, Australia’s Matt Jones and overnight leader Doc Redman, with Kramer Hickok briefly leading, until three dropped shots in the space of two holes saw him finish on 11 under.

Russell Knox led the British interest with a T16 finish, and three-time major champion Padraig Harrington posted a final-round 69 despite five birdies in his first seven holes.

There was also good news for American Will Zalatoris who managed to secure special temporary PGA Tour membership after his T16 finish.

We hope you enjoyed the article ‘Bermuda Championship: Brian Gay Defeats Wyndham Clark in Play-Off.’ What did you make of Gay’s performance at the Bermuda Championship? Let us know!

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