Joseph Brian Gay (born December 14, 1971) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who currently plays on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

and

PGA Tour Champions PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many yea ...

Early years

military brat A military brat (colloquial or military slang) is a child of serving or retired military personnel. Military brats are associated with a unique subcultureDavid C. Pollock, Ruth E. van Reken. ''Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds'', Revi ...

, Gay was born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

, but was raised primarily at

Fort Rucker Fort Rucker is a U.S. Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators an ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

, where his father was a U.S. Army

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

involved in flight operations. His father was also a member of the All-Army golf team in his spare time. As an only child, Gay spent much of his youth at the Fort Rucker golf course, first at the practice area, then on the course. Encouraged by a group of military retirees he often played with, he dominated the local tournament scene as a

tween Preadolescence is a stage of human development following middle childhood and preceding adolescence.New Oxford American Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2005. Oxford University Press. It commonly ends with the beginning of puberty. Preadolescence is ...

College career

Gay's success as a teenager led to his receiving an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where he played for coach Buddy Alexander's Florida Gators men's golf team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

(NCAA) competition from 1991 to 1994. During his time as a Gator golfer, the team won four consecutive

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) championships (1991–1994), and the 1993

NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships The NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, played in late May or early June, is the top annual competition in U.S. men's collegiate golf. The teams that win their respective Division I conference championships are given automatic spots in th ...

. As a collegian, he was the SEC Freshman of the Year (1991), a five-time individual medalist, two-time SEC individual champion (1992, 1994), three-time first-team All-SEC selection (1992–1994), and two-time All-American (1992, 1993). Gay was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2010.

Professional career

Gay turned pro in 1994 and joined the PGA Tour in 1999. He picked up his first win on tour at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun in 2008 after 293 PGA Tour starts, with his second win coming at the Verizon Heritage in 2009. He won the event by ten strokes, finishing at 20-under par. The ten stroke victory is one of the biggest wins in the PGA Tour's history. His best position on the year-end money list is 13th in 2009. He has featured in the top 50 of the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

, ranking as high as 35th in 2009. Gay was not exempt to play in the 2009 U.S. Open heading into the St. Jude Classic. He was one of seven golfers who could earn the last spot in the U.S. Open by winning the St. Jude Classic, using the "Winners of multiple PGA Tour events since the last Open" exemption. Gay went on to win by five strokes over David Toms and Bryce Molder for his second wire-to-wire win of the season. In 2013, Gay won for the first time in four years at the Humana Challenge, the fourth victory of his PGA Tour career. He defeated Charles Howell III on the second hole of a three-man sudden-death playoff when he made birdie. Earlier, David Lingmerth had been eliminated on the first extra hole. This performance helped Gay earn the PGA Tour Player of the Month award for January. Gay did not play during the 2014–15 season after back surgery and played the next two seasons on a Major Medical Extension. A T6 at the 2017

Valero Texas Open The Texas Open, known as the Valero Texas Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played near San Antonio, Texas. It dates back years to 1922, when it was first called the Texas Open; San Antonio-based Va ...

secured his return to the PGA Tour. In November 2020, Gay won his fifth PGA Tour event (and first in seven years) at the Bermuda Championship when he defeated Wyndham Clark in a playoff.

Personal life

Gay was mentioned frequently in ''Bud, Sweat and Tees: A Walk on the Wild Side of the PGA Tour'' by Alan Shipnuck, which profiled

Rich Beem Richard Michael Beem (born August 24, 1970) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and is best known for his upset victory at the 2002 PGA Championship. Beem was born in Phoenix, Arizona, grew up in El Paso, Texas, and play ...

's rookie year on the PGA Tour.

Steve Duplantis Steve Duplantis (September 20, 1972 – January 23, 2008) was a pro golf caddie. He worked with several golfers until his death. Career and personal life Duplantis was born in Brampton in Canada. He began caddying for Clarence Rose in 1993, ...

, who became Gay's caddy following a split with Beem, was chronicled as well in Shipnuck's book.

Professional wins (14)

PGA Tour wins (5)

PGA Tour playoff record (2–1)

Other wins (9)

*9 wins on mini tours in the U.S.

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 2 (twice) *Longest streak of top-10s – 0

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the

Results in World Golf Championships

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

(winners)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, Brian American male golfers Florida Gators men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from Texas Golfers from Alabama Golfers from Florida Sportspeople from Fort Worth, Texas People from Fort Rucker, Alabama 1971 births Living people