Brian has certainly found something in his swing, the guy has been around a long time (since '94) and all I think he needed was a breakthrough to boost his confidence. He is no doubt making Mizuno look good along with Jonathan Byrd. Luke better pick up the pace, his fellow staffers are creating some well needed buzz.
Atta kid Brian, push the lead farther and farther, I am pulling for another W for you.
Brian Gay is a great player, but the one thing he lacks to be competitive every week is distance. He is an excellent putter and great with his wedge game and a straight driver of the ball. He does very well at courses that do not put a premium on distance. (ie) Verizon, and St. Jude. However as far as the US Open, I really doubt he will be a contender or able to go low. Bethpage is very long and will not suit his type of game. 571 yards of par 4 is tough to over come when you are short off the tee. Distance off the tee will be at a premium there and probably at every major venue from here on, exept for the Masters. Other players in his same catergory are Furyk, Leonard, and Tim Clark. Hitting seven and six irons is a lot easier and more accurate into greeens that a four or three iron.
He is a very accurate driver and a very solid putter even when compared to the World's Best. He is not long enough off of the tee to compete at Bethpage Black.
From what I've seen, the guy is super straight and can roll the ball too.
I really don't see him contending at Bethpage though due to raw distance. FWIW, I heard on the GC that the course could play in the neighborhood of 8,400 if its soft out there. WTF!!!!
I believe his last two competitive rounds are both 64's (including the final round at Colonial), with a solid chance to add a 3rd here. And these aren't easy or short courses.
Maybe this will force them to actually show him play some tomorrow and do a better analysis of his swing. The Lynn Blake TGM camp must be ecstatic!
All tour winners have one thing in common, they can putt.
I think Brian has a great chance of playing well at the US Open, as as long as the putter is working well. I think distance is overrated, it always comes down to the short game.
Brian has always had a great short game and in particular a fantastic putter. He's never been that long, but he's maybe 5'7" tall (they list him at 5'10" and if that's the case, Tiger is 6'5" tall)
Yes, he's that good.
He basically didn't know a whole lot about the golf swing until he started working with Lynn Blake and then they found a swing meant for him and he's got it so well down and actually understands it so well that now he's one of the better ballstrikers on Tour.
Before I went to Blake's teaching protege, Ted Fort, I asked a friend who was at a Tour even Gay was playing at to watch him and see what he thought. He called me up and said that he followed Gay for 7 holes and remarked of just how 'pure' he hits every shot and he's deadly accurate. So basically Gay transformed himself from a decent ballstriker with a great short game to a fantastic ballstriker with a great short game.
The only problem is that he recently suffered a rib injury and that hurt his back and neck and that's why he didn't do a whole lot after his Verizon victory.
Unfortunately, I don't see Bethpage fitting him. It's just too freaking long and it's not your typical US Open design where a premium must be placed on accuracy. Thusly, Tiger will probably win because it's more of a bomber's course and Tiger is best of the bombers by far. I do think if Gay can keep this up he can (or should) make the Ryder Cup and I can see him giving those Euros fits all day long.
All tour winners have one thing in common, they can putt.
I think Brian has a great chance of playing well at the US Open, as as long as the putter is working well. I think distance is overrated, it always comes down to the short game.
True, the problem is that distance is the great equalizer in golf. When Brian is playing a course pretty much like a par 72 and somebody like JB Holmes plays it as a par 68, that's a big advantage in Holmes' favor. Doesn't mean Gay cannot beat him or beat him the majority of the time, but it's still an advantage. And make no mistake about it, Brian Gay works on a lot of things to help improve his distance, but he's just not going to sacrifice consistency and accuracy for it. He really is only short off the tee, he can hit his irons as far as most of the golfers on Tour.
Southwind is actually a long course. Its a par 70 7000 yard layout which is like a par 72 7800 layout. The par 4's are pretty long and so are the par 3's.
Southwind is actually a long course. Its a par 70 7000 yard layout which is like a par 72 7800 layout. The par 4's are pretty long and so are the par 3's.
Playing at a par 70, it is not a short course by tour standards, but I think your math is off.
I much prefer the players who can think their way around a course, are in control of their trajectory and have a super short game... the bomb and gauge is way over rated.
This is also why I think TW is the greatest (vs Jack) because when Jack was playing, the other guys who were not genuinely good, didn't have the benefit of technology to help them keep up with or beat Jack.
Right, a Par 70 at 7000 yards is actually more like a Par 72 at 7250 or so. If you were to add 125 yards or so to each par 4 to make them legitimate par 5's, then you're probably in the right neighborhood.
Grian Gay's only real weakness in his game is distance. He isnt a long hitter. He hits the ball very straight and his shortgame and putting is pretty good though.
If its a course where accuracy is more important than distance, Brian can beat anyone in the world.
He's no different than any other player with a Tour card. When the putts go in they shoot low scores. Gay is a better putter than most.
Nobody ever shoots a good score putting poorly, ever. If a guy starts to have some high finishes and, or, wins, it means he is making putts.
juansky, on Jun 12 2009, 10:39 AM, said:
I don't know much about Brian Gay but it seems to me that he can really go low on a consistent basis.
I know he won the Verizon Heritage by a whopping 10 strokes and now he's looking to make another run at the St. Jude Classic.
Can anybody out there shine some light on this fellow for me?
I would love to see how he contends in the U.S. Open next week with Tiger on the field.
LOL, when clampett wanted to talk about gay's swing and TGM, kostis changed the subject. and the next time he commented on a swing was moulders' and he went out of his way to stress how he went from being too technical to just going out and playing now ... which i took as a knock on TGM.
i think it's time to get some new blood as swing analyst. kostis been around too long, i'd love to hear someone else like clampett get to say what he wants and break down swings
Actually Clampett's book was genius. Didn't really talk about or favor one swing over another, but stressed the importance of impact, which is the only thing that effects the ball. I think if more players concerned themselves with impact, ball first contact, rather than swing "positions" then you would see handicaps really go down.
Actually Clampett's book was genius. Didn't really talk about or favor one swing over another, but stressed the importance of impact, which is the only thing that effects the ball. I think if more players concerned themselves with impact, ball first contact, rather than swing "positions" then you would see handicaps really go down.
I understand that is important and to be very open minded about what he has wrote could you explain one thing for me please. Why would you start your divot 4inches infront of the ball and when you get a driver in hand you are going to hit the ball in the ground..? Just IMO
Re-read the book. The divot doesn't start 4 inches in front of the ball. The deepest part of the divot is 4 inches in front of the ball.
But what happens with the driver?
no divot of course, but the shallowest part of the arc is approx. 4" ahead of ball
So to me that means you are hitting the ball on a downward blow way past your aim point with a drive. I don't know if I would like that but it might be great for some others who like trapping a driver thru LW. So many different ways you can get it done I guess.
Re-read the book. The divot doesn't start 4 inches in front of the ball. The deepest part of the divot is 4 inches in front of the ball.
But what happens with the driver?
no divot of course, but the shallowest part of the arc is approx. 4" ahead of ball
So to me that means you are hitting the ball on a downward blow way past your aim point with a drive. I don't know if I would like that but it might be great for some others who like trapping a driver thru LW. So many different ways you can get it done I guess.
Ideally you want to hit up with the driver, more carry and distance. Trapping a driver will give you less distance and less carry but a bit more roll.
Back on track more or less: Does Brian do snoose? He always looks like he is about to spit something out from his bottom lip. As an ex-smoker, I sympathize, but sometimes he even looks like a major league pitcher from the 1950's, about to spout out a big wad before the big pitch to strike out Mickey Mantle. I hope not on the green (or tee).
Re TGM, there are some great YouTube videos of him and Lynn Blake doing lessons. Search them out. Lynn marches to his own drum beat, but is well worth listening too in his other videos as well. A great resource.
The being 'too technical' stuff spewed out by Kostis is just typical crap from a guy who was a highly overrated teacher even in his prime who is (and really has been) woefully behind the times to make himself look like he's not so out-dated.
Believe me, when Brian Gay steps up on the practice range before a tournament and then steps up to the tournament tee, he works off of feel. And it's probably amazingly simple swing feel thought.
I think its funny that guys say he's not a long hitter. He hits it far enough, in fact I think he will do well at the USOpen. Straight is long and a good putter he is. ( sorry Yoda talk) Thats a good mix.
Same thing happend to Charlie last year at a major they kept saying oh he's not a long hitter. For his size he really long, kept up to Garcia a few times if not past on two holes. Its all A to B and stay in the zone, who can do that best.
As for Kostis and Faldo it would be nice to hear from some people that know about the golf swing for once.
people need to realize that straight/short hitters can be VERY AGGRESSIVE players, in terms of the lines they take. im not a short hitter so i have no reason to defend them, but people shouldnt equate "straight" with "conservative." their "straightness" allows them to be aggressive. zack johnson, for example, is a very aggressive player .... he has no problem firing at pins from the short side. gay on the par 5 on the back yesterday took a line over trees and straight at the flag, whereas the longer allenby played to the center.
Re-read the book. The divot doesn't start 4 inches in front of the ball. The deepest part of the divot is 4 inches in front of the ball.
But what happens with the driver?
no divot of course, but the shallowest part of the arc is approx. 4" ahead of ball
So to me that means you are hitting the ball on a downward blow way past your aim point with a drive. I don't know if I would like that but it might be great for some others who like trapping a driver thru LW. So many different ways you can get it done I guess.
i dont equate forward swing bottom with trapping. trapping i think of a shut blade player like parnevik. if anything he appears to hit it marginally heavy by tour standards (i.e. rear swing bottom) from a steep angle with a shut face.
drivers due to shaft length will have the shallowest arc and thus the forward bottom is minimal delofting. also, remember that the ball travels on the clubface for over an inch so by time it exits the it's delofted even less. a forward bottom really just insures solid contact, lag and minimal deceleration. i wouldnt get too caught up in what it means in terms of loft.
people need to realize that straight/short hitters can be VERY AGGRESSIVE players, in terms of the lines they take. im not a short hitter so i have no reason to defend them, but people shouldnt equate "straight" with "conservative." their "straightness" allows them to be aggressive. zack johnson, for example, is a very aggressive player .... he has no problem firing at pins from the short side. gay on the par 5 on the back yesterday took a line over trees and straight at the flag, whereas the longer allenby played to the center.
You bring up a great point about the straight hitters. Because of their control over the ball flight and trajectory, they can be aggressive. Whereas the long hitters like Allenby have much less control and therefore don't play as agressive for the most part. I myself play aggressive, I'm not playing in any tournaments so why hold back, just let it rip and have some fun out there.
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