Tommy Gainey
Personal information
Full nameThomas Dale Gainey Jr.
NicknameTwo Gloves
Born (1975-08-13) August 13, 1975
Darlington, South Carolina
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceBishopville, South Carolina[1]
Career
CollegeCentral Carolina Technical College
Turned professional1997
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
(past champion status)
Korn Ferry Tour
Former tour(s)Gateway Tour
Tarheel Tour
Professional wins13
Highest ranking84 (August 21, 2011)[2]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
Korn Ferry Tour3
Other9
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipT61: 2013
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipDNP

Thomas Dale Gainey Jr. (born August 13, 1975), also known as "Two Gloves", is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour.

Early life and education

Gainey was born in Darlington, South Carolina. He attended the Central Carolina Technical College, studying industrial maintenance, and graduated in 1999. Before becoming a professional golfer, he worked on an assembly line in South Carolina, wrapping insulation around hot water heaters for A.O. Smith Corporation.[3]

Professional career

Early career

Gainey turned professional in 1997, and for the next several years played golf on smaller tours in the southern United States. Gainey won four events on the Egolf Tarheel Tour, two in 2006 and one in 2007. He also won an event on the NGA Hooters Tour, and he played on the Gateway Tour.[4]

In 2005, Gainey appeared on the Golf Channel's show The Big Break IV: USA vs. Europe, being eliminated in the sixth episode. He would return to the show in 2007 for The Big Break VII: Reunion at Reunion, which he won. In 2007, Gainey played four events on the Nationwide Tour and recorded one top-ten finish. At the end of the 2007 season, he earned a PGA Tour card through graduating from Q-School, finishing the six rounds T-19, after going through all three elimination stages of qualifying, a total of 14 rounds. That made him the first Big Break alumnus to earn a PGA Tour card.

PGA Tour

Gainey played on the PGA Tour for the first time in 2008, but struggled for most of the season. He made only five cuts in 23 events and was 228th on the money list, before entering the last event of the season, the Children's Miracle Network Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort. In the last round, playing the Magnolia Course, he shot a 64 and finished second to Davis Love III by one stroke. That finish moved Gainey inside the top 150 on the money list (to 148th, an 80-spot leap), which gave him conditional status for the 2009 season. Gainey re-entered the Q-School to try and gain back full playing privileges, but finished well down the leaderboard in T80th. He then split his time between both the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour in 2009, struggling again on the PGA Tour, making just 8 out of 15 cuts, with one top-25 finish. He ended the year 202nd on the money list, not even earning conditional status for 2010.[4]

Gainey returned to the Nationwide Tour in 2010, where he played the full season. He recorded some impressive results, claiming his first Nationwide Tour title at the Melwood Prince George's County Open in June. Gainey won the event by one stroke over Frank Lickliter and Jin Park, with weekend rounds of 64 and 65 securing victory. The following month, Gainey won his second Nationwide Tour title at the Chiquita Classic, winning by three strokes over Joe Affrunti. He shot a 10 under round of 62 in round three on the way to the win. He finished the season fourth on the Nationwide Tour money list and secured a return to the PGA Tour in 2011.

In 2011, Gainey missed the cut in his first three events, then made six consecutive cuts through to the end of March. At the 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona, he was in contention late in the final round, but made a quadruple-bogey 8 on the par-4 17th hole to finish tied for 8th.[5] He posted a fifth-place finish at the Honda Classic in Florida a month later.[5] Gainey's best 2011 Tour finish came at The Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina, when he needed a 15-foot putt on the 72nd green to tie clubhouse leader Brandt Snedeker, but missed it, finishing the event in third place.[5] The next week on tour, Gainey finished in a tie for third again at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he finished two strokes outside of a playoff. In August, due to his good play for the year, Gainey qualified to play in his first major championship at the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. He shot rounds of 81 and 74 to miss the cut, but bounced back with a third-place finish the next week at the Wyndham Championship. The third occasion in 2011 that Gainey had finished in the top three in an event. The result moved him to a career high of 84th in the world rankings.[6][7] Gainey ended his breakthrough year with another T3rd finish at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in the Fall Series. Gainey ended the year 35th on the money list. with 17 cuts and 7 top-10s in 34 events.

Gainey started the 2012 season slowly, making only three of his first ten cuts, having to withdraw twice due to injury. He did not record a top 10 finish until the end of May at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial where he finished third for the fifth time in his career on the PGA Tour. For the rest of the season, Gainey played more consistently, making nine of the next thirteen cuts, but without any significant results. Then on October 21, 2012, during the Fall Series, after 105 starts and 48 cuts made, Gainey won his first PGA Tour event at the McGladrey Classic. He came from seven strokes back of final round leaders Jim Furyk and Davis Love III to win by one from David Toms, after shooting a final round of 60. Gainey had a putt from about 20 feet on the 18th green for a 59 but it missed on the right hand side.[8]

In January 2020, Gainey won The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour, his first professional win since 2012. His winning score was 277 (11-under-par). He started the season with limited status on the PGA Tour as a past champion and on the Korn Ferry Tour after a T76 finish at Q School.

Personal

In December 2019, Gainey was arrested in a major prostitution sting in Florida.[9] Gainey was not given prison time, but was sentenced to eleven months probation, 100 hours community service, and fines of $6,218.60.[10]

Playing style, sponsors

Gainey wears black, wet-weather golf gloves, one on each hand, at all times when playing golf. He stated on October 21, 2012, that his father (who introduced him to the game) wears two gloves, and so he learned to play with them.[11]

Gainey uses the very rare baseball grip on full shots, where he hooks his left (top) thumb behind his right hand (normal position for the left thumb for a right-handed golfer is under the right thumb). His swing is also notably jerky and eccentric, and has been described as "trying to kill a snake with a garden hose."[12] His other 2011 sponsors included Under Armour, Adams Golf and The Dow Group. In 2012 Gainey made the switch to Callaway Clubs, and he continues to be sponsored by The Dow Group.[13]

Professional wins (13)

PGA Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Oct 21, 2012 McGladrey Classic −16 (69-67-68-60=264) 1 stroke United States David Toms

Korn Ferry Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Jun 6, 2010 Melwood Prince George's County Open −17 (69-69-64-65=267) 1 stroke United States Frank Lickliter, South Korea Jin Park
2 Jul 18, 2010 Chiquita Classic −27 (64-66-62-69=261) 3 strokes United States Joe Affrunti
3 Jan 15, 2020 The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic −11 (66-75-67-69=277) 4 strokes United States John Oda, United States Dylan Wu

NGA Hooters Tour wins (1)

  • 2007 Bentonville Open

Gateway Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Aug 13, 2004 Tournament 10 −19 (70-67-64-68=269) 1 stroke United States Dustin Bray
2 Aug 27, 2004 Tournament 11 −24 (67-64-63-70=264) 2 strokes United States Mac Butler, United States Kevin Gessino-Kraft
3 Apr 8, 2005 Hampton Cove −5 (73-66-72=211) 1 stroke United States Chip Deason

Tarheel Tour wins (4)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Sep 29, 2004 Statesville Open −12 (66-66=132) 3 strokes England Gary Christian
2 Mar 2, 2006 Patriots Point Open −9 (69-68-70=207) Playoff United States Andy Bare
3 Jun 2, 2006 River Run Classic −20 (68-65-63=196) 2 strokes United States John Mallinger
4 Mar 29, 2007 Oldfield Open −13 (67-69-67=203) 2 strokes United States Jonathan Fricke

Other wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runners-up
1 Nov 18, 2012 Callaway Pebble Beach Invitational −11 (69-69-70-69=277) 1 stroke United States William McGirt, United States Kirk Triplett

Results in major championships

Tournament201120122013
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUT CUT T61
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 201120122013
The Players Championship CUT CUT CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament2013
Match Play
Championship
Invitational T65
Champions
  Did not play

"T" = Tied

See also

References

  1. ↑ About | Tommy Gainey Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  2. ↑ "Week 34 2011 Ending 21 Aug 2011" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  3. ↑ "Tommy 'Two-Gloves' Gainey Clutches first PGA Tour Victory". Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  4. 1 2 "PGA Tour Media Guide – Tommy Gainey". PGA Tour. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 "Tommy Gainey – PGA Tour season: 2011". PGA Tour. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "Official World Golf Ranking, Week 34, 2011" (PDF). OWGR. 21 August 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "Official World Golf Ranking for Tommy Gainey". OWGR. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  8. ↑ "Gainey shoots 10 under to win maiden title at McGladrey Classic". Sky Sports. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  9. ↑ "Gainey arrested in massive prostitution sting". Golf Channel. 11 December 2019.
  10. ↑ Gray, Will (12 February 2020). "Tommy Gainey avoids jail, gets probation for solicitation arrest". Golf Channel.
  11. ↑ Kelley, Brent. "Tommy Gainey, aka 'Tommy Two Gloves'". About.com Golf. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  12. ↑ Green Sr., Ron (5 May 2011). "Gainey surges with 'garden hose' swing". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  13. ↑ Tommy Gainey's sponsors Archived 2012-01-06 at the Wayback Machine
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