Gainey had struggled pretty much all year, with the exception of a third place at Colonial. Jim Fury

We're halfway through the college season, and while plenty of important tournaments remain, several players have put themselves in front of the race for the Haskins Award, which honors portland maine motels hotels pet freindly college golf's top player.
The Stanford Classic was held Monday and Tuesday at scenic Cypress Point. Coaches and players took to Twitter to capture some picturesque moments. Here are some of the best. UCLA won the team title, beating Duke, 18-6, in the final match of the three-round, match-play tournament.
China's Tianlang Guan, 14, won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Sunday to earn an exemption into next year's Masters. Guan will be 14 years, five months and 17 days when he tees it up at Augusta National, becoming the youngest participant in tournament history.
Our Bradley S. Klein doesn't know if the changes to The Old Course at St. Andrews are all needed. But what he does know is the reasons given for making them are unconvincing and not enough basis for tinkering with sacred ground.
Not only does Tommy Gainey make fellow country golfer Boo Weekley look like a city slicker, he is perhaps the most compelling rags-to-riches story on the PGA Tour since Lee Trevino. Merry Mex had his two red socks. Gainey portland maine motels hotels pet freindly has his two black gloves. Sometimes two plus two doesn't add up to golf's affluent norm.
Now that he has climbed from rural humble beginnings to the Tour circle of winners, Gainey would appear worthy of, at the least, a made-for-cable flick. Pro bono suggestion: Woody Harrelson would fit the part.
This, of course, is a touching tale of a curiosity who wrapped insulation around water-heater tanks in South Carolina in the mid-1990s. That was back in the day when he would catch people by surprise playing money matches.
"When they saw me with two gloves on, they said, 'Who is this guy with two gloves?' " Gainey portland maine motels hotels pet freindly once told me, referring to gambling opponents. "For them, it was like, 'How much are we playing for, and how fast can he get to the first tee?' "
It was four years ago that the self-taught Gainey evolved from novelty to threat, when he finished portland maine motels hotels pet freindly second to future Hall of Famer Davis Love III at the 2008 Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic. Then last year he transformed into a legitimate contender, finishing third four times and ending up 35th in earnings.
It's probably safe to say he's the lone Tour champion to come out of Central Carolina portland maine motels hotels pet freindly Technical College. portland maine motels hotels pet freindly In golf terms, portland maine motels hotels pet freindly Oklahoma State it isn't. Nor are there many touring portland maine motels hotels pet freindly pros who have majored in something called industrial maintenance.
While the two-glove style derives from his youth-baseball days, the seeds of his 2011-12 success grew from performance in the minors. His two victories on the 2010 Nationwide Tour made him believe. His confidence had elevated when he returned to the big show, where he had fared no better than 148th in earnings in 2008-09.
"I don't think people understand how good the Nationwide (now Web.com) Tour is," Gainey said. "If you can compete out there, you can win here. It did me good going back to the Nationwide and getting more developed."
That development portland maine motels hotels pet freindly included improving his short game, which separates upper-level players from those below. The work and success have people viewing him differently. He long has been an aggressive player who swings "like he's trying to kill a snake with a garden hose," as Gainey maintains Golf Channel portland maine motels hotels pet freindly analyst portland maine motels hotels pet freindly Brandel Chamblee described. But now he's more refined, with an all-around game, as he showed Sunday in making eight birdies and an eagle.
Gainey had struggled pretty much all year, with the exception portland maine motels hotels pet freindly of a third place at Colonial. Jim Furyk, a 16-time Tour winner, was among those who noticed. Hence, Furyk asked to play nine practice holes with Gainey last week, and a pep talk ensued.
"He just told me, 'Tommy, you know, when you were on the mini tours, you were kicking their tail, and now you get out here and you struggle a little bit,' " Gainey said. "(Furyk) said, 'Man, don't change your game. Just keep doing it. You got the game to be out here and to win. Just keep your head up and just keep trying, and sooner or later it's going to happen.' "
If there was a mini-tour around in the 1990s, Gainey probably played on it. Tarheel, portland maine motels hotels pet freindly Hooters, Grey Goose Gateway, U.S. Pro Golf, Teardrop, you name it. Gainey learned how to go low while competing against many players who also would graduate to the big Tour.