S.C. rookies have home-field advantage this week
By Lauren Deason, PGATOUR.COM Editorial Coordinator
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey got his nickname when he played baseball.
Now those two gloves are his security blanket on the golf course, his peace of mind on the PGA TOUR. Any shot is possible when he wraps those 10 glove-clad fingers around the club shaft.
"Everybody's got their zone, as they like to call it, and wearing two gloves is my zone," Gainey said. "I've tried it with none on at all. I've tried it with one on and, let me tell you, I couldn't break 80 if I tried it with no gloves or even one.
"It's just the sound of the ball off the club face is so bad."
Gainey recently gained notoriety for that unique approach to the game, plus his two stints on THE GOLF CHANNEL's "Big Break" reality show and his endearing "aw shucks" personality.
A standout on several mini-tours, Gainey won the first tournament he entered at age 21 on the TearDrop Tour in 1997. He turned pro that year and left his job as an assembly line worker in rural Bishopville, S.C.
In the 11 years that followed, Gainey often quit golf to make ends meet for his family, especially when his parents had health problems.
The 32-year-old was on the Hooters Tour and Tarheel Tour last season, grateful to be playing professional golf at all and looking for his real big break. Months later, Gainey got it -- and his PGA TOUR card -- with a tie for 19th at the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament.
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Dustin Johnson is a 23-year-old fresh out of college at Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, S.C. He grew up in Columbia, S.C., and still lives in the Palmetto State.
It was too far for family and friends to travel to Hawaii or Puerto Rico to see their son, brother, nephew, grandson and teammate compete at the start of the season. This week, though, the gang's all here to watch him for the first time.
"It's actually going to be more fun because I'll have probably a pretty big crowd following me around, so it will be nice," Johnson said. "I don't think it will be any more pressure. I'm used to playing in front of them so it's not a big deal."
Nearly a hundred people are traveling from all ends of the state, though his teammates from his college nearby can't make the trip due to a tournament. With that many fans in tow, a win this week at the Verizon Heritage would be well-timed.
"It doesn't matter where I get my first win, it will still be very important. It doesn't matter if it's this week or at the end of the year," Johnson said. "Obviously I'd like to get it here in front of family and friends, but a win is a win and it's very important anywhere it happens."
History might be on his side, though. While he couldn't remember most of the holes -- save the famous 18th hole with a view of Harbour Town's majestic red-and-white striped lighthouse, Johnson did play in a tournament here.
"We had a junior tournament here [when I was about 11 or 12 years old]," he said. "I think I won the tournament. Good memories."
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Johnson and Gainey are on the PGA TOUR this season because they earned exemptions through q-school last December.
Unlike his fellow South Carolinians, Kyle Thompson knew in advance that he was safely on the TOUR for 2008. After playing five years on the Nationwide Tour, he finished inside "THE 25" in 2007 and should have had a relaxing off-season.
Only he didn't.
Thompson got married in December, bought a new house in Columbia, S.C, and, as any newlywed can attest, was busier than ever.
"A wedding takes a lot out of you. Not just money, either," Thompson said. "It was just really busy and didn't get a chance to practice a whole lot."
His new wife Emmi travels with him each week, for which Thompson is extremely grateful. She was there, too, at the 2007 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am when he made his first career cut. In fact, she's partly to blame for his terrible score in the Monday pro-am that week.
Thompson was warming up between Ricky Barnes and the only amateur not at a clinic being conducted by Davis Love III. Thompson confided to Barnes that he was proposing to Emmi at sunset that night on one of the most scenic spots on Highway 1.
"Hopefully I'm not playing with any hackers so I can fly around here, get done and make it by sunset," Thompson joked at the time. The amateur next to them overheard and chuckled.
As luck would have it, Thompson was not only paired with that amateur but also sharing a cart with him.
"He comes walking up and says, 'Man, I hope I'm not the hacker you're talking about,'" Thompson said. "I was the hacker that day. I shot 80 or so. I was so nervous."
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Their South Carolina roots aren't the only threads that bind the trio that found their way onto the TOUR in such very different ways. All three are rookies in 2008.
Johnson had the most promising start to his rookie season. He made five consecutive cuts and even tied for 10th in his debut at the Sony Open in Hawaii. But he's missed four of his last five cuts, something he attributes to losing focus and getting out of his routine.
"At the beginning of the year, I was a lot more disciplined than I was, say, the last few weeks. So I just need to get organized and actually have a schedule," Johnson said. He now plans his time in the gym and practice schedule.
Gainey's made three out of six cuts but hasn't finished higher than a tie for 39th at the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular.
He's struggled during his transition to the PGA TOUR. The courses are always tough and in near-perfect condition. There's always someone new he has to contact and detailed plans to make. But his biggest struggle is a simple one.
"I've been hitting it so good, I just haven't gotten it in the hole yet. That's what's so frustrating," Gainey said. "They're great ball strikers; everybody hits it the same. But it's just those players that get it up and down and get it in the hole (that do well)."
Then there's Thompson. He tied for 25th at Pebble Beach last year -- after his future wife said yes -- so he had a little prior PGA TOUR experience. But he only made three cuts out of eight in the first three months of '08. That's when he returned to his roots.
Two weeks ago, Thompson played on the Nationwide Tour at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open Pres'd by Dynamic Industries and finished second. Welcome back, confidence.
"I can't say enough about the Nationwide Tour," Thompson said. "What a great place to learn how to travel, how to compete, how to play for money, all the little things that go into the game that you don't see on TV...I really learned a lot out there."
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