Brian Gay is competing this week at Congressional in quite a bit of pain in his left elbow from a chronic tennis elbow issue he’s been dealing with since last fall. The tennis elbow started in April last year in his right arm.
“Right after the playoffs last fall, I got it in the other arm, it went from my right to my left,” Gay said on Friday at Congressional. “The whole offseason, I didn’t play a round of golf.”
This week at Congressional’s Blue Course, Gay's gutsy play lead to him shooting 73 and 72 to make the cut at 1-over par and he'll look to make a move on the weekend.
Gay got treatment in an effort to alleviate the pain before heading to Alabama to compete in last week's Regions Tradition. The 53-year-old got a PRP injection in his left arm to help with the pain just days before leaving.
“It’s been a battle, I’ve only been able to practice playing with pain," Gay said. "Hopefully, it will start getting better after this injection, I wasn’t really able to rest it after the injection. I went straight to Birmingham after that."
The five-time PGA Tour winner didn’t play any practice rounds last week because of the pain. He 75-77 and withdrew from the no-cut event.
His practice remained limited ahead of competing this week. He walked the front nine on Monday at Congressional and played the back nine on Tuesday because his arm was hurting too much.
“I hit a handful of balls after that nine holes, but then didn’t play anymore,” Gay said. “I’m just trying to manage the pain. Get the most out of my game as I can, but at this stage, I’m lucky, the right arm doesn’t hurt anymore, but now my focus is all on the left.”
His left arm feels the most pain in his long game, as gay explained that the longer clubs generate more force and put a lot more stress on his elbow.
“I might be favoring the right arm now," Gay said. "It’s just because the driver and woods are such a longer swing, and there’s so much more speed required with those clubs.”
Gay thinks that driving hasn’t been an issue as much as he thought it would be thus far at Congressional. The Texan believes that iron play will be critical for himself and other players the rest of the way on the blue course.
“I think being on the right spot around the greens is critical because it’s really hard to two-putt from outside forty feet on these greens,” Gay said. “So I would say iron play is key for me the rest of the championship. The fairway bunkers are really deep; you can’t really go for the green from there, so that means the driver needs to be working well off the tee.
"The rough is thick, but it’s playable. If you do miss fairways, the rough is manageable.”
Despite his injury and the challenging Championship conditions, Brian Gay continues to inspire with his play at Congressional.
