Gay Wins St. Jude, Heads to US Open

The best word to describe Brian Gay's week: methodical. Fairways, greens, and a lot of birdie looks. Not particularly exciting -- and CBS would confirm as much -- but a win is a win, and for Gay, he made it look effortless.

And while he'll never be mistaken for Tiger Woods, he played the role of Boring Robot Golfer perfectly. (And let's be honest, if Tiger wins like this, we're slobbering all over ourselves to extol his greatness. And, yeah, I'd be leading the charge.) And the way Gay played the 72nd hole was a microcosm of his week. Middle of the fairway, second shot to four feet -- CBS' David Feherty described it, mid-flight, as "unnecessarily good." That turned out to be an understatement -- and, predictably, a birdie to top off a splendid 72 holes of golf.

His 18-under total was five shots clear of the field, and it was his third career PGA Tour victory (his second came at Harbour Town in mid-April). In addition to setting the tournament scoring record and cashing a check for just over a million clams, Gay, by virtue of his performance in Memphis, is now in next week's U.S. Open.

Four days of solid golf was impressive, but the story heading into the tournament was the return of two of the sport's biggest names: Phil Mickelson, who teed it up for the first time since learning his wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer three week ago, and John Daly, who played a PGA Tour event for the first time since commissioner Tim Finchem suspended him for six months.

Both players made the cut, and eventually finished 1-over (T-59). Normally that wouldn't be news, but given the circumstances, it is, for different reasons, a moral victory for both. And sometimes, moral victories are good enough.