Big Play

WHO Tommy (Two Gloves) Gainey

WHAT 50-yard wedge to six feet

WHERE 455-yard par-4 8th hole at Orange County National's Panther Lake course

WHEN Fifth round of the PGA Tour Q school

WHY Gainey, 32, who got a Tour card on his seventh trip to Q school, will be an impact rookie because he has character. Over the years Gainey has worked on a water-heater assembly line and delivered furniture. Now he plays golf without fear, proven by his gutsy par at the 8th after a poor approach left him 50�yards short of the green. I also like his unwillingness to abandon his unorthodox ways: He wears two gloves, puts his putter cover in his back pocket on the green and has a wildly unorthodox swing. I hope he sticks to the things that got him to where he is today.

On 50- to 75-yard wedge shots you need a steep angle of attack to make clean contact and compress the ball. Practice by placing a two-by-four, or something of a similar size, a foot behind your ball and be sure your club doesn't touch the board on the way back and through. That will force you to cock your wrists quickly on the backswing and strike the ball with a descending blow.

AND ANOTHER THING...

"I give Tiger Woods a 50-50 chance of winning the Grand Slam in one of the next couple of years."

Mike Lopuszynski teaches at the David Glenz Golf Academy in Vernon, N.J.