When Steve Jent announced on Friday night at the Founder's Club Reception that Tommy “two gloves” Gainey was playing at this year's Wyndham, I thought he sounded like an extra from the movie Goodfellas. So the ggoblogger had to look him up and this is what I found out.
Gainey was born in Darlington, South Carolina. He attended the Central Carolina Technical College. Before becoming a professional golfer, he worked on an assembly line in South Carolina, wrapping insulation around hot water heaters for A.O. Smith Corporation. He turned professional in 1998. Gainey has won four events on the Egolf Tarheel Tour, two in 2006, one in 2007 and he won an event on the NGA Hooters Tour. a
Gainey appeared in 2005 on the Golf Channel's Big Break USA vs Europe, and The Reunion. He is the first Big Break alumnus to earn a PGA Tour card.
Gainey wears black, wet-weather golf gloves, one on each hand, at all times when playing golf, even while putting. Gainey's first sport was baseball, where wearing two batting gloves is common.
Gainey uses the very rare baseball grip on full shots, where he hooks his left thumb behind his right hand; normal position for the left thumb for a righthander in golf is under the right thumb. His swing is also notably jerky and eccentric, and has been described as "trying to kill a snake with a garden hose."
