Westport's Gai Romps To Nine-Shot Victory In Golf Tournament

Andrew Gai, a rising senior at Staples High School, cruised to a nine-stroke victory at the annual Met PGA Tournament of  Champions earlier this week in Long Island.

Gai posted a 36-hole total of 1-under par 143 at the Glen Oaks Club to win the event for the second straight year. His closest rival was 14-year-old Matthew Lowe of Farmingdale, New York who finished at 8-over 152.

Gai carded a 76 in the second round on Tuesday, but that came after he posted a sizzling 5-under 67 in the first round on Monday, which gave him a nine-shot cushion.

The 17-year-old Westport resident, who recently committed to play golf at Campbell University in the fall of 2011, was the only player to break 70 in either round.

Gai earned Met Player of the Year honors for the second straight year in the 15-18 age group after a spectacular summer in which he won seven of the nine Met PGA tournaments he entered.

Gai elected not to play on the Staples' golf team last season to concentrate on junior events and help attain a college scholarship. He will, however, rejoin the team next spring, which will make Wreckers' coach Tom Owen a very happy man. Even without Gai, Staples won the CIAC Division I state title this past spring.

In the last year, he won four events on the International Junior Golf Tour and finished second in the points standings for the 2009-10 season. In July, he placed second in the Deutsche Bank Junior Shoot Out, an American Junior Golf Association tournament on Cape Cod.