In The Game at Anniston’s Pine Hill Invitational

Anniston, AL – After losing track of time while playing College Football 25, Clay rushes to course, scorches it for nine birdies to lead Pine Hill Invitational.

By Joe Medley

Brennan Clay has, perhaps, found a new key to golfing success … play NCAA25 a little too long before tee time.

Clay rushed to Pine Hill Country Club just in time to make his 8:30 a.m. tee time and shot a 9-under-par 63 to lead by three strokes after the first of two rounds in the Pine Hill Invitational.

Gary Wigington and Andrew Brooks stand three strokes back at 66 headed into Sunday’s final round. Four golfers shot 68, and current Calhoun County Golf Tour points leader John Rollins was among five who shot 69.

Wigington is second in points at 1,162.5, 25 back of Rollins. Jeremy McGatha (1,062.5) and Clay (1,012.5) round out the four players over 1,000 points, and Ty Cole is fifth at 790.

A points race can add pressure to what’s already a mental game. A mind thinking too much coming into a round can be dangerous … either to its owner or the rest of the field.

EA Sports’ release of College Football 25 occupied Clay’s mind Saturday, almost too long, and he got to Pine Hill on two wheels.

“I showed up late,” he said. “I only had, like, 20 minutes when I got to the golf course. I was kind of playing video games at home and said, ‘Oh crap, I’ve got to go.’

“I got there and hit about 10 balls, didn’t hit any putts and then right to the tee.”

He didn’t have much time to think about golf before teeing off, and he might’ve just discovered a new mental approach to the game. He made nine birdies with no bogeys, stringing together birdies on Nos. 6-8 and three in four-hole stretch, on Nos. 15, 17 and 18.

He easily fixed few misfires and called his 4-foot par putt on the par-4 No. 13 “the biggest stress of the round.”

“It was just one of those days, man,” Clay said. “I just didn’t really miss anything. It was just weird. …

“It was really kind of a dream round. That’s the best round I’ve played in two or three years. I mean, to make nine birdies and no bogeys, I don’t care what course it is. That was pretty fun.”

Clay, the 2022 Tour player of the year, is positioned to become the seventh winner in seven Tour points events this season. He seeks his first Tour points victory since he won at Gadsden in 2022, and he won at Pine Hill in 2021.

If there’s temptation to stress about that, well, he’ll have Sunday’s latest tee time … plenty of time to play College Football 25.

An Auburn fan, Clay has taken a garnet-and-gold turn in the virtual world.

“They’ve got a mode called ‘Road to Glory,’ where you can make your own player, and you get to pick your college, and all of that,” he said. “I’m the starting quarterback at Florida State right now.

“I’m going to give it a couple of years and probably jump in the portal and see how it works, to get the full experience.”

First-round scores

Sunday tee times