Luke Donald and Paul Casey both went low on the final day of the Verizon Heritage on Sunday night but neither could prevent our 100-1 tip Brian Gay from breezing to victory at Harbour Town Golf Links.

The English duo both shot five-under-par rounds of 66 as the tournament reached a climax on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, but it was too late to halt American Gay - advised pre-tournament by our tipster Dave Tindall - from picking up his second career US PGA Tour victory in record-breaking fashion.

Gay finished at a tournament record low 20 under par, one better than Loren Roberts in 1996, to win by 10 strokes, the largest margin of victory recorded at Harbour Town, eclipsing Davis Love III's seven-shot win in 1998.

Yet he admitted he felt his second Tour success following last year's win at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico was not as easily achieved as it had appeared.

"I'm glad it's over," Gay said. "It's never as easy as it looks. It's just a little bit of validation, coming back this year and winning again."

With the win, Gay, who played his first full season on the PGA Tour in 1999, also lined up a long-awaited Masters debut at Augusta National next year, although he said that was not on his mind as played the final round.

"I've had a lot of heartache not getting in that tournament, winning (the Mayakoba), not getting in, and missing by one spot on the money list two times.

"I just figured, who cares? What's going to happen is going to happen, just go play golf."

Donald finished in tie for second place with American Briny Baird having started the day in a tie for 10th. Baird shot a closing 68 but even Donald's eight-birdie, three-bogey 66 could not stop Gay increasing his advantage.

The American shot a final-round 64, the lowest of the day, blemished by a single bogey that was only his second of the tournament.

Donald and Baird finished at 10 under while two-time US Open champion Lee Janzen carded a level-par 71, missing out on a share of second and his best finish since the 2003 Memorial Tournament when he bogeyed the last to fall to nine under.

That put him into a tie for fourth with former Open winner Todd Hamilton, who closed with a 70.

Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal finished in a tie for sixth at eight under with Tim Wilkinson of Australia following a final-round 67.

Rory Sabbatini of South Africa carded 66 to claim a share of eighth place with Americans Matt Weibring and Tim Petrovic at seven under.

Shell Houston Open winner Casey's 66 pushed him into a tie for 11th with Woody Austin at six under while Germany's Alex Cejka was in an eight-man group at five under.

Gay began his round at 13 under, three shots clear of second-placed Wilkinson and a further stroke ahead of Janzen with Hamilton five shots in arrears at eight under.

Any ideas that they might quickly catch Gay early were dealt a blow when the leader birdied the par-four first and then eagled the par-five second to move to 16 under and a six-stroke lead after Wilkinson parred the same holes.

That lead became seven when the Australian bogeyed the par-four third and there was no looking back for Gay, although he said he had not allowed himself to lose focus.

"I was still nervous. It calmed me down a little bit, but it didn't change anything," he said of his strong start.

"There were so many holes left I knew I had to stay focused and keep hitting good, solid shots."

Five more birdies followed with even his only bogey coming at the par-four 12th failing to halt the victory procession.

Greg Owen of England finished at one under par alongside Fredrik Jacobson of Sweden with Ernie Els of South Africa ending the week at level par.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy finished at two over par for the tournament after closing with a level-par 71, an eighth consecutive round of 70 or above.

Collated final round scores & totals (USA unless stated, par 71):

264 Brian Gay 67 66 67 64

274 Luke Donald (Eng) 73 70 65 66, Briny Baird 69 72 65 68

275 Lee Janzen 65 70 69 71, Todd Hamilton 68 66 71 70

276 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 68 71 70 67, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 71 67 65 73

277 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 70 68 73 66, Tim Petrovic 68 70 69 70, Matt Weibring 70 70 69 68

278 Paul Casey (Eng) 73 70 69 66, Woody Austin 70 73 66 69

279 Spencer Levin 72 72 66 69, Alex Cejka (Ger) 64 71 72 72, Tommy Armour III 70 68 74 67, Steve Marino 71 73 67 68, Bob Estes 68 71 69 71, Dean Wilson 69 74 68 68, Boo Weekley 69 72 70 68, Bo Van Pelt 73 70 66 70

280 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 75 68 67 70, Jeff Maggert 68 75 66 71, Davis Love III 70 67 69 74, Tom Lehman 70 69 68 73, Scott Verplank 72 66 73 69

281 Ben Crane 73 69 71 68, Jason Dufner 70 73 69 69, Lucas Glover 74 68 70 69, Ken Duke 69 70 71 71

282 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 66 74 71 71, Vaughn Taylor 71 72 69 70, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 73 70 72 67, Ted Purdy 67 71 72 72, Chris Couch 73 69 70 70, Scott Piercy 69 70 75 68, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 72 70 68 72

283 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 71 69 71 72, Zach Johnson 70 71 70 72, Bill Lunde 73 69 72 69, Steve Lowery 73 71 68 71, Greg Owen (Eng) 69 71 74 69, Charles Howell III 69 74 70 70, George McNeill 71 71 71 70, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 76 68 69 70, Camilo Villegas (Col) 70 72 71 70, Tim Clark (Rsa) 72 70 69 72, Nicholas Thompson 73 71 69 70

284 Greg Kraft 72 72 69 71, Matt Kuchar 71 70 73 70, Peter Lonard (Aus) 72 71 68 73, Joe Durant 73 71 71 69, Nathan Green (Aus) 70 71 70 73, Justin Leonard 70 73 67 74, Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 71 73 72, Jose Coceres (Arg) 74 67 67 76

285 Brad Adamonis 74 68 71 72, Mark Wilson 72 69 74 70

286 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 72 71 72 71, Shaun Micheel 72 68 71 75, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 68 74 72 72, Tommy Gainey 71 68 73 74

287 Charlie Wi (Kor) 71 70 70 76, Colt Knost 74 68 72 73, Stewart Cink 72 70 72 73

288 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 68 68 74 78, Brett Quigley 72 72 67 77, Heath Slocum 72 68 70 78, Cliff Kresge 68 75 74 71

289 Brendon De Jonge 72 72 73 72, Chris DiMarco 72 71 74 72, Jonathan Byrd 70 73 73 73

290 Michael Letzig 73 71 74 72, Michael Allen 72 72 70 76, Aron Price (Aus) 68 73 73 76

291 Charley Hoffman 70 69 72 80

292 Glen Day 71 73 76 72

294 Will MacKenzie 73 71 76 74

296 Robert Garrigus 70 74 75 77