Yahoo Sports PGA Tour golfer Tommy ‘Two Gloves’ Gainey arrested in massive Florida prostitution sting
PGA Tour golfer Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey was arrested in Polk County, Florida, on Sunday in a major prostitution and human trafficking sting, according to TMZ Sports.
Gainey was one of 124 arrested in the six-day sting in Polk County — located between Tampa and Orlando — which was nicknamed “Operation Santa's Naughty List.” According to NBC6, 53 people were arrested for prostitution, 46 for seeking services from prostitutes and 18 on various other charges. Seven men were arrested for preying on children, per the report.
The goal of the operation, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, was to “identify victims of human trafficking and those who prey on victims, as well as the deviant child predators who stalk children online.”
Gainey was arrested for allegedly soliciting a prostitute, and faces one first-degree misdemeanor solicitation charge. He was released on bail on Monday.
“He’s married,” Judd said in a media conference about the operation on Wednesday. “He told us that he was here for a charity golf event, and it was to be the next morning tee off.
“He didn’t make it. He was a scratch … We charged him with soliciting. He missed his tee time the next morning.”
Gainey turned pro in 1997, and earned his Tour card for the 2008-09 season. The 44-year-old has one career victory on Tour, at The McGladrey Classic in 2012, and has spent most of his career jumping between the Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour. While his success on the course has been minimal in recent years — Gainey has just one finish inside the top-25 over the past five seasons on Tour — he rose to fame in the golf world early on for his use of two gloves instead of the traditional one, hence the “two gloves” nickname.
Gainey — who lives in South Carolina with his wife and two children — has made four appearances on Tour this season. After a T36 finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship, however, Gainey failed to make the cut at the Houston Open, Bermuda Championship and the RSM Classic.
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