Episode 3 of "Big Break VII" included the second round of eliminations. The elimination challenge followed team play in which Kelly Murray and Nikki DiSanto defeated David Gunas and Pam Garrity, and Tommy Gainey (pictured) and Bri Vega defeated Eddie Gardino and Valeria Ochoa.

That sent David against Eddie and Pam against Valeria in the elimination challenge. David and Pam were the survivors, sending Eddie and Valeria packing. We'll just note about the elimination challenge that Val chose to putt from a chipping location, and did so horribly putting that it's kind of scary to imagine how bad her chipping would have been. And that Pam has whined so much thus far, and lodged so many unwarranted complaints about her partner David, that it makes one think that perhaps Danielle Amiee - Pam's nemesis from "Big Break III" - wasn't so bad after all.

The class of the field continues to be Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey, who carried his team to easy wins with solid shots and great putts. It's important to note, however, that there hasn't been much in the way of "real golf" thus far, as in golfers playing a string of golf holes.

I picked Tommy to win this thing, and there's no reason to second-guess that pick now. (Bringing it up again probably means Tommy is now doomed!) But Tommy's real-world results have been excellent the past two years:

• He won the 2005 U.S. Pro Golf Tour Championship and its $50,000 first prize
• He finished second on the 2006 Tarheel Tour money list in just 11 tournaments.
• He won two of those tournaments and finished Top 4 in five others, so in seven out of 11 tournaments he was in the Top 4.

So far in 2007, Gainey hasn't fared quite as well. He finished 19th (one spot ahead of "Big Break I" champion Justin Peters) on the money list of the Gateway Tour Spring Beach Series. But these results are still much better than any other male "Big Break" competitor has achieved. (Both Paul Holtby and Justin Peters have Monday qualified for PGA Tour events, but neither has had such consistent success as Gainey on the mini-tours.)