By Jeff Shain, Orlando Sentinel

Brian Gay doesn’t remember what prompted him to draw the line all those years ago. Nor can he give a reason why he didn’t succumb to temptation in the times when his golf career was spinning its wheels.

“I just felt weird about it,” the Windermere pro said. “Well, I don’t know if weird is the right word. I just wanted to wait.”

Until last month, Gay had never played Augusta National. Though he spent part of his childhood 40 miles away and earned All-America status during his college days at Florida, he never accepted an invitation to tee it up on the old tree nursery because he wanted to earn the privilege.

He just never expected that it would take 16 years.

This week, though, the payoff comes. Gay makes his Masters debut at 8:12 a.m., teeing off in Thursday’s third group alongside 1991 champion Ian Woosnam and Australia’s Marc Leishman.

“It’s something I’m going to have to enjoy the best I can,” Gay said in his understated manner.

After some of the twists Gay needed to finally drive down Magnolia Lane, he’d certainly be within his rights to exult. He missed automatic qualification nine years ago by finishing one spot too low on the money list; when he finally notched his first PGA Tour victory, it came in a secondary event that doesn’t get an exemption.

Even when he finally won with no technicalities to trip him up, there was a caveat — last year’s romp at Hilton Head came the week after the Masters, forcing him to wait 51 weeks to claim his prize.

“I started wondering — can I go up to play now, or do I have to wait to get my invitation?” he said.

Though he can’t exactly be called an Augusta native, Gay might be considered the next-best thing. His mother, Margaret, is from Louisville, Ga., about 40 miles southwest of Augusta National. For five years, that’s where the Gays called home while dad Joe was stationed at Fort Gordon.

Gay attended his first Masters at age 9, right before the family moved to Alabama. He was just learning the game then, but was awed by the place. He attended twice more with his UF buddies, and came up to watch a Saturday round soon after turning pro.

But play the course? No.

“I don’t know where it came from, but at some point I told myself I’m not even going to play it for fun,” Gay said. “I expected to get in the Masters pretty soon after I got on tour.”

Gay turned pro in 1994. His PGA Tour card didn’t come until four years later. And despite some early success, he didn’t really stick until 2006 after enlisting the tutelage of swing coach Lynn Blake.

“I guess I was kind of a slow learner,” he said.

He’s getting to enjoy some of the spoils now, though. “You’ve got to kind of punch yourself,” Gay said. “Try to get in the game.”

Considering that it took him 11 seasons and more than 300 PGA Tour tournaments to finally qualify for the Masters, is it any surprise that Brian Gay’s long-awaited debut at famed Augusta National GC hit another unwanted delay?

When he arrived at Augusta Regional Airport Monday, Gay’s plans for an afternoon round were dashed by that age-old travel woe: delayed luggage. His clubs didn’t make the connecting flight through Charlotte, N.C., so for three hours Gay had to wait at the airport.

“All we can wonder is, ‘How hard is this place to get to?’ ” said Brian’s wife, Kimberly. She was laughing, because what else is there to do? Her husband had come very close on a number of occasions to qualifying for the Masters, only to end up frustrated.

Finally eligible for 2010, his first two attempts at a practice round were canceled because of cold, winter weather, in one case even snow. The fact that he missed Monday afternoon’s round was a mere speed bump in light of all those years he patiently waited.

The good news is, Gay has great weather Tuesday for his first-ever trip over the fabled links.