FALMOUTH — Ryan Gay picked the right time to find the fairway off the tee.

The 20-year-old split the short grass with a 325-yard wallop on the final hole, dropped his second shot onto the green and made a two-putt par to cap a 1-over-par 71 and secure a third Maine Amateur championship crown in four years, holding off a charge from friend and fellow college junior-to-be Jason ‘J.J.’ Harris.

“I put a great swing on that driver, smoked it down the middle,” Gay said. “I had a great number in, 122 to the pin, so I put sand wedge over the top of the flag and just let it come back. But J.J. played great. That was fun.”

Harris and Gay are still friends from their days as junior golfers in Maine, and they continue to play together often.

“I know he’s a great putter,” Gay said. “It was great to be able to play with him.”

Gay began the third and final round with a three-shot advantage over Jason Gall, a member at both Augusta Country Club and at Portland Country Club, site of this year’s tournament.

Harris began the day four back, but started to cut into Gay’s lead with birdies on the third and fourth holes.

“I made a couple birdies on the front and I pulled within two,” Harris said. “I thought if I could get myself within two, I could pace myself and maybe get something going on the back.”

But Gay birdied the eighth, and made par on the ninth, while Harris bogeyed the ninth to again drop to four shots back.

“I rebounded well, though,” Harris said. “I birdied 10 and 11 to get back to within two.”

Then Gall dropped in a birdie on the 12th hole, and all three golfers were within three shots of one another.

Gall fell off with three consecutive bogeys, while Gay bogeyed 14, 15 and 17 with a birdie on 16. Harris remained steady, carding a birdie at 16 as well to creep within a shot of the lead.

On 17, Harris caught up, despite a bad tee ball. First off the tee, Harris dumped his shot into the thick rough to the right of the greenside bunker at the par-3.

Gay was in the driver’s seat momentarily.

“I just had a seven-iron there, it was about 200 yards and I told my caddie, ‘I just want to get it to the middle of the green,'” Gay said. “I really don’t think I hit that bad of a shot. I think the wind was going harder right to left than I figured. When I got up there, I felt it whipping off my left shoulder.”

Gay’s ball settled in that right bunker, and his shot out of the trap left him work to do for a par. He missed the putt, while Harris got up and down for a par, deadlocking the two golfers with one hole to play.

“I got lucky there, fortunately he missed his putt and I made a good one,” Harris said.

Gay roped his drive on 18.

So did Harris, but his collected some mud as it settled onto the fairway grass.

“I had a big clump of mud on my ball on 18,” Harris said. “It was tough to judge. I didn’t catch it crisp, but it didn’t fly how it was going to even if I didn’t miss it. I came up a little short. I had a 9-iron, I was about 158 out and I figured the adrenaline would pump it up a little bit.”

Harris found the right bunker, hit a solid sand shot, but missed the putt, allowing Gay a pair of putts for the victory.

“I putted really well, too. No three putts,” Harris said.

Gall also shot a 71 Thursday to finish at 2-over-par 212 for the three-day tourney, good for third place. Seth Sweet of Madison finished at 216 in fourth place, while Eric Crouse managed the only other round under par on the day to finish at 217 in fifth position. Two-time champion Ricky Jones finished in sixth, while first-round leader Mike Doran rebounded to take seventh.

Thirteen-time champion Mark Plummer also rebounded with a 71 on Thursday to post another top-10 finish. Gay, who has played with Plummer for years and counts him among his mentors, embraced Plummer following his win.

“Back when I won my first one, I’ve always thought it would be nice to get to five before I turn pro,” Gay said. “Whether that happens or not, who cares, as long as I play well. It’s a step in the right direction. You always want to win your state tournament every summer. I’ll probably never catch Mark, because I don’t plan on staying an amateur down the road. But who knows? Plans can change.”