Robert Gamez

Last updated

Robert Gamez
Personal information
Full nameRobert Anthony Gamez
Born (1968-07-21) July 21, 1968 (age 55)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States.svg United States
Residence Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Career
College University of Arizona
Turned professional1989
Current tour(s) PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Web.com Tour
Professional wins5
Highest ranking 48 (March 25, 1990) [1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
Japan Golf Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament CUT: 1990, 1991
PGA Championship T14: 2003
U.S. Open T61: 1990
The Open Championship T12: 1990
Achievements and awards
Jack Nicklaus Award1989
Haskins Award 1989
PGA Tour
Rookie of the Year
1990

Robert Anthony Gamez (born July 21, 1968) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.

Contents

Gamez was born in Las Vegas, and is of Mexican descent. [2] He attended the University of Arizona where he was a member of the golf team. He played on the 1989 Walker Cup Team and dropped out of university to turn professional later that same year. [3] [4]

Gamez has had what can be described as a hot and cold career as a professional golfer. He started out winning two tournaments in his rookie season on the Tour, including his first event, the Northern Telecom Tucson Open. [5] Only three others: Marty Fleckman in 1967, Ben Crenshaw in 1973, and Garrett Willis in 2001, have won their first PGA Tour event as a member of the PGA Tour. He is possibly best known for holing his second shot from the fairway on the tough 18th hole in the final round at the Nestle Invitational in March 1990, giving him a one stroke win over Greg Norman. [6] [7] A commemorative plaque has since been placed in the fairway on the 18th hole at Bay Hill to mark the spot from which Gamez holed his 7-iron from 176 yards (161 m). [8]

From 1991 to 1997, Gamez had six runner-up finishes and one third place finish on the PGA Tour. In 1998, Gamez was injured in a car accident at the Kemper Open and his career started to decline. Between 1998 and 2001, he failed to finish in the top 125 on the PGA Tour money list. His career hit a low point in 2001, when he failed to qualify for the Tour. [9] Then he began to enjoy a resurgence in his career. He finished in the top-125 every year between 2002–2005 including a T-5 at the Bank of America Colonial in 2004 and a win at the 2005 Valero Texas Open. It was his first win in 15 years, 6 months (394 events), a PGA Tour record. [10] [11] After 2005, Gamez's form started to decline and he has only had a few top-10 finishes since his 2005 season. [12] [13] Gamez also had a health scare in 2014 when he underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery. [14] His best finish in a major is T-12 at the 1990 Open Championship. [15]

Gamez hosts an annual tournament in Orlando, Florida for the benefit of the Team Gamez Foundation. He lives in Orlando. His last full season on the PGA Tour was in 2008.

In 2022, Gamez was arrested while intoxicated on misdemeanor battery charges at a pool party in Orlando, Florida. [16]

Amateur wins (3)

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1Jan 14, 1990 Northern Telecom Tucson Open −18 (65-66-69-70=270)4 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Mark Calcavecchia, Flag of the United States.svg Jay Haas
2Mar 25, 1990 Nestle Invitational −14 (71-69-68-66=274)1 stroke Flag of Australia (converted).svg Greg Norman
3Sep 30, 2005 Valero Texas Open −18 (62-68-68-64=262)3 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Olin Browne

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1993 Honda Classic Flag of the United States.svg Fred Couples Lost to par on second extra hole

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1Nov 27, 1994 Casio World Open −17 (68-66-68-69=271)4 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Scott Hoch

Other wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1Nov 20, 1994 Pebble Beach Invitational −11 (65-71-70-71=277)6 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Kirk Triplett

Other playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
11994 JCPenney Classic
(with Flag of Sweden.svg Helen Alfredsson)
Flag of the United States.svg Brad Bryant and Flag of Spain.svg Marta Figueras-Dotti Lost to par on fourth extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999
Masters Tournament CUTCUT
U.S. Open T61CUT88CUTCUT
The Open Championship T12T44
PGA Championship T49T79CUTCUTCUT
Tournament2000200120022003200420052006
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUTCUTCUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUTT14T68CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament 00000020
U.S. Open 00000082
The Open Championship 00000122
PGA Championship 00000194
Totals000002218

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament19901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006
The Players Championship T46CUTCUTCUT84T49T29T24T63T69CUTT56T53
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament2006
Match Play
Championship
Invitational T18
  Did not play

"T" = Tied

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payne Stewart</span> American golfer (1957–1999)

William Payne Stewart was an American professional golfer who won eleven PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane accident at the age of 42.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Montgomerie</span> Scottish professional golfer

Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutive from 1993 to 1999. He has won 31 European Tour events, the most of any British player, placing him fourth on the all-time list of golfers with most European Tour victories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Watson (golfer)</span> American golfer

Thomas Sturges Watson is an American retired professional golfer on the PGA Tour Champions, formerly on the PGA Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Mickelson</span> American professional golfer

Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles, two PGA Championships, and one Open Championship (2013). With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months, and 7 days. He is nicknamed Lefty, as he plays left-handed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergio García</span> Spanish professional golfer

Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer. He has played on the European Tour, PGA Tour and currently plays in the LIV Golf Invitational Series. García has won 36 international tournaments as a professional, most notably the 2008 Players Championship and the 2017 Masters Tournament. García was also the Chairman of Spanish football team CF Borriol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Duval</span> American golfer

David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 Golfer who competed on the PGA Tour and currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Duval won 13 PGA Tour tournaments between 1997 and 2001; including one major title, The Open Championship in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Leonard</span> American professional golfer

Justin Charles Garrett Leonard is an American professional golfer. He has twelve career wins on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1997 Open Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark O'Meara</span> American professional golfer

Mark Francis O'Meara is an American professional golfer. He was a tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. He spent nearly 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking from their debut in 1986 to 2000. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corey Pavin</span> American professional golfer

Corey Allen Pavin is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and currently on the PGA Tour Champions. He spent over 150 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1986 and 1997 and achieved his highest world ranking of No. 2 in June 1996.

Ian Michael Baker-Finch is an Australian professional golfer and sports commentator, who is best known for winning The Open Championship in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold Palmer Invitational</span> Golf tournament held in Bay Hill, Florida, US

The Arnold Palmer Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played each March at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, a private golf resort owned since 1974 by Arnold Palmer in Bay Hill, a suburb southwest of Orlando, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ángel Cabrera</span> Argentine golfer

Ángel Leopoldo Cabrera is an Argentine professional golfer who has played on both the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is known affectionately as "El Pato" in Spanish ("The Duck") for his waddling gait. He is a two-time major champion, with wins at the U.S. Open in 2007 and the Masters in 2009; he was the first Argentine and South American to win either. He also lost in a sudden death playoff at the Masters in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Reid (golfer)</span> American professional golfer (born 1954)

Michael Daniel Reid is an American professional golfer. Reid was one of the top amateurs in the mid-1970s, winning the 1976 Pacific Coast Amateur and leading the 1976 U.S. Open after the first round. As a professional, Reid won two PGA Tour events and finished in the top-10 70 times. In 1989, Reid came close to winning two major championships, the Masters and the PGA Championship, leading both of them during closing holes of the final round. On the Champions Tour, Reid won two senior majors, the 2005 Senior PGA Championship and the 2009 Tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Moore (golfer)</span> American professional golfer

Ryan David Moore is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the PGA Tour. He had a highly successful amateur career, winning the NCAA Individual Championship, the U.S. Amateur Public Links, and the U.S. Amateur in 2004. Since turning professional in 2005 he has won five titles on the PGA Tour as of the 2016 season and earned rankings inside the top thirty in the world.

Charlie Wi is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He previously played on the PGA, European, and Asian Tours. He was a one-time winner on the European Tour, and a seven-time winner on the Asian Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tucson Open</span>

The Tucson Open was a golf tournament in Arizona on the PGA Tour from 1945 to 2006, played annually in the winter in Tucson. It was last held at the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort in late February, with a $3 million purse and a $540,000 winner's share.

Jeffrey Allan Maggert is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dicky Pride</span> American professional golfer (born 1969)

Richard Fletcher Pride III is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He previously played on the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour.

Fred "Butch" Baird is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Senior PGA Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. A. Points</span> American professional golfer (born 1976)

Darren Andrew "D.A." Points is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.

References

  1. "Week 12 1990 Ending 25 Mar 1990" (pdf). OWGR . Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  2. Jenkins, Sally (April 4, 1990). "The '90 Masters Is Fair Game For Gamez"". The Washington Post. Of Mexican- American descent, he was born and raised amid games of chance in Las Vegas...
  3. "Caught In The Glare". Sports Illustrated . February 11, 1991. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  4. Diaz, Jaime (January 19, 1990). "Prodigy at 8, Winner at 21". The New York Times . Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  5. "Gamez Wins In Debut". The New York Times . Associated Press. January 15, 1990. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  6. Anderson, Dave (March 26, 1990). "Spectacular Eagle Wins for Gamez". The New York Times . Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  7. "Gamez soars with an eagle". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 26, 1990. p. 2B.
  8. DiMeglio, Steve (March 12, 2008). "Final stretch at Bay Hill can put players in a fix". USA Today . Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  9. Brown, Clifton (December 1, 2001). "Gamez Learns The Party Is Over". The New York Times . Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  10. "Gamez ends 15-year drought with win at Texas Open". USA Today . Associated Press. September 25, 2005. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  11. "Gamez halts winless run in Texas". BBC Sport. September 26, 2005. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  12. McDaniel, Pete (November 29, 2007). "Hits and Misses From Q School". Golf Digest. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  13. Gamez, Robert; Arkush, Michael (March 10, 2021). "I shot 92 on the PGA Tour last week. Here's why it won't keep me down". Golf Magazine. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  14. Lev, Michael (March 2, 2019). "Cologuard Classic: Ex-UA stars Gamez, Berganio seek second chance on familiar turf". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  15. "Robert Gamez". Golf Major Championships. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  16. Stutsman, Doug (July 26, 2022). "Details on arrest of Robert Gamez emerge; three-time PGA Tour winner said he 'does not remember anything,' per report". Golfweek. Retrieved October 27, 2023.