Robert Gamez

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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 nationality United States
ResidenceOrlando, Florida, U.S.
Career
CollegeUniversity of Arizona
Turned professional1989
Current tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Web.com Tour
Professional wins5
Highest ranking48 (March 25, 1990)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
Japan Golf Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 1990, 1991
PGA ChampionshipT14: 2003
U.S. OpenT61: 1990
The Open ChampionshipT12: 1990
Achievements and awards
Jack Nicklaus Award1989
Haskins Award1989
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.

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)[edit]

  • 1985 Southern Nevada Amateur
  • 1988 Clark County Amateur
  • 1989 Porter Cup

Professional wins (5)[edit]

PGA Tour wins (3)[edit]

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

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1993 Honda Classic United States Fred Couples Lost to par on second extra hole

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)[edit]

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 Nov 27, 1994 Casio World Open −17 (68-66-68-69=271) 4 strokes United States Scott Hoch

Other wins (1)[edit]

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 Nov 20, 1994 Pebble Beach Invitational −11 (65-71-70-71=277) 6 strokes United States Kirk Triplett

Other playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 1994 JCPenney Classic
(with Sweden Helen Alfredsson)
United States Brad Bryant and Spain Marta Figueras-Dotti Lost to par on fourth extra hole

Results in major championships[edit]

Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament CUT CUT
U.S. Open T61 CUT 88 CUT CUT
The Open Championship T12 T44
PGA Championship T49 T79 CUT CUT CUT
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT CUT CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUT T14 T68 CUT
  Did not play

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

Summary[edit]

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 2
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 4
Totals 0 0 0 0 0 2 21 8
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (1990 U.S. Open – 1990 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 0

Results in The Players Championship[edit]

Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
The Players Championship T46 CUT CUT CUT 84 T49 T29 T24 T63 T69 CUT T56 T53
  Did not play

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

Results in World Golf Championships[edit]

Tournament 2006
Match Play
Championship
Invitational T18
  Did not play

"T" = Tied

U.S. national team appearances[edit]

Amateur

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  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.

External links[edit]