Robert Gamez

American professional golfer

Robert Gamez

Personal information
Full name| Robert Anthony Gamez
Born|  (1968-07-21) July 21, 1968 (age 56)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Height| 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight| 180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Sporting nationality|  United States
Residence| Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Career
College| University of Arizona
Turned professional| 1989
Current tour(s)| PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)| PGA Tour
Web.com Tour
Professional wins| 5
Highest ranking| 48 (March 25, 1990)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour| 3
Japan Golf Tour| 1
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 Award| 1989

|

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.

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 and 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  |  Mark Calcavecchia,  Jay Haas
2  | Mar 25, 1990  | Nestle Invitational | −14 (71-69-68-66=274)  | 1 stroke  |  Greg Norman
3  | Sep 30, 2005 | Valero Texas Open | −18 (62-68-68-64=262)  | 3 strokes  |  Olin Browne

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result

|
|
|
|

1  | 1993 | Honda Classic |  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  |  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  |  Kirk Triplett

Other playoff record (0–1)

No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result

|
|
|
|

1  | 1994  | JCPenney Classic
(with  Helen Alfredsson)  |  Brad Bryant and  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

* Walker Cup: 1989

## See also

[edit]

* 1989 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates

## 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. Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. 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]

* Robert Gamez at the PGA Tour official site
* Robert Gamez at the Japan Golf Tour official site
* Robert Gamez at the Official World Golf Ranking official site

* v
* t
* e

PGA Tour Rookies of the Year

* 1990 Robert Gamez
* 1991 John Daly
* 1992 Mark Carnevale
* 1993 Vijay Singh
* 1994 Ernie Els
* 1995 Woody Austin
* 1996 Tiger Woods
* 1997 Stewart Cink
* 1998 Steve Flesch
* 1999 Carlos Franco
* 2000 Michael Clark II
* 2001 Charles Howell III
* 2002 Jonathan Byrd
* 2003 Ben Curtis
* 2004 Todd Hamilton
* 2005 Sean O'Hair
* 2006 Trevor Immelman
* 2007 Brandt Snedeker
* 2008 Andrés Romero
* 2009 Marc Leishman
* 2010 Rickie Fowler
* 2011 Keegan Bradley
* 2012 John Huh
* 2013 Jordan Spieth
* 2013–14 Chesson Hadley
* 2014–15 Daniel Berger
* 2015–16 Emiliano Grillo
* 2016–17 Xander Schauffele
* 2017–18 Aaron Wise
* 2018–19 Im Sung-jae
* 2019–20 Scottie Scheffler
* 2020–21 Will Zalatoris
* 2021–22 Cameron Young
* 2022–23 Eric Cole

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