Goggin wins in Panama
BY Bruce Young | Nationwide Tour | 2011 Panama Claro Open | Final Round | 28 Feb 2011
Australian golfer, Mathew Goggin, might have lost his PGA Tour card in 2010 but in his very first tournament of 2011 he has gone a long way to regaining it for 2012.
Goggin has won the opening event of the 2011 Nationwide Tour season in Panama and in doing so he is now already well placed to finish inside the top 25 at the end of the year and return to the PGA Tour.
Goggin won the event at the Panama Golf Club in Panama City by two shots over yet another Australian in Alistair Presnell and American Darren Stiles.
Presnell bogeyed three holes late in his round to lose the chance of winning after he and Erik Compton had vied for the lead with four holes to play. Both would falter over the closing stages with third round leader Compton slipping to a share of 4th.
Still it was an encouraging return to the Nationwide Tour for Presnell who towards the end of last season was questioning whether he even wanted to be playing the game for a living. He had reached the point that he was not prepared to torture himself at the PGA Tour School and did not take advantage of his right to play that event. Then came a good finish to the year which included a runner-up finish to Geoff Ogilvy at the Australian Open and he is back on track.
Goggin win however earns him US$99,000 and he is nearly halfway to the amount of money he needs to be back in the big league next season. It was the 36 year old’s first win in nearly 11 years on the Nationwide Tour and his third overall. Mind you he has played the PGA Tour for much of that period.
The 36 year old has not won a PGA Tour event but has gone close on occasions including when runner up at the Western Open and the Memorial. Perhaps his most significant finish came when third behind Stewart Cink at the 2009 Open Championship.
Gavin Coles made a good start to his season with a 6th place finish rounding out a good week for the Australian contingent.
The Nationwide Tour now heads to Bogota in Colombia for this week’s Bogota Open.
