FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Joe Chemycz Feb. 1, 2015 (011) 507-393-8003 Final Leaderboard Pos. Name Scores $$$ 1 Mathew Goggin 67-65-70-67 269 (-11) $112,500 2 Harold Varner III 67-64-71-71 273 (-7) $67,500 3 Dicky Pride 71-69-69-65 274 (-6) $36,250 Shane Bertsch 68-70-66-70 274 (-6) $36,250 5 Henrik Norlander 68-67-67-72 275 (-5) $25,000 MATHEW GOGGIN WINS PANAMA CLARO CHAMPIONSHIP Panama City Panama, Panama Australia s Mathew Goggin shot a 3-under-par 67 Sunday to win the Panama Claro Championship, the first stop on the 2015 Web.com Tour schedule. Goggin s aggressive swings to conservative targets strategy paid dividends once again at the Panama Golf Club. The 40-year old transplanted Charlotte resident slowly pulled away from several challengers and finished at 11-under 269, four shots in front of Harold Varner III (71). Veterans Dicky Pride (65) and Shane Bertsch (70) tied for third, five off the pace. Swedens s Henrik Norlander (72) wound up solo fifth. The victory is the fifth of Goggin s career and his second win in Panama his first came in 2011. It just reminds you that you can still play a bit, said Goggin, who collected a check for $112,500. I played so poorly last year and you start wondering, at 40, what do I need to change or what do I need to do more of? If he could play this course every week he d be tough to beat. In addition to his two wins, he also finished second in 2013. There s no explanation for it, said Goggin of his dominance on the course. You just get a bit of confidence. You get a course you like and these conditions really suit me but you ve still got to take advantage of those because there are going to be a lot of weeks where guys that carry it 320 off the tee get a massive advantage. So when you get an opportunity like this you have to take advantage of it. Goggin started the final round at 8-under and one shot back of China s 19-year old Hao Tong Li, who looked effortless over the first 54 holes. Playing in the next to last group, Goggin rolled in a 10 foot birdie putt that seemed to calm any nerves that he might have been feeling. From there, it was fairways and greens and plenty of pars. Goggin canned an 18-footer for birdie at the 7 th hole to reach 10-under. Varner, in the final pairing with Li, added three front nine birdies to his card and was one ahead of Goggin at the turn. When I got on 10 tee I knew what was at stake, said Varner, now in his second year on Tour. You ve just got to accept it. It is what it is. It s just like any person that goes to war, they don t complain. They go to work.
Unfortunately Varner work wasn t as good down the stretch. He coughed bogeys at Nos. 10, 12, 14 and 16 to fall three back of Goggin, who kept racking up pars. The rest of the field also had trouble keeping up with the leader. One by one they fell by the wayside. Li never recovered from the front, closed with three more bogeys over his final four holes and carded a 6-over 76 to wind up in 11 th place. I struggled today, said Li. I hit some bad shots. I didn t play very well. I was not able to control my distance very well. I don t know. If I missed the fairway I made bogey. On the back nine I had a lot of chances but just missed everything. Still, a good week. I feel very comfortable. While Li and most of the field was in full reverse, Goggin plodded ahead. It s that sort of golf course. It seems to be like that every year, said the winner. Coming in I played really well. I had birdie opportunities on five of the last six holes and converted one of them (a 15-footer on 17). Noone else was doing anything and I think that s a testament to how tricky it was just to grind out pars. FOURTH ROUND NOTES: * Sunday weather: Mostly sunny skies. Winds N-NW 7-15 mph with afternoon gusts to 20 mph. High of 90. MATHEW GOGGIN * Mathew Goggin earns his fifth career win in his 145 th career start. * Goggin s win comes at the age of 40 years, 7 months and 19 days. * Goggin s win today increases the number of titles earned by international players to 132. * Goggin s win today increases the number of titles won by players from Australia to 52 (18 different players). * Goggin s fifth win ties him with Gavin Coles for the most wins in Tour history by an Australian: 5 Gavin Coles, Mathew Goggin 4 Nick Flanagan, Michael Sim * Goggin joins Vance Veazey as the only players to win the Panama Claro Championship twice. Veazey won in 2005 and 2009. Goggin s first win cam in 2011. * Mathew Goggin s win is his second in four tries in this tournament. His record at the Panama Golf Club is difficult to match: Events Rnds 1st 2nd 3rd Top 10 Top 25 Cuts Made Missed DQ WD Money Earned 4 14 2 1 3 3 3 1 276,300.00 Year Position Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Total To Par Winnings Panama Claro Championship 2015 1 67 65 70 67 269-11 112,500 2014 CUT 71 72 143 2013 2 69 68 66 70 273-7 64,800 2011 1 68 66 67 68 269-11 99,000
* Mathew Goggin becomes the ninth player in Tour history to win five or more times, and the sixth to have five career wins. Most career wins in Web.com Tour history: 7 Jason Gore 6 Sean Murphy (1993 Player of the Year) Matt Gogel 5 Chris Smith (1997 Player of the Year) Chris Couch Pat Bates Gavin Coles Darron Stiles Mathew Goggin * Mathew Goggin becomes the 13 th player in Tour history to win the same event twice. The last to do it was Darron Stiles when he won the 2012 News Sentinel Open. Players who have won the same event twice (13): Chris Smith 1995, 1997 Dakota Dunes Open Ryan Howison 1997, 1999 Lakeland Classic Pat Bates 1999, 2001 Dakota Dunes Open Peter O'Malley 2002, 2005 ING New Zealand PGA Championship Shane Bertsch 2000, 2005 BMW Charity Pro-Am Hunter Haas 2004, 2006 Knoxville Open Brad Elder 1999, 2007 Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open Vance Veazey 2005, 2009 Panama Claro Championship Brett Wetterich 2003, 2011 Chitimacha Louisiana Open Kyle Thompson 2007, 2011 The Rex Hospital Open Nick Flanagan 2007, 2012 BMW Charity Pro-Am Darron Stiles 2002, 2012 News Sentinel Open Mathew Goggin 2011, 2015, Panama Claro Championship * Mathew Goggin becomes the sixth player in Tour history to win more than once on international soil: Most international victories (6): 2 Gavin Coles, 2002 Jacob's Creek Open Championship, 2004 New Zealand PGA Championship Joe Ogilvie, 1998 Monterrey Open, 2003 Jacob's Creek Open Championship Peter O'Malley, 2002 Clearwater Classic,2005 ING New Zealand PGA Championship Vance Veazey, 2005 Panama Claro Championship, 2009 Panama Claro Championship Carlos Ortiz, 2014 Panama Claro Championship, 2014 Mexico Open Mathew Goggin, 20111 Panama Claro Championship, 2015 Panama Claro Championship OTHER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES * Harold Varner s runner-up finishes matches his best effort on the Web.com Tour. Varner tied for second at The Rex Hospital Open last year outside of Raleigh, NC. * Third-round leader Hao Tong Li missed out on his chance to become the youngest winner in Web.com Tour history with his 6-over round of 76 Sunday. Jason Day is the youngest ever to win he was 19 years, 7 months and 26 days old when he captured the 2007 Legend Financial Group Classic. Li is 19 years, 5 months and 29 days as of Sunday, so he still has two more months to supplant Day as the youngest to win on Tour.
-- Hao Tong Li earned his status by winning the 2014 PGA TOUR China Order of Merit. He made 11 cuts in 12 starts and had eight top-10 finishes including three wins in his last four starts. -- Of the 293 Web.com Tour members in 2015, Li is the second-highest ranked Web.com Tour player in the Official World Golf Ranking currently No. 192. Only Australia s Greg Chalmers (No. 173) is ranked higher. -- Li is also the second-highest ranked player from China - Wen-Chong Liang (No. 186) is ranked above him. -- Hao Tong Li of Shanghai is the first native of China to be a fully-exempt member of the Web.com Tour (or the PGA TOUR.) * Dicky Pride closed his round with three birdies on the final four holes and finished with a 5-under 65, which ultimately left him T3. Pride, winner of the 1994 FedEx St. Jude Classic on the PGA TOUR, enjoyed his best finish on either Tour since a T2 effort at the 2012 AT&T Byron Nelson Championship. * Rhein (REE-in) Gibson celebrated his 29 th birthday Sunday by matching the tournament record with a 7-under 28 on the front nine. Gibson s card had eight 3 s and one 4 on it. He started the day at even-par 210 and opened his round with five consecutive birdies. He then added birdies at Nos. 7 and 9 to make the turn at 7-under for the tournament. I was thinking this morning how much fun it would be if I could shoot 29-29 and match my age on both nines, said Gibson. Then I made a nice putt on nine to shoot 28. The back nine was very difficult. This is such a crazy game. Gibson shot a 3-over 38 on the back. His round of 66 was good enough to move him up the leaderboard from T26 to a T6 finish. * Veteran Glen Day posted the second-lowest score of the day, a 5-under 66 that moved him up from T38 to T6. This was Day s first top-10 finish on Tour since he tied for 10 th at the 2012 Albertsons Boise Open. * Look out for the new kids on Tour in 2015. There were 22 rookies in the field who made the cut this week. 8 players this was their first career start 6 players this was their second career start 3 players this was their third career start 2 players this was their fourth career start 3 players this was their sixth career start * Eight players were making their first career start on the Web.com Tour: Hao Tong Li 11 Timothy Madigan T15 Brett Drewitt T34 Greg Eason T40 Trevor Simsby T49 Mikey Moyers T64 Victor Varona T64 Richy Werenski 72 * Six players were making their second career and for all six it is also their first career cut: Rick Cochran T6 Curtis Thompson T6 Oliver Goss T12 Cody Gribble T15 Trey Mullinax T21 Kelvin Day T68 * Three players were making their third career start on Tour: Brian Richey T28 Cameron Wilson T54 Joel Dahmen T70
* Two players were making their fourth career start on Tour: Andrew Landry T34 Christian Espinoza T40 * Three players were making their sixth career start on Tour: Rhein Gibson T6 Patrick Rodgers T21 Tain Lee T70 * Sunday s scoring average of 71.384 marked the 46 th time in 48 tournament rounds that the average was over par. The only two sub-par days came in the second (69.704) and third (69.484) rounds in 2010. * The Panama Golf Club has been ranked among the toughest courses on Tour in each of the first 11 seasons. The course has been the hardest on Tour three times (2004, 2008, 2009) and been in the top-5 hardest courses nine times. * In the first 11 years of the tournament, only eight players have managed to put together four consecutive rounds in the 60 s and only two of those Vance Veazey (2009) and Mathew Goggin (2011) went on to win the tournament. Noone in the field was able to shoot four rounds in the 60 s this week. * Low rounds of the day: 64 Brett Stegmaier 65 Glen Day, Dicky Pride 66 Rhein Gibson, Peter Tomasulo * There are three players in the field this week who gained eligibility from the 2014 PGA TOUR China Order of Merit (OOM). Sam Chien, who finished No. 4 OOM withdrew from the field on Tuesday. No. 1 OOM Hao Tong Li 67-69-65-76 277 (-3) 11 No. 3 OOM Brad Drewett 68-70-71-73 282 (+2) T34 No. 5 OOM Todd Baek 72-69-74-72 287 (+7) T59 * The top five players from the PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit (OOM) are in the field this week: No. 1 OOM Joel Dahmen 68-75-70-77 290 (+10) T70 No. 2 OOM Matt Harmon 71-76 147 (+7) m/c No. 3 OOM Timothy Madigan 68-71-68-72 279 (-1) T15 No. 4 OOM Brock Mackenzie 74-65-70-74 283 (+3) T40 No. 5 OOM Greg Eason 68-73-70-72 283 (+3) T40 * The top five players from the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Order of Merit (OOM) are in the field this week: No. 1 OOM Julian Etulain 73-69-71-68 281 (+1) T28 No. 2 OOM Marcelo Rozo 72-72 144 (+4) m/c No. 3 OOM Tyler McCumber 76-75 151 (+11) m/c No. 4 OOM Brad Hopfinger 72-75 147 (+7) m/c No. 5 OOM Jorge Fernandez-Valdes 75-72 147 (+7) m/c * Bogey-free rounds this week: R1 65 Scott Parel 66 Jeff Gove 69 Troy Matteson R2 67 Chase Wright R3 64 Martin Piller 66 Shane Bertsch 67 T.J. Vogel 69 Patrick Rodgers, Glen Day R4 67 Mathew Goggin * Scoring Averages for the week: Front (35) Back (35) Total (70) R1 35.399 36.343 71.741 R2 35.552 36.238 71.790 R3 35.055 35.548 70.603 R4 34.808 36.575 71.384 Cum. 35.292 36.213 71.505 * This is the ninth time that the Panama Claro Championship has been the initial event on the Web.com Tour schedule. The Tour first came to Panama in 2004 and led off the year in Central America from 2004-09, 2011 and
again in 2013. In 2010, the Tour started at the Michael Hill New Zealand Open (Queenstown) and opened the season at the Colombia Championship in Bogota in 2010 and 2014. * NEXT WEEK: The Web.com Tour goes to Bogota, Colombia for the Colombia Championship presented by Claro. Last year Alex Cejka was declared the winner when Sunday thunderstorms canceled the final round and the standings reverted back to the 54-hole scores. Cejka finished at 14-under par and won by three over Andrew Putnam and by four over Carlos Ortiz. The tournament was plagued by thunderstorms each day, forcing officials to modify the schedule as a total of 2.2 inches of rain fell during the four tournament days. HIGHLIGHTS AND INTERVIEWS from today s play are available via the following FTP site: website: https://moveit.pgatourhq.com <https://moveit.pgatourhq.com/> Username: webcom_highlights Password: pgatour13 * First click on FOLDER on the top left of the main page. From there, navigate to the following folders: /Home/Highlights and then locate the event folder of your choice. * All footage is HD and use is free. For the latest information and updates on the Web.com Tour visit www.pgatourmedia.com Scores available at www.pgatour.com or on the Associated Press wire Follow the Web.com Tour on Twitter at http://twitter.com/webdotcomtour on Facebook at www.facebook.com/webdotcomtour and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/webdotcomtour