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Robert Gamez grew up in Las Vegas, playing in junior events on the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Tour, in high school events at Clark High School, and in Southern Nevada Golf Association amateur events where he was the Player of the Year from 1985-88. But this week, Gamez continues his PGA Tour career in his adopted home state of Florida, and John Maginnes, a PGA Tour player and current golf analyst for XM Radio's PGA Tour network, picks Gamez to win his fourth-career title. Gamez unfortunately missed the cut.
Maginnes looks to Gamez' new caddie and improved swing as points of inspiration. "My dark horse this week is Robert Gamez," Maginnes wrote on PGATour.com. "I know he hasn't played well this year. But he is swinging at it better and he has a new looper on the bag. Robert has picked up Barry Williams who won the B.C. Open with John Rollins last year. A good swing key and a fresh set of eyes are all a PGA TOUR player needs to push him over the edge. He is a great driver of the ball and he is back in his adopted home state of Florida. Don't be surprised if The Honda Classic trophy ends up heading north on the Florida Turnpike on Sunday night." Book your Las Vegas Golf Coure tee time or golf package ... now. All of the Las Vegas PGA Tour pros (Craig Barlow, Dean Wilson, Charley Hoffman, Ryan Moore, Gamez and Skip Kendall) missed the cut. Gamez went to college at the University of Arizona, and became known as one of the best ball strikers around. He won the presitigious Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year Award, and then burst onto the PGA Tour scene when he won two events as a rookie on the PGA Tour. Other expert picks on PGATOUR.com His first victory came in 1990 in front of the hometown fans at the Northern Telecom Tucson Open, and then he won later that year at the Nestle Invitational. Gamez then went 15 years without winning another PGA Tour tournament, shocking most people in the know. In 2005, he won the Texas Valero Open. In 1993, Gamez lost in a playoff to Fred Couples at the Honda Classic so that could provide some inspiration this week as well. Gamez moved to Orlando, Florida, from Las Vegas several years ago, and annually hosts the Robert Gamez Celebrity Invitational that benefits the efforts of the Robert Gamez Foundation. |