Last Sunday at AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, he was sporting a red, Nike shirt, just like he was two years ago at Pebble. After a spectacular birdie putt on the 18th green that sealed an unlikely victory, he pumped his fist into the cool Californian air with even more dramatic flair. The crowd went nuts, and it was a fitting end to what had been a nerve-wracking round for him.
Tiger Woods, you may ask? Nope, but how about the guy whom Woods beat in winning the 2000 Pebble Beach?
Matt Gogel, a six-time Buy.com Tour winner, was the third-round co-leader two years ago at Pebble. With Tiger breathing down his neck with eagle-birdie-par-birdie finish, Gogel shot 40 in the back nine and squandered seven-stroke lead to the world's No. 1 player, who overcame that deficit in just seven holes. In what should have been his first career PGA Tour win, Gogel lost the Pebble Beach as much as Woods won it.
At last year's Pebble, Gogel shot a remarkable 62 in the second round but collapsed with an 81 the following day. It was another disappointing showing at the famed tournament for the Tour sophomore.
Now, another year later, the 30-year-old Gogel finally found out just how it feels to come from behind to win this elusive event. Trailing the third-round leader, rookie Pat Perez, by four shots heading into Sunday, Gogel managed a steady 69 with four birdies, including the one on the final hole.
It was Perez, the 25-year-old Q-School medallist, who struggled badly on the back nine this year. He made two crucial mistakes on two par-5's, 573-yard 14th and 543-yard 18th. After his drive found a fairway on the 14th fairway, Perez opted to smash a 3-wood to leave himself a wedge third shot to the green. The second shot got caught up in the breeze and went out of bounds, giving Perez a double-bogey when he least needed one.
To his credit, Perez came back with a birdie on the very next hole. And when he picked up another birdie on the par-3 17th, Perez held one shot lead over Gogel, who was then playing the final hole.
Perez failed to maintain the momentum and subsequently pushed his drive out of bounds on the 18th. It took a few minutes for him and his partner, Lee Janzen, to find out that the ball was indeed out of bounds, and just as Perez was walking back toward the tee box, the crowd at the 18th green roared. Amazingly, in a riveting turn of events, Gogel had just made a downhill 25-footer for a birdie and had tied for the lead.
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