Former United States Amateur champion David Gossett turned a sponsor's exemption into a Pga Tour card yesterday by winning the $2.8 million PGA Deere Run Classic.
Gossett, playing on a sponsor's exemption, fired a five-under-par 66 in the final round to finish at 19-under par 265, one stroke better than Briny Baird, and won $504,000 plus two years on the US PGA Tour.
"I'm just so pleased I had a chance to play," Gossett said. "It has been fun. When you play well, it doesn't matter what tour you play."
Gossett, the 1999 US Amateur Champion, became the first player to win a berth on the tour while playing on a sponsor's exemption since Tiger Woods, who did it in 1996 by winning the Las Vegas International.
It was only the fifth PGA start of the year for Gossett, a standout on the development tour who became the 15tg first-time winner in the 30-year history of this event.
One reason so many first-timers break through here is because most top players such as Woods and British Open champion take the week off after playing last week's British Open in Europe.
Gossett sank a five-foot par putt on the final hole to hold off Baird, who also fired a 66 on the way to the best finish of his career at 266.
Pete Jordan finished third at 267, a stroke ahead of Jeff Sluman and two better than Matt Gogel and Ian Leggett of Canada.
Meanwhile, Dorothy Delasin rallied from four strokes back on the last day to win the Eagle Classic for the second year in a row, taking the one million-dollar LPGA Eagle Classic with a career-best round of seven-under par 65.
Delasin beat Tammie Green by one stroke and South Korea's Se Ri Pak by two.
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