From the Canadian Tour
Rafael Gomez shot a three under par 68 to finish at seven-uner 277 to win the Sport Frances Open by one stroke over Daniel Im.
In third spot is Clodomiro Carranza at 278 while Hugo Leon and third leader Christoph Guenther - who fell to a 75 - finished in fourth spot at four under par 280.
Martin Ureta finished alone in sixth at three under par 281 after closing with a 73.
The top Canadians in the field were Stuart Anderson and Mike Mezei who finished in a five way tie for thirteenth at two over par 286.
The Argentinean has put his hopes on hold after three-putting the final hole for bogey.
"I tried to sink my first putt and it went four feet pass the hole. I was probably over confidant and ended up paying for it with a bogey, said the new champion. "But when it belongs to you, no one can take it away.
"I have won five times this year and this one means a lot," continued Gomez, who earned US $26,500 and a two-year exemption on the Canadian Tour for the victory.
As Gomez missed on the final hole, Daniel Im, who earlier in the day had taken the lead way from German Christoph Guenther, bogeyed No. 16 to drop to 7-under par.
With Gomez waiting in the clubhouse, Im lost his share of the lead with a bogey at the par-five 17th and then lost his chance of forcing a playing by missing an eighteen-footer for birdie on the treacherous final hole.
"I was hitting well on the front nine where I went 2-under," said Im. "On the back side I started spreading my shots a little and I started missing birdie putts.
"On 16, I hit it right off the tee with an eight iron. It was just a bad swing and I ended up making bogey.
"I should have taken more club at 17 but I didn't. Standing in the fairway, I had a 60-yard chip for my third but I didn't realize how close the bunker was to the pin.
"I couldn't stop it in time. I hit it very high to try for a soft landing but it didn't work and the ball landed just over the bunker and rolled back in.
"I just kind of lost it, I guess. When you are out there in the heat of the moment, you are a little nervous but I simply didn't execute."
In the Clubhouse
Gomez played the Nationwide Tour in 2004 and the European Tour in 2006.
The win is the eighth TLA victory for Gomez, pushing him one ahead of fellow Angel Cabrera for the all-time lead in TLA victories.
Next week is the Argentina Masters where 2007 U.S. Open winner Angel Cabrera, Eduardo Romero, Vicente Fernandez, Bruce Fleisher and Len Mattiace are expected to compete.
Canadian Tour's US$160,000-Sport Frances Open
Sport Frances Golf Club - - 6,857-yard, par-71 - 284
(a-denotes amateur):
1 Rafael Gomez, $26,500 69-69-71-68-----277
2 Daniel Im, $15,360 73-67-67-71-----278
3 Clodomiro Carranza, $9,600 73-67-71-68-----279
T4 Hugo Leon, $7,040 65-75-69-71-----280
T4 Christoph Guenther, $7,040 69-66-70-75-----280
6 Martin Ureta, $5760 73-69-66-73-----281
7 Francisco Valdes, $5,280 71-73-71-68-----283
8 Guillermo Encina, $4,960 71-69-74-70-----284
T9 Benjamin Alvarado, $4,160 69-73-71-72-----285
T9 Angel Fernandez, $4,160 74-70-70-71-----285
T9 Raul Fretes, $4,160 70-69-72-74-----285
T9 Ramon Bescansa, $4,160 68-73-73-71-----285
T13 Rafael Ponce, $2,912 71-73-70-72-----286
T13 Luis Moreno, $2,912 72-69-73-72-----286
T13 Pierre Relecom , $2,912 73-72-73-68-----286
T13 Stuart Anderson, $2,912 75-73-68-70-----286
T13 Mike Mezei, $2,912 70-70-72-74-----286
T17 Walter Rodriguez, $1990 68-71-77-71-----287
T17 Scott Ford, $1990 72-76-70-69-----287
T17 Jose Garrido, $1990 72-72-71-72-----287
T17 Alex Coe, $1990 70-70-75-72-----287
T17 Luis Berrios, $1990 75-74-69-69-----287
T17 Rob Grube, $1990 69-72-73-73-----287
T17 Cristian Leon, $1990 73-70-73-71-----287
T17 Julio Noguera, $1990 71-69-71-76-----287
Milton Jeria, $1508 71-71-75-71-----288
Brian Benedictson, $1,508 72-71-76-69-----288
Jesus Amaya, $1,508 76-73-69-70-----288
Byron Smith, $1,508 76-69-76-67-----288
Adam Speirs, $1,352 76-72-73-68-----289
Nicolas Geyger (a) 72-72-72-73-----289
Jim Seki, $1,352 70-71-72-76-----289
Fernando Figueroa, $1,220 72-72-76-70-----290
Roy Mackenzie , $1,220 73-73-70-74-----290
Lucas Lee, $1,220 69-71-74-76-----290
Pan Singhaseni , $1,220 74-72-75-69-----290
Mike Grob, $1,120 68-80-71-72-----291
Matt Johnston, $920.88 70-75-73-74-----292
Kris Wasylowich, $920.88 73-72-67-80-----292
Luciano Dodda , $920.88 75-72-73-72-----292
Luis Graf, $920.88 74-73-76-69-----292
Derek Oakey, $920.88 74-74-71-73-----292
Manuel Relancio, $920.88 74-69-76-73-----292
Ramon Franco, $920.88 72-70-75-75-----292
Luciano Giometti, $920.88 74-71-73-74-----292
Dale Vallely, $920.88 73-76-71-72-----292
Hector Beck (a) 77-73-73-70-----293
Maxmiliano Orueta, $732 77-70-74-72-----293
Miguel Fernandez, $732 77-70-72-74-----293
Joaquin Estevez, $666 78-71-71-74-----294
Luciano Diaz (a) 75-71-76-72-----294
Mario Hurtado, $666 68-77-77-72-----294
Ignacio Besagoitia, $666 77-71-73-73-----294
Kent Fukushima, $666 71-74-77-72-----294
Jaime Clavijo, $616 74-73-71-77-----295
Angel Franco, $616 73-70-75-77-----295
Jose Buezas, $577 73-74-76-73-----296
Alan Bihan, $577 75-73-74-74-----296
Marcel Haremza, $577 74-74-75-73-----296
Horacio Leon (a) 74-71-78-74-----297
Francisco Cerda, $543.50 73-76-73-75-----297
Patricio Fernandez, $543.50 72-72-75-78-----297
Nicolas Gaete, $409 73-76-78-72-----299
Tomas Aravena , $409 71-78-74-76-----299
Oswaldo Gonzalez, $409 78-71-73-77-----299
Luis Figueroa, $409 75-70-75-79-----299
Jorge Carvacho , $300 74-74-72-82-----302
