Rafael Gomez Gains Win No. 2 On Canadian Tour

Gomez, who started the day with a six shot lead finished the tournament at 12 under par 276 and came in one stroke ahead of Antonio Maldonado who closed with a 71.

Scott Gibson fired a two under par 70 to grab solo third place at eight under 280, one ahead of American John Douma who closed with a 69. Sharing fifth spot at 282 are Brock Mackenzie (67) and David Jackson who had a 72.

"This is a big win for me and a real confidence booster going into Q-School," said Gomez, who took home US $16,000 and his second Canadian Tour title of the season.

"It was difficult to start with such a big lead. I have had big leads to start last rounds before, but not this big," he continued.

It showed. He staggered out of the gate with back-to-back bogeys but with Maldonado bogeying the second, the lead was still five.

Righting the ship, Gomez birdied four and five but stumbled again with bogeys at eight and nine, cutting the lead to four at the turn. Maldonado then sliced the lead to three with a birdie at ten but it jumped to five with a Gomez birdie and Maldonado bogey at No. 13.

"I played conservatively all day and even though Antonio (Maldonado) was getting a bit closer in the middle of the round, I wasn't too worried," said Gomez.

"He was the one who had to get aggressive, not me."

Having bogeyed No. 15, Gomez arrived at the 18th tee with a four stroke lead and what appeared certain victory.

However, he and Maldonado had to endure a lengthy delay on the tee for two groups ahead of them.

"I just wanted to hurry up and finish and I got anxious," said Gomez. "I lost my concentration and pushed my tee shot way right into the mulch.

"I had to take a penalty drop from there but I wasn't worried because I still had a big lead."

Gomez advanced the ball back onto the fairway and then hit what he called an incredible shot to 15 feet from the pin.

Although Maldonado birdied to put some pressure on Gomez, the Argentine would not be denied, calmly two-putting for the victory.

"I've been playing very good golf all year and to do this right before qualifying school is very important," he concluded.


$100,000 Iberostar Riviera Maya Open,
Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club - 6,683 Yards, Par-72
(a-denotes amateur)

Rafael Gomez $16000 69 - 67 - 64 - 76 ----- 276
Antonio Maldonado $9600 68 - 73 - 65 - 71 ----- 277
Scott Gibson $6000 74 - 67 - 69 - 70 ----- 280
John Douma $4800 71 - 73 - 68 - 69 ----- 281
Brock Mackenzie $3799 71 - 73 - 71 - 67 ----- 282
David Jackson $3799 71 - 71 - 68 - 72 ----- 282
Hoyt McGarity $3099 73 - 72 - 69 - 69 ----- 283
Paulo Pinto $3099 72 - 76 - 66 - 69 ----- 283
Liam Kendregan $3099 70 - 69 - 73 - 71 ----- 283
Jae Woo Im $2600 74 - 72 - 70 - 68 ----- 284
Mitchell Gillis $2600 74 - 71 - 68 - 71 ----- 284
Matt Marshall $2199 73 - 70 - 70 - 72 ----- 285
Darren Griff $2199 72 - 69 - 67 - 77 ----- 285
Andy Matthews $1649 73 - 71 - 74 - 68 ----- 286
Jon McLean $1649 68 - 73 - 74 - 71 ----- 286
Andrew Johnson $1649 69 - 71 - 75 - 71 ----- 286
James Allenby $1649 71 - 72 - 72 - 71 ----- 286
Ryan Panichpakdee $1649 69 - 70 - 75 - 72 ----- 286
Garrett Frank $1649 73 - 68 - 71 - 74 ----- 286
Ricardo Carrillo $1274 69 - 73 - 74 - 71 ----- 287
Brady Schnell $1274 71 - 72 - 71 - 73 ----- 287
Oliver Tubb $1,054.29 73 - 75 - 72 - 68 ----- 288
Matt McQuillan $1,054.29 73 - 71 - 75 - 69 ----- 288
Efren Serna Jr $1,054.29 77 - 70 - 71 - 70 ----- 288
Josh Habig $1,054.29 71 - 70 - 73 - 74 ----- 288
Joseph Greiner $1,054.29 70 - 68 - 75 - 75 ----- 288
Ryan Yip $1,054.29 69 - 71 - 73 - 75 ----- 288
Mauricio Molina $1,054.29 71 - 67 - 74 - 76 ----- 288
Tyler Harris $830 73 - 71 - 74 - 71 ----- 289
Jake Yount $830 74 - 67 - 76 - 72 ----- 289
Todd Halpen $830 74 - 71 - 70 - 74 ----- 289
Derek Oakey $830 73 - 67 - 73 - 76 ----- 289
Lindsay Renolds $830 68 - 74 - 69 - 78 ----- 289
Lee Williamson $725 71 - 71 - 76 - 72 ----- 290
Ramiro Goti $725 70 - 73 - 74 - 73 ----- 290
Craig Matthew $725 77 - 70 - 69 - 74 ----- 290
Zack Shriver $612.50 72 - 74 - 75 - 70 ----- 291
Jason D'Amore $612.50 73 - 74 - 74 - 70 ----- 291
Eric Wang $612.50 75 - 73 - 72 - 71 ----- 291
Jaime Guerrero $612.50 68 - 74 - 75 - 74 ----- 291
Daniel Licursi $612.50 71 - 75 - 71 - 74 ----- 291
Scott Ford $612.50 75 - 69 - 73 - 74 ----- 291
Phil Telliard $492.50 73 - 71 - 74 - 74 ----- 292
Alex Coe $492.50 71 - 75 - 72 - 74 ----- 292
Ruben Gonzalez $492.50 71 - 73 - 72 - 76 ----- 292
Brian Benedictson $492.50 75 - 72 - 69 - 76 ----- 292
Victor Ciesielski $428.75 75 - 68 - 80 - 70 ----- 293
Juan Pablo Ibavarreche $428.75 78 - 70 - 72 - 73 ----- 293
Erik Olson $428.75 72 - 70 - 73 - 78 ----- 293
Cody Slover $428.75 69 - 68 - 77 - 79 ----- 293
Brady Stockton $394 67 - 77 - 72 - 78 ----- 294
Manuel Inman $394 73 - 75 - 67 - 79 ----- 294
Jason Cook $365.50 74 - 74 - 76 - 71 ----- 295
Marc Peterson $365.50 70 - 75 - 75 - 75 ----- 295
Robert Hamilton $365.50 77 - 71 - 71 - 76 ----- 295
Brad Ward $365.50 71 - 72 - 74 - 78 ----- 295
Ryan Williams $344 72 - 72 - 73 - 79 ----- 296
Trey Denton $327 72 - 76 - 74 - 75 ----- 297
Jesse Barnsley $327 77 - 71 - 74 - 75 ----- 297
Calvin Kupeyan $327 73 - 75 - 74 - 75 ----- 297
Javier Quevedo $200 74 - 72 - 77 - 75 ----- 298
Glenn Preciado $200 73 - 75 - 76 - 75 ----- 299
Efren Serna $200 75 - 72 - 78 - 75 ----- 300
Luis Alverez $200 72 - 75 - 71 - 83 ----- 301
Oliver Isaac $200 71 - 73 - 79 - 79 ----- 302
Jeff Puska $200 75 - 73 - 71 - 83 ----- 302