Job not done for Coles as he heads to Tour Championship

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Chris Condon/PGA TOUR

Coles has five Nationwide Tour wins in his career including the 2011 Winn-Dixie.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- It's been more than three years since Gavin Coles has won on the Nationwide Tour, but Sunday's victory at the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open at TPC Sawgrass might be the most memorable.

Playing in the last group with 27-year-old Swede Jonas Blixt, Coles started the day at 7-under but carded a 1-over 71 to get the one shot victory over his playing partner, who also shot a 71.

Afterwards, a smiling Coles fielded multiple calls from Australia and breathed a well-deserved sigh of relief as he heads to the Tour Championship at Daniel Island this week.

"The golf course played hard," said Coles. "The greens were fast and you had to hit the right spots to make birdies."

His fifth career Nationwide Tour victory solidified his position in next week's Tour Championship at Daniel Island and, more importantly, moved him to No. 15 on the money list and into the race for The 25 PGA TOUR cards at stake.

Should he make The 25, it will be the fourth tour of duty on the PGA TOUR for the 43-year-old Australian.

Blixt, a local resident looking for his first Nationwide Tour win before he graduates to the PGA TOUR in 2012, watched Coles have the first hiccup on the day when the Aussie dropped a stroke on No. 4 to remain tied with the Swede.

"I hit my drive down the right side on No. 4 and it fell in the rough," Coles said. "I was 165 yards to the front and hit my rescue club as hard as I could and it still didn't get to the green."

Coles made par on the next 10 holes, including a 10-foot save on No. 11 after Blixt had just made back-to-back bogeys. "I said at that point if I could just keep hitting the ball on the green, I'd make a putt here or there. That's basically what I tried to do all day."

Coles' patience paid off as he birdied 16 and 17 to give him a two-shot lead. But it was the way that he played 17 that proved to be the game-changer and sealed the deal for Coles when he sunk a right-to-left 30-foot putt.

"I hit a seven iron that stopped on top of the hill," said Coles. " I was quite surprised it stopped so quickly. Yesterday, when the pin was in front, the ball was rolling where the pin was today. I had been leaving the putts about a foot short all day long. So I just picked my line and it went in."

It didn't matter when Coles pushed his approach shot over the 18th green and settled for a three-putt bogey as Blixt made par.

Coles had also birdied 17 on Saturday, but said he learned a lot from that round after getting a little excited when he got it to -10 under and faltered late.

"Saturday, I made a couple of bad shots because I was a little excited and so far in front," said Coles. "That's what we play golf for -- to be in that situation and test yourself to see what you're going to do and then learn from it."

Obviously, the savvy veteran has learned a lot.