Gomez returns to site of life-changing victory

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- There are a lot of perks reserved for a tournament’s defending champion. What is Fabian Gomez’s favorite?

“When you drive into the golf course and you have the preferred parking with your name, that means a lot,” a smiling Gomez said Tuesday through a translator. “And today, when I was playing the 18th hole, I remembered the shots I hit last year. It was a really nice memory.”

He was 288th in the world ranking and 125th in the FedExCup standings when he arrived at TPC Southwind last year. Keeping his card was a concern.

Not anymore.

Gomez, 37, now is a two-time PGA TOUR winner with a Masters appearance under his belt, an Olympics appearance in his future and hopes of qualifying for the U.S. Open and TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.

He was a four-shot winner here last year after holing a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole. He won his second PGA TOUR title at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. Gomez now ranks 68th in the Official World Golf Ranking and 27th in the FedExCup.

He’ll make his U.S. Open debut if he’s in the top 60 of the world ranking after this week. He’ll likely need a top-three finish here to secure a tee time next week at Oakmont, where countryman Angel Cabrera won the 2007 U.S. Open. Gomez was making his debut on the Web.com Tour the same week that Cabrera won his first major championship.

He also has his sights on the TOUR Championship. His 59th-place finish in last season’s FedExCup was the best of his career. He’d finished in the top 10 in just three of 69 TOUR starts before last year’s FedEx St. Jude.

Gomez has a career-high three top-10s this season. He won the Sony Open, finished sixth in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and was ninth at the Wells Fargo Championship.

He’s scheduled to play alongside Brooks Koepka and Steve Stricker on Thursday and Friday. Gomez is the highest-ranked player in the FedExCup in the group.

He’s happy to be back in Memphis’ warm weather, which reminds him of his hometown of Resistencia, Argentina, and he can appreciate a place that enjoys its barbeque. He and his fellow Latin American players try to gather weekly on TOUR for a barbeque, though they prefer the cuts of meat and cooking styles of Argentina.

He was a caddie between the ages of 8 and 16, when he moved to Buenos Aires to develop his golf game. He spent a few years competing in Latin America before coming to the United States to compete.

"I have great memories of when I was a caddie, not being able to afford to play and now how it is to make some money and be able to play," Gomez said after winning the Sony Open. "I actually learned playing with the other caddies. They would go out there and make more money, but you have to learn no matter what because you have to win."

There's even more money available on the PGA TOUR. Gomez overcame one of the most treacherous tracks on TOUR to earn his first victory. He was one of just three players to avoid all 10 of TPC Southwind's water hazards in all four rounds last year. That's no easy task. No course has seen more shots hit into the water since 2003, and it's not even close.

There were 4,671 balls hit into the water here between 2003 and 2015. TPC Sawgrass' THE PLAYERS Stadium Course is second with 3,104 shots hit into the water in that span.

Gomez navigated TPC Southwind's treacherous layout with the best ballstriking performance of his career. He gained 3.07 strokes per round with his tee-to-green play at last year's FedEx St. Jude Classic.

He credits a near-miss at the 2013 Puerto Rico Open for helping him finish off his first win at last year’s FedEx St. Jude Classic. He made bogey on the final hole, a reachable par-5, in Puerto Rico to finish one shot behind winner Scott Brown. Gomez tied for second with Jordan Spieth.

The final hole at TPC Southwind is lined by water on its left side, but he made birdie to complete a four-shot victory.

“I lost my focus in Puerto Rico, thinking about how much it would mean to win,” Gomez said through a translator. “Last year here was very different. I focused until the very last shot.”

And he walked away a PGA TOUR winner.