Matt Gogel seeking first victory in 24 years at Furyk & Friends

• Matt Gogel shot a 64 to take a three-shot lead at the Constellation Furyk & Friends tournament.
• This is Gogel’s first time leading a PGA Tour Champions event heading into the final round.
• Gogel’s last professional victory was at the 2002 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
• David Duval and Vijay Singh remain in contention, five shots behind the leader.

JACKSONVILLE — Matt Gogel was the cat’s meow on the Korn Ferry Tour from 1996-1999, winning six times, one off Jason Gore’s record. 

The rest of his career hasn’t gone so well, and the former University of Kansas player has only one professional victory since then, at the 2002 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. 

Nearly four years after turning 50 years old and in his 70th PGA Tour Champions start, Gogel has his best chance ever at an 18th hole victory ceremony on Sunday since that day along the Pacific Ocean more than 24 years ago when he finished atop a leaderboard that included World Golf Hall of Fame members Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Jose Maria Olazabal and Fred Couples among the top 25. 

Gogel birdied five of his first six holes on Oct. 4 at a wet, windy and sometimes wild Timuquana Country Club and went on to tie the 18-hole course record with a 64 and grab a three-shot lead over Cameron Percy at 12-under-par 132 in the second round of the Constellation Furyk & Friends. 

Gogel broke the previous 36-hole record of 11-under, accomplished by four players, and, along with John Rollins in the second round, swelled the number of players who have shot 64 in the four-year tournament history to five. 

Matt Gogel wants to go the distance 

Gogel has never led with one round to play on the PGA Tour Champions. He was in a tie for second entering the final round in the 2021 Furyk & Friends which Phil Mickelson went on to win. 

Gogel is imploring Mother Nature to hold off on any bad weather on Sunday (there is a 50-50 chance for rain) so he could test himself under the gun.

“I need us to play 54 holes and the weather to hold off because I haven’t been in this position, in the final [group] in a long time,” he said. “I need to be under that pressure and see how I perform and learn from that.” 

David Duval, Vijay Singh still in contention 

Percy (71) made a 15-foot eagle putt at No. 3 and did little else, with only one more birdie and two bogeys. Joining the final group will be Monday qualifier Tommy Gainey (67), who is tied for third with Søren Kjeldsen (68) at 8-under. 

“The wind was consistent [Friday] but today it was everywhere,” Percy said. “It was just so wet and the ball kept going too far on me. It was lift, clean and place but you’re putting it back in water, more or less. I played fine and I shot only 1 under. That’s the way it goes.”

Two players with First Coast ties are still lurking. David Duval, who grew up playing golf at the Timuquana Country Club posted a bogey-free 69 and Vijay Singh of Ponte Vedra Beach bogeyed the 18th hole for a 70 to both finish at 7-under. Also tying them for fifth is Chad Campbell (70) who finished on a high note with two closing birdies. 

Duval made a clutch par at the 18^th hole for the second day in a row. After pushing his drive into the trees on the right, he carved a high, right-to-left shot over tree branches and onto the front of the green with a shot that was dripping with course knowledge.

He two-putted from 60 feet, making a 5-footer on the second putt. 

“I’m sure I’ve been there before,” Duval said of his position off the 18^th tee. “I actually thought the tee shot was perfect.” 

Matt Gogel learned from TV work 

Gogel’s last year with double-digit starts on the PGA Tour was 2006, and he failed to keep his card. He landed a job with Golf Channel in 2007 and moved to CBS in 2009. 

While working as an on-course analyst, he started to notice something from the outside looking in: he may have been putting too much pressure on himself. 

“What I learned is you can make a lot of mistakes,” he said. “I was usually walking with the lead group and I noticed, ‘Wow, it’s the attitude that carries you through.’ Guys make mistakes and not every shot’s perfect. You’ve got to kind of roll with that.” 

He wasn’t perfect in the second round but it was darn good. Gogel hit 10 fairways and 13 greens, and got up and down for par on four of the five greens he missed. 

Just when it seemed as if he cooled off from his torrid start, Gogel eagled No. 13 on an 8-foot putt and birdied Nos. 15 and 17 coming in. 

Matt Gogel has a 10-year plan 

Gogel’s observations as a TV analyst motivated him to join the PGA Tour Champions when he turned 50 in February of 2021. While he has yet to win, this season has shown real progress: he has matched his career best for top 10s and top 25s, and at 40th on the current Schwab Cup points list, is well on his way to his career-best finish. 

He’s a lock to make the top 72 and qualify for the Schwab Cup Playoffs. 

Gogel said he has a 10-year plan to stay active on the Champions Tour, and it won’t be complete unless he wins one. 

“It’s been kind of a steady climb every year,” he said. “So I’m looking forward to [the final round]. I need tomorrow for nothing more than to get comfortable in that position because I fully expect tob e in that position in the future … while I’m still young.” 

David Duval continues solid play 

Another player seeking his first Champions Tour victory is Duval, and where better than the place where his father Bob, the long-time Timuquana head pro, taught him the game? 

Duval missed only four greens for the second day in a row and got up and down all four times. He leads the field in scrambling (seven of eight pars after missing a green) and is tied for fifth in fewest putts per green in regulation. 

He said he stayed patient on the fast greens, made more difficult in the second round by tougher pin positions and a swirling wind. 

“I hit good putts all day … sometimes it’s hard in this wind, on slippery greens to get them to go in. Three I thought I made for sure. But to not make a bogey, in these tough conditions, is pretty good.”