POWER OF THE BUN
Gordón Wins First Career Major And 2nd Tourney In A Row
RANCHO PARK – Impending fatherhood has done wonders for Travois Gordón’s golf game. How else does one explain what transpired Sunday in the Match Play Invitational. With an unprecedented show of supremacy in both the semi-finals and Finals – he didn’t lose a single hole – Gordón walked away with his first career win in a Major. “I don’t even understand it just yet. To come out on the final day against the competition, and play the way I did, I don’t even know what to chalk it up to”. His wife Janine has an idea. She’s called it ‘The Power of the Bun’. Until Sunday, Gordón’s crowning moment in Match Play was his 1st round upset win over Walter Vargas. That was 6 long years ago. He now has something to supplant that. “It’s nice to be in this elite company (Major winners). Particularly this tournament [which] hasn’t had that many [different] winners, so it feels great.” And of bringing home that ‘Power of the Bun’-fulfilling trophy? “[Janine’s] gonna be super excited, so I’m very excited to see her light up when I bring the trophy home.”
Hooters Champs Go Mano a Mano
After years of demoralizing his opponents with his excellence, Armen Grigorian, hoping for a 6th title, instead received a heavy dose of his own medicine. Like Vaughan before him, Grigorian failed to win a single hole against Gordón. “I played poorly and Travis was lights out. He was amazing and that’s how you win.” Prior to their match Gordón was reminded of his 0-3 lifetime record against Grigorian only to boldly reply, “But never in the Finals.”
1st Round
Tim Joe’s only match play victory that didn’t come by way of forfeit was a win over Clint Crump in 2005. In their first meeting since that match #12 Joe overcame a 2-hole deficit with 2 holes remaining to defeat #5 Crump on a playoff hole, handing Crump his first career loss in the 1st round. For the 2nd straight year #4 Gerry Vaughan won every hole in his match, this time against #13 Rene Quiroz. Rookie #14 Ed Quiroz made a respectable match play debut, down 1 with 3 to play, before succumbing to #3 Chris Moawad 3and1. #9 Travois Gordón (2and1 winner over #8 Patrick Bird) and #7 P-Jay Fidler (2and1 winner over #10 John Mann) nearly had their matches go the distance, while #6 Walter Vargas dispatched #11 John Frost 3and2.
Quarterfinals
Like last year’s defending champion with a first round bye, Doug Vargas found himself out after his first match, losing to #9 Travois Gordón 2-Down. It would mark the 2nd year in a row the #9 seed defeated the defending champion before eventually winning the tournament. With his 4and3 win over Tim Joe, Gerry Vaughan made it 2 years in a row of having not dropped a hole in the first 2 rounds. With a 2-up lead on Walter Vargas, Chris Moawad dropped the final 4 holes, losing to Vargas for the first time in his career. The former champion, who suffered his 3rd straight quarterfinal defeat, let out a sigh before commenting, “The field just gets tougher every year. You just got to be on your game. You gotta hit the greens and you can’t give up those strokes.” Last year’s runner-up P-Jay Fidler was all square with Armen Grigorian before dropping the final 2 holes.
Final Four: Live by the sword, die by the sword
Gerry Vaughan entered his 6th straight Final Four after steamrolling his first 2 opponents, but his first tee shot signaled his dominant play would not continue. With a pair of 5and4 wins the last 2 years, Vaughan found himself on the receiving end this time around losing every hole to Travois Gordón. “I don’t know that there’s anything you can really do once your game is off. It’s kind of tough to regroup,” said Vaughan before adding, “I think even if I was playing well, Travis would have beat me with the round that he’s playing.” It came down to the final hole between Armen Grigorian and Walter Vargas who found themselves all square heading to the 9th. Vargas would hit his approach shot thin, thus sealing his fate. In perhaps a bit of foretelling, both Armen Grigorian and Travois Gordón sunk 30-foot putts to win the opening hole of their respective semi-final matches.
