The Longest Gaps Between Victories on Tour

MARCEL SIEM turned the clock back by winning the Hero Indian Open. It was his first DP World Tour success for eight years. Last year, Oliver Wilson won the Made in Himmerland, which was also his first in eight years.

That sounds like a long time to wait between victories, but it is way short of the record.

In 2000 England’s Anthony Wall won the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa - it was the same year that Tiger Woods won The Open by eight shots and the US Open by 15 shots. 

Wall could have been forgiven for expecting it would be first of many such successes but he had to wait 16 years and 204 days before claiming his second title, at the Paul Lawrie Match Play in 2016.

In beating Swede Alex Noren by one hole in the final at Archerfield Links, Wall rewrote the record books for the amount of time that had elapsed between a first and second win.

“Sixteen years is a long time - it’s a career for most golfers,”said Wall, who had finished runner-up seven times during that drought.

The record for the longest gap on the PGA Tour is held by Robert Gamez. In 1990, he won the Nestle Invitational. It was his rookie year on tour, and it was his second win of the season following the Tuscon Open and he ended up being named Rookie of the Year. It seemed that he was destined for a stellar career, but it didn’t quite work out that way,

Gamez had to wait 15 years and six months before he won again, at the 2005 Valero Texas Open. Gamez broke the record previously held by Butch Baird, whose second win also happened at the Texas Open.

Just like Wall, Gamez had multiple runner-up finishes over the years, including a playoff loss to Fred Couples in the 1993 Honda Classic. Then there was a car accident in 1998 that caused back problems that plagued him for the rest of his career. 

Here is the full list of biggest gaps between victories on the PGA Tour. 

• 15 years, 6 months: Robert Gamez won the 1990 Nestle Invitational on March 25, 1990; next win was 2005 Valero Texas Open on Sept. 25, 2005
• 15 years, 5 months, 10 days: Butch Baird won the 1961 Waco Open on May 7, 1961; next win was 1976 San Antonio Texas Open on Oct. 17, 1976
• 14 years, 8 months, 2 days: Ed Fiori won the 1982 Bob Hope Desert Classic on Jan. 17, 1982; next win 1996 Quad City Classic on Sept. 15, 1996
• 13 years, 8 months: Joey Sindelar won the 1990 Hardee's Golf Classic on Sept. 9, 1990; next win was 2004 Wachovia Championship on May 9, 2004
• 13 years, 8 months: Tommy Armour III won the 1990 Phoenix Open on Jan. 28, 1990; next win was 2003 Valero Texas Open on Sept. 28, 2003
• 13 years, 6 months, 20 days: Gene Sauers won the 1989 Hawaiian Open on Feb. 12, 1989; next win was 2002 Air Canada Championship on Sept. 1, 2002

Also worth a mention in Stewart Cink. He won The Open at Turnberry in July 2009 and had to wait until September 2020 for his next win, at the Safeway Open in September 2020.