Gibson opens Web.com Tour with strong third-place showing
GREAT EXUMA, Bahamas (Jan. 16, 2018) – Former Oklahoma Christian standout and current Oak Tree National member Rhein Gibson opened his 2018 campaign on the Web.com Tour in strong fashion, tying for third in The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic that ended Tuesday.
Gibson fired a 5-under-par 67 in the final round at Sandals Emerald Bay to finish at 8-under 280 for the four-round event. Sungjae Im of South Korea won the tour’s season-opening event at 13-under, with Carlos Ortiz of Mexico second at 9-under.
An Oklahoma Christian Athletic Hall of Fame member, Gibson went on one of his familiar birdie tears to start Wednesday’s round and was 5-under for the round after only six holes. The 31-year-old Australian who now lives in Edmond cooled off a bit on the back nine, bogeying the par-3 No. 11 before closing with a birdie on the par-5 No. 18.
The 67 helped Gibson rebound from a rough third round, in which he shot 4-over 76 to fall into 19th place. He opened the tournament with rounds of 69 and 68.
The top-three finish was the fifth in Gibson’s career on the Web.com Tour, which he began playing in 2015. It was his first top-five finish since last July, when he tied for fifth in the Nashville Golf Open in Tennessee. He now has eight top-five and 11 top-10 finishes on the tour.
Gibson is seeking to earn his way back onto the PGA Tour, which he played in 2016 after finishing fourth at the 2015 Web.com Tour Championship. The top 25 on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list will receive PGA Tour cards for 2019, as will the top 25 during the Web.com Tour’s four-tournament postseason.
While at OC, Gibson won four individual tournament titles while helping the Eagles to a pair of runner-up finishes and a pair of third-place team showings at the NAIA Championship. Shortly after his graduation in 2008, he won the Oklahoma state amateur title and was named as the Oklahoma state amateur player of the year in 2008. He was inducted into the OC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.
He’s most famous for a memorable round in May 2012 at River Oaks Golf Club in Oklahoma City, during which he set a world scoring record by shooting a 55. He also qualified for the 2014 British Open and played in a memorable third-round grouping with Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth.