It was the first victory in his Nike Tour career, which began in 1990 when the Tour was known as the Ben Hogan Tour. Gotsche finished at 18-under par, two strokes better than Kelly Gibson, who closed with a 69.

The win was worth $49,500, more than doubling Gotsche's previous career Nike Tour earnings of $21,662 in 32 events. In three events this year, he had missed the cut twice and tied for 36th at the Nike Florida Classic, where he earned $1,035.

“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Gotsche, who was in the fourth to the last group and had to wait about 30 minutes for his first Nike Tour win to be official. “I thought I would have to get to about 20-under to win. I was very surprised that nobody in the last few groups got out and ran away from us. It seems every week somebody does it on the last day.”

Gotsche began the final round in seventh place, three strokes shy of the lead held by Todd Demsey and Brad Elder. A bogey on the second hole by Elder and a double-bogey on No. 3 by Demsey opened the gates and let the field back into contention.

Elder eventually finished tied for seventh, marking the second straight Tournament he has been in the final group and shot above par. A final round 75 at the Nike Mississippi Gulf Coast Open dropped him into a tie for fourth.

Gotsche got off to a solid start, two-putting from 20 feet for birdie on the 494-yard, par-5 first hole. Three more birdies on the front nine put him atop a crowded leaderboard.

“I was really focused today,” he said. “I told myself not to look at the leaderboard and I never did.”

Midway through the final day, 23 players were within four strokes of the lead. However, as the wind continued to blow, the field began to separate.

With the leaders struggling on the 7,070-yard Club Campestre course, Gotsche’s bogey on No. 10 dropped him into a tie for the lead with David Berganio, who was already in the clubhouse at 15 under par following his 65. Gotsche regrouped and regained a two-stroke lead with back-to-back birdies on No. 12 and 13, hitting his sand wedge to five and 10 feet, respectively.

When he canned a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole, Gotsche’s lead was three and the only thing left to do was wait.

“Two months ago I couldn’t hit it out of my shadow,” he said. “It just goes to show how funny this game is. One day you have it, the next day you don’t.”

Berganio certainly had it on Sunday, posting the day’s best round and moving from a tie for 30th to a tie for third.

“I don’t know what it is about this Tournament,” said Berganio, a winner here in 1996. “I shot 66 on the last day when I won and the leaders backed up to me and they did it again today.”

Gibson emerged from the pack to finish second with a birdie on the final hole.