Male Professional Athelete of the Year 2002

David Gossett


David Gossett capped off one of the best rookie years ever on the PGA tour by winning the 2001 John Deere Classic, thus earning a two-year tour tournament exemption.

After playing in only 15 PGA Tour events last year, Gossett recorded two top-5 finishes including his win, and finished the year ranked 68th on the 2001 PGA Tour money list with $748,126 in total earnings.

A former Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Amateur Athlete of the Year, last year Gossett tied for 28th in the PGA FedEx St. Jude Classic, was 5th in the PGA Air Canada and tied for 2nd in the Buy.com Wichita Open. The Memphis native was also the low amateur in the 2000 Masters.

From the start of his career, Gossett has excelled at all levels of competition. His outstanding junior career culminated with being named the 1997 AJA Player of the Year.

At the collegiate level, he was a two- time First Team All-American at the University of Texas and was named 1999 NCAA Freshman of the Year and Big XII Player of the Year.

Gossett's record-tying performance at the 1999 U.S. Amateur Championships was a play that will long be remembered as one of the best in the history of the Championship.