Bathurst battler Gavin Coles is heading back to the US PGA Tour next year, and for that he can thank luckless fellow Australian golfer Mathew Goggin.

Goggin bogeyed the last hole at the Nationwide Tour Championship in Alabama on Sunday, when a par would have earned him promotion back to the main tour.

The top 20 players on the secondary tour's money list were promoted but the closing bogey cost Goggin, who was on the leader board, thousands of dollars and left him 24th on the list, allowing the relieved Coles to hang onto 20th spot.

After a tap-in birdie at the par-five 17th, Goggin drove into trouble at the par-four 18th and could not reach the green with his second shot.

His difficult pitch came up 13 metres short of the hole, and he literally waved goodbye to his card, knowing intuitively that he had blown his chances.

When his par putt missed to the right his quest was over, and he looked inconsolable as he left the green.

The fact that he'd started the week 28th on the money list and managed to tie for fifth in the Championship was little help.

The 36-year-old Coles, who started the week as the 18th leading earner, left himself vulnerable with a poor performance which saw him tied 31st in the Championship after a closing 73.

Both Coles and Goggin are no strangers to the nerve-jangling process having earned US PGA Tour cards from the secondary tour previously - Coles in 2002 and Goggin in 1999, before both lost them last year.

Coles, who had to fight back from losing his full Australasian tour card in 2000, watched the tournament's final stages on his hotel TV and was low-key about the drama.

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