Long way to go for a hat! (6)

I believe the answer is:

panama

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'hat' is the definition.
(panama is a kind of hat)

'long way to go for a' is the wordplay.
'long way to go' becomes 'panam' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'for' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'panam'+'a'='PANAMA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for panama that I've seen before include "Land - hat - cigar" , "Canal state; hat" , "Headgear for a canal" , "'Country, canal and hat (6)'" , "Central American country" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.