Twenty years in the past, Fred Funk almost backed out of the first official PGA Tour occasion ever performed in Mexico.
He had initially dedicated to play, a main coup for event director Larson Segerdahl, who had moved to Mexico in the summer time of 2006 to launch an occasion scheduled for February 2007 reverse the World Golf Championships-Match Play Championship. Without access to the world’s prime 64 gamers, Segerdahl needed a confirmed star to lend credibility to what was then identified as the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
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Funk, a former Players Championship winner and one of the PGA Tour’s most recognizable veterans, match the invoice completely.
But doubts crept in after a scouting report from his longtime caddie, Mark Long.
Segerdahl had employed Long, who also produced the yardage books used by many PGA Tour gamers and caddies. After learning El Camaleón, the Greg Norman-designed course at Mayakoba Resort close to Cancun, Long wasn’t satisfied it suited the shorter-hitting Funk.
On that suggestion alone, Funk called Segerdahl prepared to withdraw.
“I’ve got to pick my spots and maybe this isn’t one of them,” Funk recalled saying.
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Fred Funk was promoted in first Mexico occasion
MEXICO – FEBRUARY 22: Fred Funk during the first spherical of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon at Mayakoba in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico on February 22, 2007. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Segerdahl had already been selling Funk’s participation and did everything potential to change his thoughts.
“I remember being like, ‘We need you down here, Fred. I know what Mark’s telling you, but don’t take his word for it. Come see for yourself.’ And Fred, being the class act that he is, was open to that. He ended up coming down, and I don’t think I could’ve scripted a better finish for the first event,” Segerdahl said.
Funk not only confirmed up, he delivered one of the most memorable finishes in event historical past.
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He holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the 72nd gap to pressure a playoff, then defeated Argentina’s José Cóceres with a birdie on the second further gap. At the par-3 tenth, Funk’s 5-iron drifted proper of the flag toward the water, not precisely where he supposed. But it settled safely, and he transformed the profitable putt for an unbelievable victory.
Funk was 50 years, 8 months and 12 days previous when he went wire-to-wire to win the inaugural event, making him the fifth-oldest winner in PGA Tour historical past at the time.
His victory turned a becoming metaphor for the event itself.
Many questioned whether a PGA Tour occasion could succeed in Mexico. Others questioned whether it would survive beyond its initial sponsorship settlement. Yet almost everyone who took a likelihood on the occasion in the end benefited from doing so.
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Mexico occasion has grown stronger
Today, the event identified as the World Wide Technology Championship is stronger than ever.
As the event celebrates its twentieth anniversary, those who helped construct it look back on a journey that exceeded anything they imagined potential when the inaugural occasion teed off in 2007.
What started as an bold experiment has advanced into one of Latin America’s most vital golf occasions.
“It’s a fun reminder of how much the event has grown,” said Taylor Ives, government vice president of occasions and consulting at Team, who has been concerned in all 20 editions of the championship. He retains a photograph in his workplace of event employees surrounding Funk with the trophy from that inaugural occasion. “And how styles and hairlines have changed!”
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When Brent Geiberger struck the opening tee shot at 6:40 a.m. on Feb. 22, 2007, the recreation of golf in Mexico took a giant step ahead. Few bear in mind where that first ball came to relaxation, but the second marked a turning level.
For the first time, a full-field official PGA Tour occasion was contested outside the United States and Canada.
“It showed this isn’t just a U.S. thing,” Segerdahl said. “It’s for us too.”
Idea for Mexican occasion had been brewing
The 18th inexperienced at the World Wide Technology Championship at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur.
The thought of bringing a PGA Tour occasion to Mexico had circulated for years, but efforts repeatedly stalled. That modified when OHL, the developer of Mayakoba Resort in Mexico’s Riviera Maya, embraced the idea at its Greg Norman-designed course close to Playa del Carmen.
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From the starting, the Tour’s purpose was to help grow the recreation in Mexico by showcasing the world’s best golfers.
In the occasion’s earliest years, however, there were restricted choices when it came to awarding sponsor exemptions to Mexican gamers.
“The first year it was Esteban and who else can play?” recalled Joe Mazzeo, who has served as event director since 2013. “Now, it’s one of the most challenging decisions we have to make because there are so many talented young Mexican players.”
Over the years, participation in golf and the depth of elite expertise all through Mexico and Latin America have grown dramatically.
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“We now host multiple qualifiers allowing players to compete for select invitations to the event,” Mazzeo said. “In the earlier years, it tended to be many of the same players receiving the exemptions year after year. That’s not the case any longer.”
Mexican illustration has grown over years
Carlos Ortiz of Mexico watches his drive on the seventeenth gap during the last spherical of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon Mayakoba Golf Course on November 17, 2019 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
In 2019, a report eight Mexican gamers competed in the 132-man area. Carlos Ortiz recorded the best end by a Mexican participant in event historical past, tying for second that 12 months before ending runner-up again in 2021.
Ortiz, Abraham Ancer, Oscar Fraustro, Raúl Pereda and Emilio González are among the Mexican gamers who have used alternatives such as these as stepping stones to greater ranges of skilled golf.
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The World Wide Technology Championship also helped pave the method for broader growth all through the area.
When the occasion debuted in 2007, skilled golf alternatives in Mexico were restricted. Since then, PGA Tour Americas has been created, the Latin America Amateur Championship was launched through a partnership of Augusta National, the R&A and the USGA, the PGA Tour added the Mexico Open, and a number of Korn Ferry Tour occasions have been staged all through Latin America, including the Tulum Championship at PGA Riviera Maya.
“Witnessing golf’s growth in Latin America at all levels serves as a reminder that this is far more than a one-week tournament,” Ives said. “And I look forward to celebrating our first Mexican champion at some point over the next 20 years.”
Adam Schupak joined Golfweek in 2006 and covers the PGA Tour, the business of golf, and enjoys contributing to golf journey and structure.
This article initially appeared on Golfweek: World Wide Technology Championship at 20: From daring gamble to lasting legacy
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