Tag: Alvaro Ortiz

History in the making, international leaderboard highlight 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta second round takeaways

A pair of Mexican players are excelling at their national open.

The last player from Mexico to win the Mexico Open? Alvaro Ortiz.

Where does Ortiz sit after the second round of the 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta? Tied for first.

Ortiz, who won the Mexico Open in 2021 when it was a PGA Tour Latinoamerica event, shot 7-under 64, a career best, on Friday to move into a share of first at Vidanta Vallarta alongside Englishman Matt Wallace, Finland’s Sami Valimaki and American Jake Knapp. Ortiz is a member of the Korn Ferry Tour and is making his 10th PGA Tour start this week. It’s his fourth made cut, however, the 28-year-old who played collegiately at Arkansas would have a historic and breakthrough win if he were to claim the Mexico Open title for the second time in four years.

The tournament is the national open of Mexico, but it’s only the third year it has been a PGA Tour event. Like when Nick Taylor won the Canadian Open last summer, it just means more when a national is able to capture their home open. The same can be said for Ortiz if he were to capitalize this weekend. He would become only the second Mexican ever to win his national open twice, joining Ernesto Perez Acosta.

Mexico Open: Photos

“From tee to green it was as good as it could be,” Ortiz said. “I hit the ball very well and just felt very comfortable out there. It was very clean, very stress free and I was glad to be able to make that eagle on 6. I feel like I was losing a little bit of momentum leaving a couple putts go, but it was good to get that one back. Happy to be in the position you I’m in.”

Ortiz birdied every other hole on his first nine, the back nine at Vidanta Vallarta, going out in 5-under 31. Then on the back nine, he had a clean card with eight pars and an eagle coming on the par-5 sixth hole to sign for his 64.

As far as any added pressure this weekend?

“No, it’s more fun, it’s more fun,” he said. “I don’t get to do that often. As many people, the yelling, it’s fun. I don’t get that much in the States, but it’s pretty cool to see how many people are coming and hopefully it will be packed this weekend.”

Santiago De La Fuente of Mexico putts on the second green during the second round of the Mexico Open at Vidanta at Vidanta Vallarta on February 23, 2024 in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

He’s not the only Mexican having a strong week, either. Amateur Santiago De la Fuente, who won the Latin America Amateur Championship in January, sits at 6 under and T-9 heading to the weekend.

The duo has plenty of similarities. They’ve both won the LAAC, with Ortiz placing in the top five four times in five appearances at the event. Ortiz and his brother, Carlos of the LIV Golf League, are the last two Mexican players to tee it up in the Masters (Ortiz in 2019, Carlos in 2021) since Victor Regalado in 1979. De la Fuente will add his name to the list this April.

Here are four more things to know from the second round of the 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta:

Latin America Amateur Championship moves to Mexico with Masters invite on the line

The Latin America Amateur Championship will be Jan. 16-19 at El Camaleón Golf Club at Rosewood Mayakoba Resort in Playa del Carmen.

The Latin America Amateur Championship – which offers its winner berths in the Masters, the U.S. Amateur, the British Amateur and final-stage qualifying for the British Open – will be held in Mexico for the first time this weekend.

The sixth edition of the LAAC will be Jan. 16-19 at El Camaleón Golf Club at Rosewood Mayakoba Resort in Playa del Carmen. The previous editions of the LAAC were at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic (twice), Prince of Wales Country Club in Chile, Club de Golf de Panama and Pilar Golf in Argentina.

Alvaro Ortiz of Mexico, who played college golf at Arkansas through the 2018 season, won the LAAC in 2019, then finished T-36 at the 2019 Masters before turning pro. Joaquin Niemann won the 2018 LAAC before turning pro, joining the PGA Tour and winning his first Tour event this season at the Military Tribute at the Greenbrier in September.

The LAAC was created in 2014, a year before the first playing of the event, by the Masters Tournament, the R&A and the U.S. Golf Association to promote the development of golf in South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. It follows a model established by the Masters and the R&A with the creation of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in 2009, which also offers spots in top international events to its winner.

This year’s field of 108, who are invited through their national golf federations based on World Amateur Golf Ranking status, will play the 20th-ranked course in Golfweek’s Best 2020 list of courses for the Caribbean and Mexico. A Greg Norman design, El Camaleón opened in 2006.

This year’s event features players from 29 countries and territories: Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, Uruguay, Venezuela and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

With four holes to go at Mayakoba, Brendon Todd bidding for back-to-back PGA Tour titles

Brendon Todd is seeking back-to-back PGA Tour events. He and Vaughn Taylor share the lead at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

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On a marathon Sunday of golf at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, Brendon Todd and Vaughn Taylor are running stride for stride and share the lead at 20 under. But a champion won’t be crowned until Monday as play was suspended due to darkness at 6:11 p.m., with the leaders on the 15th hole, their 33rd hole of the day.

What’s one more night to wait for Taylor, who last won in 2016, and his pursuers, Harris English, who hasn’t won since the 2013 Mayakoba Golf Classic, and Carlos Ortiz, who is seeking his first Tour title?

Todd, meanwhile, ended a five-year victory drought at the Tour’s last event, the Bermuda Championship, two weeks ago (there was no Tour event scheduled last week).

The 34-year-old Todd is positioned to win in back-to-back events on the PGA Tour after posting his eighth consecutive score in the 60s. When asked earlier this week to name his goals for the rest of the season, Todd said he needed to recalibrate before adding, “I guess I’d like to win again and make it to the Tour Championship.”

Mayakoba: Leaderboard | Photos | Tournament updates | TV info

He could check off the first part and take a huge step toward the latter with a victory on Monday. The last player to win consecutive Tour events was Bryson DeChambeau, who was victorious in the first two events of the 2018 FedEx Cup Playoffs at The Northern Trust and Dell Technologies Championship.

Vaughn Taylor waves to fans after a birdie on the 17th green during the third round of the 2019 Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

It’s a remarkable comeback for Todd, who missed 37 of 41 cuts from 2016-18 while struggling with the full-swing yips. After regaining his Tour privileges this season, Todd set an initial goal to get back into contention and see how he’d perform under the pressure.

He’s handled it with aplomb, shooting a final-round 62 to win in Bermuda and was 3 under through 14 holes in his final round at El Camaleon Golf Club. Todd made three birdies on the front nine and tacked on another at No. 12 to lead by two strokes. But Taylor made birdie at 13 and Todd made a bogey at 14, his first of the week on the back nine, and the lead was gone.

The final group called it a day after reaching the 15th green. Todd could have waited until Monday to hit his tee shot but opted to play on after the horn blew, planting his ball 10 feet from the hole at the par-3 15th while Taylor will face a testy 5-foot par putt after coming up short with his tee shot and leaving himself work to do with his chip.

“I wanted to hit the shot because I’m loose and there’s no wind,” Todd told the Golf Channel. “I thought I could get it in there close and come back and make birdie.”

Ortiz, on the other hand, was on the 18th hole and opted to wait to finish his round on Monday as his fellow playing competitors finished in the dark. The Mexico native opened with a double bogey, but bounced back to make seven birdies to get to 19 under. He’s tied with Harris English, the 36-hole leader who closed the gap with birdies at Nos. 13 and 14. Adam Long is two back at 18 under and marked his ball on the 16th green after play was suspended. Twelve golfers were remaining on the course. When asked what it would mean to win on home soil, Ortiz said, “Winning anywhere, it’s pretty special, and winning in front of my family would probably be like a dream come true.”

All four rounds of the Mayakoba Golf Classic have been played under preferred lies due to heavy rain earlier in the week that prevented play on Thursday. The field has been playing catch-up ever since. Todd fired 6-under 65 in Sunday morning’s third round to grab a one-stroke lead over Taylor and English at 17-under 196.

Todd vaulted into the lead with a chip-in at 16, one of seven birdies in his third round. His string of eight rounds in the 60s is his longest since carding eight straight in 2014, the year of his maiden victory at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Carlos Ortiz of Mexico watches his drive on the 17th hole during the final round of the 2019 Mayakoba Golf Classic. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

Taylor, 43, is seeking his fourth victory and first since the 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He stormed out of the gate on Sunday with birdies on four of his first five holes en route to shooting 4-under 67 and a 54-hole total of 16 under. In the final round, Taylor hit 10 of 11 fairways and 11 of 14 greens in regulation before play was suspended for the day.

English, 30, endured a roller-coaster round of 3-under 68 to improve to 16 under and extend a streak of shooting par or better in all 19 rounds he’s played in the 2019-20 season. El Camaleon is a course he’s always enjoyed and he is bidding to make his own slice of tournament history. No player in the 12-year run of the tournament has won it twice. But to do so, he’ll have to catch and pass Taylor and Todd, his fellow Georgia Bulldog alum, over the final four holes. Play is scheduled to resume at 7:30 on Monday morning.

“I feel great about my game,” Todd told Golf Channel. “I feel real happy to have a chance to win this tournament coming off a win in Bermuda and I’m excited to tee it up tomorrow and see if we can get another W.”

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