“Last year I shot 60 two times, so it’s one of my goals, to get to 59 one day,” Muñoz said. “I thought I hit a good shot on 7. I gave myself a 45-footer and I three-putted that one. I knew that was going to kind of be the end of the 59 strategy.”

Even so, Muñoz finished his round with consecutive birdies to shoot a 9-under 62 at Orange County National. That ties for the lowest score in LIV Golf history and gives the Colombian star a two-shot advantage going into the weekend of the third event on the LIV Golf League schedule. Cleeks’s Richard Bland is in solo second at 64, while Smash captain Brooks Koepka and Tucson winner Danny Lee of Iron Heads share third at 65.

“Great day,” said Muñoz, who began his round with an eagle at the par-5 14th. “Felt really in control of my driver, irons, putting. Everything felt kind of easy today.”

Smash lead the team leaderboard with a cumulative 14-under, one stroke better than Torque. Chase Koepka and Matthew Wolff supported their captain with counting scores of 4-under 67.

Smash are one of three teams that have yet to finish inside the points (top eight) through the first two events. Majesticks (third place at 11-under) and Cleeks (tied for 4th at 10-under) are the other two.

“It’s nice to see the team finally playing well,” Brooks Koepka said. “Chase played well and then Matt has been doing what he’s been doing. Just nice to see us actually compete, and hopefully we’re there on Sunday.”

The Koepka brothers were both born and raised in Florida. Brooks Koepka said he played some junior events at Orange County National two decades ago, but it’s his younger brother Chase who has more experience on the Crooked Cat course.

“He’s had Q-school here so many times,” Brooks said. “He was telling us what to do in the practice rounds, so that doesn’t happen too often, just because we’ve played so many different golf courses of the years. It definitely helps, so I’ll take his advice.”

Bland began his round with a double-bogey but quickly bounced back with consecutive birdies and eventually finished with an eagle to climb into solo second.

“I kind of righted the ship pretty quick,” Bland said. “I played the front nine great. Whenever I kind of had a look, I made it.”

Despite winning two weeks ago in just his second LIV Golf start, Lee said he did not enter Orlando with high expectations. He started his round with a bogey but eventually found his groove, shooting a bogey-free six under on his last 14 holes.

“Monday through Thursday, my body wasn’t feeling well,” Lee said. “I was feeling weak, wasn’t sleeping well because of the time difference coming over from the West Coast. I didn’t know I was going to play this well.”

The post LIV Golf: Seb Munoz sets the pace in Orlando appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As LIV Golf builds towards its 2023 season opener at Mayakoba in Mexico, they have begun big reveal of the 12 team line-ups — and they started with a whopper.

Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz and Chile’s Mito Pereira were unveiled as the league’s latest signings as they join fellow South American Joaquin Niemann’s Torque team alongside Spaniard David Puig.

The move strengthens LIV’s Latin links as Mexicans Carlos Ortiz and recent Saudi International champion Abraham Ancer are also on their books.

Three other team rosters were revealed on Wednesday, including an unchanged Majesticks side of Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Sam Horsfield.

Champions 4 Aces have signed Peter Uihlein to join Dustin Johnson, Pat Perez and Patrick Reed and replace Talor Gooch.

Uihlein departs Brooks Koepka’s Smash, with Matthew Wolff joining Jason Kokrak and Chase Koepka in Brooks’ side.

The remaining eight rosters will be revealed this week.

LIV Golf League 2023 line-ups

Torque GC
Joaquin Niemann (c)
Sebastian Munoz
Mito Pereira
David Puig

4 Aces GC
Dustin Johnson (c)
Patrick Reed
Pat Perez
Peter Uihlein

Smash GC
Brooks Koepka
Chase Koepka
Jason Kokrak
Matthew Wolff

Majesticks GC
Ian Poulter (co-captain)
Henrik Stenson (co-captain)
Lee Westwood (co-captain)
Sam Horsfield

The post LIV Golf reveals Mito Pereira and Sebastian Munoz as new signings as team rosters get a shake-up appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Sebastian Munoz is expected to be named to the circuit this week, the Telegraph has reported, with a source close to the PGA Tour confirming to Golf Digest the belief Munoz was anticipated to move.

Munoz, 30, has made over 130 PGA Tour starts in his career, winning the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2019. He participated in the 2022 Presidents Cup, going 2-0-1 at Quail Hollow — including a Sunday singles win over then-World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler — for the International team. Munoz has made six starts on tour this season.

The move is not necessarily a surprise, as Munoz is in this week’s Saudi International field. Though the event is sanctioned by the Asian Tour sponsored by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which is the primary backer of LIV Golf. The field is also filled with LIV Golf members, including Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Joaquin Niemann and Talor Gooch. Bringing in Munoz continues LIV’s focus on the Latin America market. The league already boasts Niemann, Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz, and Mito Pereira — also in this week’s Saudi International field — is expected to joining LIV as well.

There are several current PGA Tour players in this week’s Saudi International field, receiving conflicting-event releases from the tour to play in the event. One name of note from this group is Cameron Young. The reigning Rookie of the Year acknowledged his interests in LIV Golf last year at the Tour Championship, but at the time said he was sticking with the PGA Tour.

The LIV Golf season will begin February 24 at Mayakoba, with both individual and team competitions similar to the inaugural season returning.

The post Another PGA Tour winner expected to sign with LIV Golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Last November, Munoz shot a 10-under 60 in the opening round of the RSM Classic at Sea Island, making a birdie on the final hole. Fast forward 175 days, on a sunny but mild day at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinny, Texas, and the 29-year-old Colombian made a birdie on 18 once more for a 12-under 60.

It’s rare anyone has the personal perspective to say not all 60s are equal, but Munoz does. At Sea Island, the round only gave him a one-shot lead as the scoring average that day was 66.38 on the Seaside Course; he’d go on to finish third that week.

In Texas, Munoz staked himself to a five-shot lead when he was done with the day.

“This one was definitely [more] impressive,” Munoz said, noting it’s the first time he was ever 12-under for a round. “That one I thought Corey, I was playing and Corey Conners that day and I thought he was going to shoot 59. He was kind of like 7 through 9 or 7 through 10 and I thought he was going to see it, and that kind of inspired me my push. Today, I don’t know. I just kind of kept it going and I just wanted to get more looks, more looks and more chances, and I just kind of went crazy with it.”

Sebastian Munoz. Sam Greenwood

Munoz even had reason to believe that his round could have been even lower. While making nine birdies and two eagles, a bogey on the par-4 eighth hole after adding a penalty shot when taking an unplayable lie from an errant tee shot.

Following the misstep, Munoz played his next four holes in six-under, making a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 ninth and a five-footer for eagle on the par-5 12th. The last player to go six-under in a four-hole stretch on tour was Dustin Johnson during the second round of the 2020 Northern Trust at TPC Boston.

Eight-under on his round with six holes to play, Munoz birdied 14, 16 and 17 to keep 59 in his grasp if he could eagle the par-5 18th. After splitting the fairway with his drive, leaving him 247 yards to the hole, Munoz’s second shot with a 3-wood missed the green right. Now with a delicate greenside chip for 59, he left his ball nine feet right of the hole. The way he was putting, however, it’s little surprise his birdie roll found the centre of the cup to finish his back-nine in eight-under 28.

“I wanted to give myself a chance,” Munoz said of a closing eagle. “I had I think it was 250 to the pin into the wind. I kind of wanted to hit like a bullet, like a little draw. I knew if I want to hit it close it had to be a fady, soft-landed shot; I tried to do that. Overdid it and ended up with a 60, which is really good around here.”

Yeah, it should work quite well.

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The post Sebastian Munoz misses out on a 59 but still makes PGA Tour history at AT&T Byron Nelson appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
There are a number of players missing from this Open Championship, but—with all respect to those not making the trip to Sandwich—most of the game’s marquee names remain in the field at Royal St. George’s, and a pack of them will be paired together during the Open’s first and second rounds.

Before you ask, no, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau are not in the same group. As discussed at Torrey Pines; this is for the best; better to let that rivalry manifest over the weekend when it matters most rather than during the fleeting nature of a Thursday or Friday. So as we wait and pray for that heavyweight battle to come to fruition, here are 11 pairings to keep us entertained during the first two rounds of the Open Championship.

7:41 am local Thursday/2:41 am EDT — Viktor Hovland, Ryan Palmer, Thomas Detry

Hovland is making his Open debut, and historically this is a tournament that favors—and arguably requires—experience. Conversely, what has made Hovland so good so early in his career is a blissful disregard to his surroundings, beholden to an inner command known only to him. Better yet, compared to the other majors, lights-out putting is not a prerequisite for contention, pacifying one of Hovland’s few weak spots. Throw in Palmer’s continued late-career revival and a red-hot Detry (two T-2s in past four starts) don’t be surprised if these names are on the early board.

8:03 am/3:03 am — Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak, Garrick Higgo

There’s a “weapons of mass destruction” joke in here, but these three are more than muscle. Kokrak is fighting like hell for a U.S. Ryder Cup captain’s pick and a top-five finish would move him from the “charming story that, realistically, doesn’t have a shot” category to “about to burst some star’s bubble” list of contenders. … Higgo is in a bit of a slump with three missed cuts in his last four starts; he’s also won three times since late April so maybe we should keep an eye on him, yes? … As for the third player, let’s save our words for later in the week. Because this is a major and this is Brooks Koepka, so you better believe we’ll be talking about him in greater capacity come Saturday.

9:25 am/4:25 am — Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau, Branden Grace

Aspiring gamblers could find a worse dark horse than Grace, who is back from the wilderness with a win earlier this year along with a fourth-place finish at the Memorial and T-7 at the U.S. Open. … Augusta National is his playground but the Open has been just as kind to Spieth, and Royal St. George’s profile and past point to that providence continuing this week. The only thing keeping him from contending come Saturday will be finding himself in the wrong weather wave. … As for Bryson, this week ends with DeChambeau winning by three, forcing the R&A to convene an emergency session to declare persimmon and balata will be mandated at next year’s Open at St. Andrews OR Bryson becomes so flummoxed by the wind and ground game that he walks off the course and into the sea. There is no in-between.

9:58 am/4:58 am — Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Louis Oosthuizen

No matter what happens on the score card, this will be a long-overdue victory lap for Lowry. … Rahm will be treated with just as much love coming off his U.S. Open conquest. And amidst that parade Louis will very quietly put together two solid rounds to find himself near the lead because apparently that’s a bylaw for majors now.

David Cannon/R&A

10:20 am/5:20 am — Dustin Johnson, Will Zalatoris, Justin Rose

With two months to go before Ryder Cup rosters are finalized, Rose is shockingly on the outside looking in. He also has top-10s at the Masters and PGA, and a third this week can justify a captain’s pick against a blah record the rest of the year. … Speaking of Zalatoris, despite his strong season he’s trending to be snubbed for Whistling Straits. Yet if he contends at Royal St George’s, that would be four top-10s—highlighted by the Masters runner-up—in his past five major starts. And that is a hard, hard line to bypass. … Sticking with the theme, Johnson has his Ryder Cup spot locked up. He also hasn’t finished better than T-10 since February, which by DJ standards is a drought. Royal St. George’s is the site of one of Johnson’s major misses; can his putter wake up from its slumber (71st in putting this season) to give the 37-year-old his long-awaited payback?

1:04 pm/8:04 am — Patrick Cantlay, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Ryan Fox

Cantlay has finished no better than T-15 in his last eight major starts. Fitzpatrick hasn’t logged a major top-10 finish in his last 21 outings. Both are too talented for these streaks to continue.

1:26 pm/8:26 am — Collin Morikawa, Corey Conners, Sebastian Munoz

Morikawa leads the tour in SG/approach by a mile. Conners ranks top 10 in the category (eighth). Munoz is a fine player coming off a strong performance (T-4 at the John Deere Classic) but legitimately worried the poor guy is going to quit after watching Morikawa and Conners pepper flagsticks for two days.

2:48 pm/9:48 am — Phil Mickelson, Tyrrell Hatton, Kevin Kisner

In one sense it’s unfair to Mickelson to view what happened at Kiawah as proof the man can still get it done, rather than recognize what he did defied all we thought we knew about age and sport. In other words, to treat that moment for just that, a moment, instead of extrapolating what is next for Phil. HOWEVER, experience matters at the Open. Creativity matters. Understanding bad breaks are inevitable and possessing the fortitude it takes to bounce back from them really, really matters. In short there’s a decent chance the magic from Kiawah comes alive again in Kent, where Mickelson finished T-2 the last time the claret jug visited Royal St. George’s … As for Hatton and Kisner, our only wish is that Kisner pays tribute to Hatton with his own disgusted club toss at some point. Game recognise game, after all.

GLYN KIRK

2:59 pm/9:59 am — Xander Schauffele, Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler

With Rahm capturing the U.S. Open Schauffele is now the best under-40 player to not have a major. That he’s ditching his ill-fated arm-lock experiment should help the cause … Fowler has shown signs of life over the past six weeks, and did contend at the 2011 Open (T-5). Fowler’s success in the wind is a bit overstated but it’s also not wrong, which is why this week could be the turning point so many hope comes … The Euro cognoscenti desperately wants MacIntyre to be the next big thing. He’s not far away from such status, proving his mettle at the 2019 Open (T-6) and playing well at a number of venues this year. His game is not necessary pretty, yet it’s at its best when things get ugly, the type of game that so often decides who grabs the claret jug.

3:10 pm/10:10 am — Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott

I know the golf gods are not just but it seems criminal these three men have a combined two majors.

3:21 pm/10:21 am — Rory McIlroy, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith

Rory McIlroy is an Open champ. He is the fulcrum of the European Ryder Cup team. He is everything a fan could want in a player avatar. So we have no idea what McIlroy did or who he betrayed to get thrown into the crossfire of Reed and Smith, two players who have an interesting past. (Smith called out Reed for his penalty for moving sand at the Hero World Challenge in 2019, then the two exchanged words shortly after at the Presidents Cup.) But if McIlroy traverses this minefield without incident, no one is stopping him from snapping his seven-year major slump.

The post DeChambeau-Spieth, a trio of bombers and a bad-blood pairing highlight our 11 favourite groups at Royal St. George’s appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Sebastian Munoz will make his Masters debut in six weeks. The tournament itself is making a debut of sorts, as the pandemic has moved the Augusta National celebration from spring to fall for the first time in event history. How the course will play in autumn is somewhat of a mystery. A mystery Munoz, accidentally, passed on discovering.

Speaking to the media ahead of this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship where he will defend his Reveille the Rooster trophy, Munoz was asked if he’s visited Augusta National in preparation for the 2020 Masters. Munoz responded in the affirmative; in fact, he visited last November. So he has an idea of the beast that awaits this time of the year, right?

Well, not quite.

“It was cold,” Munoz said. “Like I remember I booked for two days, so the first day it was gorgeous. I played like around noon or a little later. It was like 70, 65 [degrees]. It was just long that time, but they told me it was playing different in April. And then the next morning I had an 8:00 a.m. tee time and I looked at the weather and it showed like 45 or 50 [degrees], and I’m like, ‘Ugh, I’m not going to play since it’s not going to be this cold at that time of the year,’ so I didn’t play because it was going to be too cold.”

Whoops.

Luckily, it wasn’t a total lost cause for Munoz, as he did gain some sense of the punches Augusta will throw.

“It surprised me hitting 3-iron on 11 for my second shot. It surprised me when I hit, I think I hit 5-iron on 10,” Munoz said. “I did get on in two on 15 with a 4-iron, so that was good. And also 18, like I think I didn’t reach the first left bunker, which they told me was in play, but I think I didn’t reach. Yeah, it was just playing longer. They told me, yeah, I should expect to play shorter distance, but it does play longer.”

Munoz, who made cut at the U.S. Open and finished T-59, will begin his title defence at 1:55 p.m. on Thursday with Corey Conners and Ryan Armour.

The post This PGA Tour winner’s Masters preparation accidentally backfired appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

So it looks like I was wrong to nearly break my TV when the Giants drafted him No. 6 overall. And now, Big Blue should be in good hands for the next 15 years! Back! Of course, it was just one game. Against the Bucs. And a decade ago I was just as excited about Anthony Kim. Sigh. Anyway, golf fans are still in good hands with everything else happening, even as we officially march into fall. Let’s get to it.

WE’RE BUYING

Danny Willett: I will always have a soft spot in my heart (and wallet) for this guy who won me a cool $650 as a 65-to-1 long shot at the 2016 Masters, but now he has a lot more fans following his recent resurgence. Following a missed cut at the 2018 BMW PGA—before the European Tour’s flagship event moved from May to September—Willett fell to No. 462 in the Official World Golf Ranking, losing his game for a variety of reasons, including back problems. But after his impressive win at Wentworth on Sunday, the 31-year-old is all the way back up to No. 31 and flashing the same form that won him that green jacket. What a great story.

Harry Trump

Sebastian Munoz: A maiden PGA Tour title is always a great story as well, but especially when it comes from someone who nearly lost his tour card less than two months ago. But after finishing No. 124 on the final FedEx Cup points list, Munoz won’t need to worry about losing his job for essentially the next three seasons. The 26-year-old Colombian became the second consecutive Latin American golfer to win to begin the 2019-’20 season and he did it thanks to this clutch 72nd-hole birdie that got him into a playoff with reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Sungjae Im:

The putt of Sebastian Munoz's life? ?

He made this 15-foot birdie to force a playoff at the Sanderson Farms Championship. pic.twitter.com/BqNYtwdWWv

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) September 22, 2019

After winning on the first extra hole with a par, it was time to hoist the coveted rooster trophy, which Munoz told us on the Golf Digest Podcast is a lot heavier than it looks!

Sam Greenwood

Nelly Korda: A week after a spectacular showing at the Solheim Cup where she went 3-0-1 in defeat, Korda dusted the field at the French Ladies Open by eight shots. Korda didn’t take home a rooster trophy, but considering she’s just 21 and ranked in the top 10, there is a lot more hardware in her future.

Tristan Jones/LET

Hanging out with Pat Perez: Check out this dinner bill for four people at the MGM Grand Las Vegas’ Craftsteak:

Nearly 10 Gs before tip? A $4,000 bottle of wine?! A $15 dollar side of broccoli?! This is a man who lives life to the fullest.

WE’RE SELLING

Danny Willett’s rain gear: Lost amid the feel-good comeback story of golf’s Danny Dimes was the fact that Willett looked ridiculous on Sunday:

Andrew Redington

Sorry, but someone had to say it. I still love you, Danny!

American golf: The Ryder Cup? Lost. The Solheim Cup? Lost. For the first time since 2008, the first two events of the PGA Tour season were won by non-Americans. And the U.S. Mid-Amateur even saw its first-ever non-American winner in Australian Lukas Michel. Welp. It’s not just the British coming. EVERYONE is coming. At least we still have the Presidents Cup. For now.

Tony Romo’s “dilemma”: Much has been made this week about Romo potentially missing his Sunday CBS game (Boomer Esiason is waiting in the wings) because he’s playing in this week’s Safeway Open, but let’s be real: There’s a better chance booth partner Jim Nantz isn’t at Bears/Vikings because he’s hosting a wine tasting in Napa than Romo not making it because he made the cut at a PGA Tour event.

Christian Petersen

This will be Romo’s fourth PGA Tour start and third of 2019. The guy nearly plays as much as Tiger Woods.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to lovely Napa for the Safeway Open, AKA that tournament where they give out a trophy in the shape of a wine barrel. It’s no rooster, of course, but it’s pretty good. This is also the event that Brendan Steele won two years in a row before Kevin Tway stopped Steele’s reign of terror last year.

Random tournament fact: The event is contested at Silverado Resort’s North course, which was redesigned in 2011 by Johnny Miller, who shot a final-round 63 to win the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont. Little-known fact.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Tony Romo will win the Safeway Open: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Tony Romo will make the cut at the Safeway Open: 10,000-to-1 odds

—Tony Romo still would outperform half the current starting QBs in the NFL: LOCK (It’s a sad crop right now. Other than my man Danny Dimes, of course.)

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Joshua Kelley has given us some mind-blowing trick shots throughout the years, but this might be his best work yet:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2kZeXVA9du/

He won’t top this until at least next week.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Wow, what a feeling! Chuffed to have won the iconic #BMWPGA on home soil ? Great to have my family there to celebrate as well ? pic.twitter.com/QtekmwSPWr

— Danny Willett (@Danny_Willett) September 22, 2019

Chuffed! Love some good British slang. Need to start incorporating that one.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Joel Dahmen’s caddie, Geno Bonniale, sent this lovely poem to his wife:

Happy anniversary, wife. pic.twitter.com/gOGZs30tVR

— Geno Bonnalie (@GenoBonnalie) September 22, 2019

So sweet!

RANDOM, BOLD TWEET OF THE YEAR

Congrats @jsmunozgolf , so happy for you and your family! I never thought I would see you so happy holding a big black cock. https://t.co/SqSmhbn0xb

— Gonzalo Fdez-Castaño (@gfcgolf) September 22, 2019

Wow. I’m not, um, touching that. . .

THIS WEEK IN TOUR PRO PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Check out the reaction by Sebastian Munoz’s girlfriend, Daniela Granados:

His girlfriend was jumping for joy in the background.

Happy days @Sanderson_Champ for @JSMunozGolf.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/a2SR8CN9Re

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 22, 2019

She’s got hops! And of course, the couple had a nice victory smooch:

Marianna Massey

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

First, the five-time major champ had his calves praised by six-time Super Bowl champ Tom Brady:

The Phil Mickelson Method… for jacked calves? Sign me up. https://t.co/HFYFGltplp

— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) September 19, 2019

And then Mickelson shared yet another photo that shows his much-improved physique:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2xIOSjAKgH/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=dlfix

Seriously, what is going on?! The dude looks fantastic.

THIS AND THAT

Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, and Hideki Matsuyama will compete in GolfTV’s “The Challenge: Japan Skins” on Oct. 21. I know I sound like a company man hyping this event, but sign me up! . . . Veteran caddie Tony Navarro turned down working for Tiger Woods in 1999 out of loyalty to Greg Norman. Sounds like Tony is a great guy, but guessing he probably regrets that decision. . . . Phil Mickelson and Stephen Curry will play together in Wednesday’s Safeway Open Pro-Am. I wonder if Phil will challenge Steph to wind sprints in between holes. . . . And finally, this is what happens when you work with someone too much:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2xKXFXl-ZX/?utm_source=ig_embed

Either that, or we just started #NationalDressLikeYourBossDay.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

How many tournaments will Phil MickelSLIM win?

How many Super Bowls will Daniel Jones win?

Who wore it better? (Just kidding. Obviously, me.)

The post Danny Willett’s remarkable resurgence, Pat Perez’s eye-popping dinner bill, and Tony Romo’s golf dilemma appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Quite the fortnight for Latin American golf.

“[Joaquin] winning last week was kind of like the last piece of the puzzle that I needed to know that we’re good enough, we’re able to compete,” Munoz said after his playoff victory over Sungjae Im at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss. “That we’re here, we’re PGA Tour members, and we play to win.”

For decades, Latin American athletes have been making a mark in Major League Baseball, and in more recent years the NBA.

They are starting to more in golf, too. And it hasn’t been an accident.

Golf has always been a global game, but in recent years the PGA Tour has looked to expand its footprint in Latin America, most notably with the launch of PGA Tour Latinoamerica in 2012. The top five finishers on the developmental circuit’s Order of Merit each season earn status on the Korn Ferry Tour (formerly the Web.com Tour), with the money leader fully exempt. Players finishing sixth through 50th retain Latinoamerica status for the next season as they try to work their way toward the PGA Tour

Munoz was one of those players.

After turning pro in 2015, Munoz won twice on the Latinoamerica’s Developmental Series, which exempted him into the first half of the 2016 PGA Tour Latinoamerica season. Playing on a sponsor’s exemption in the Club Colombia Championship in his hometown of Bogota on the Web.com Tour, though, Munoz earned a Web.com card and went on to end the season 22nd on that tour’s money list to earn a PGA Tour card for 2017-’18.

Once there, he proved he belonged. Eventually.

At The Greenbrier in his rookie year, Munoz opened with a 61 and led by two during the last round before finishing third. Even so, he failed to keep his card that season and returned to the Web.com. Once there, he was buoyed by two runner-up finishes and a third-place performance en route to a 12th-place finish on the money list to again get back to the PGA Tour for 2018-’19.

This time, he took advantage of the opportunity.

Though he missed nine cuts in 25 starts, Munoz did register five top-10s, including a T-9 at the Barbasol Championship followed by an 11th-place finish at the Barracuda Championship. Needing to survive the cut at the season-ending Wyndham Championship to have a chance at retaining his card, he did, finishing T-48, which was good enough to end the season 124th in the FedEx Cup standings and make the Playoffs for the first time.

Then came this week in Mississippi.

Coming off a T-7 at the season-opening Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, Munoz shot a third-round 63 to take a one-shot lead into the final round at the Country Club of Jackson, a course where he’d made his first career start as a member of the tour in 2016, tying for 35th.

RELATED: What’s the greatest round in PGA Tour history?

On Sunday, Munoz fared a little better. He poured in a 15-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole to force a playoff with Im, the reigning PGA Tour rookie of the year, then beat him on the first extra hole with a par on the 18th.

“I was lucky enough to keep my focus on 18,” Munoz said. “When I had that big putt, I was just thinking about striking it and not the perks, how my life could change and things like that.”

Marianna Massey/Getty Images
Munoz kisses his girlfriend Daniela Granados after winning the Sanderson Farms Championship in a sudden-death playoff to earn his first PGA Tour title.

The spoils are bountiful: A trip to Maui for the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions, invites to the Masters, PGA Championship and Players, and job security on the PGA Tour through 2022.

And to think it might have never happened.

When Munoz was 15, he’d become frustrated with golf and he got discouraged with his game. The possibility of going to the United States to continue his education, however, provided a boost. He got a scholarship to the University of North Texas, where he met Carlos Ortiz, a junior at the time.

“The first couple years I had the talent but didn’t put the hard work at it,” said Munoz, who grew up on a rubber-tree farm in Colombia and planned to go into the family business. “I never really thought I was going to be a PGA Tour professional.”

Then he watched Ortiz win three times on the Web.com Tour and make his way to the PGA Tour.

“I’m like, ‘Wait. I know he’s good, but I can compete with him,’ ” Munoz said. “So in a sense he kind of made me believe and realize that I’m just as good and I could do it as well.”

Just as other Latin Americans whom had come before him had proved inspirational to future generations—from Roberto De Vicenzo to Angel Cabrera to Eduardo Romero to Villegas, to Jhonattan Vegas.

Now Niemann and Munoz are winners, the first two Latin American golfers to win in consecutive weeks in PGA Tour history. Ortiz, who was in contention down the stretch in Mississippi, tied for fourth.

“Life works in weird ways,” Munoz said. “I never thought this was going to be my path, but here I am.”

The post Feeding off one another’s success, Latin American golfers are becoming a new force on the PGA Tour appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
For the last five years, and six of the last eight, the Sanderson Farms Championship has produced a first-time PGA Tour winner. That trend doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon.

On Saturday at the Country Club of Jackson, Colombia’s Sebastián Munoz shot the round of the week, a nine-under 63 that vaulted him to the top of the leader board at 16-under 200. Munoz, who is playing in just his 47th event on tour, is looking for his first victory. He has won before as a pro, once on the Korn Ferry Tour at the Colombia Championship in his home country and two other times worldwide.

Munoz played alongside former University of North Texas teammate Carlos Ortiz, and, not surprisingly, the two fed off each other.

“It was pretty comfortable, I’ve played with him quite a while. He made birdies, I made birdies. It was good vibes from the beginning,” said Munoz.

The duo combined for 14 birdies and one eagle, which came from Ortiz. Munoz has flashed on leader boards in the past few seasons, including finishing T-3 at The Greenbrier in 2017 and T-7 at The Greenbrier a week ago.

“It made me feel like I’m close, I’m close here again. Ready for another great day Sunday,” Munoz said.

Ortiz, 28, is also looking for his first tour victory. He’s at 15-under 201, one back of Munoz. They’ll play in the final group on Sunday in Mississippi.

Two back is Byeong Hun An, who opted to play the Sanderson over the BMW PGA Championship this week despite being a former winner of the European Tour event. Of all the players at the top of the leader board, An has come closest to a tour victory, losing twice in a playoff at the 2016 Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the 2018 Memorial Tournament, but he too he still in search of a maiden win.

Lurking at 13-under 203 is 45-year-old Cameron Percy, who is also winless on the PGA Tour.

The post Sebastián Munoz in line for first PGA Tour victory appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.