The Five: Mexican players to follow at Mexico Open at Vidanta

The PGA TOUR makes its first international stop of the 2024 season, heading south of the border to the Mexico Open at Vidanta this week.

Eight Mexicans will be in the field, though only one is a PGA TOUR member. That sets the stage for a possibly historic underdog story. Ahead of first-round play, here’s a look at some hometown players that could make an impact.

1. Raul Pereda

Pereda returns to the Mexico Open at Vidanta following his memorable PGA TOUR debut at this event a year ago. He was in fourth place after one round, then holed out from 249 yards for an eagle on his seventh hole of the second round. He made another eagle in the final round after his tee shot on the 297-yard seventh stopped 2 feet from the hole but could not sustain his play. He started the final round inside the top 20 but finished T60 after a final-round 76.

Pereda played that week on a sponsor exemption. This year, he will proudly play as the only active PGA TOUR member from Mexico. A fact he hopes won’t last more than a year.

“How would you feel when you are only player of an entire country achieving a dream?” said Pereda, who earned his card through Q-School presented By Korn Ferry. “I want them to come meet me on the PGA TOUR and join me on the PGA TOUR. And I want to have my all my friends and fellow Mexican players share that scenario.”

Pereda has missed the cut in his two PGA TOUR starts this season (The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open).

2. Santiago De la Fuente

De la Fuente, 22, is the reigning winner at the Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC). The University of Houston senior is playing this week in the Mexico Open at Vidanta for the second time, and the All-American has exemptions into the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship thanks to his LAAC victory.

After two years at Arkansas Tech, where he played on an NCAA Division II national title team, De la Fuente earned a scholarship to Houston. Last season, he earned honorable mention All-American honors, a first for the Cougars since 2016, and posted the team’s low scoring average of 70.71 with 26 rounds of par or better, 13 of which were in the 60s. He’s ranked 38th in the latest PGA TOUR University Ranking.

3. Omar Morales

Morales had a taste of the spotlight at the 2023 U.S. Open, where he carded a front-nine 32 on Thursday to take an early lead. The lead didn’t last, but the experience served the UCLA junior well.

Morales, 20, had quite the bookends to his sophomore season at UCLA. He finished second-to-last in the first event of the season and won his final start. Despite finishing 89th out of 90 competitors at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, he ended the year as the team’s highest-ranked player (finishing 241st in Golfweek’s final ranking).

He won the first title of his collegiate career at the El Macero Classic after shooting career-low 67s in the final two rounds. Three of his five sub-70 rounds this season came in that event, as he shot 69-67-67 to win. He posted a 70.7 scoring average in the final five events of the season.

Morales missed the cut at last year’s Mexico Open. He shot 74-67 to miss the cut by one.

“That first day, I looked too many times (at the leaderboard),” Morales told Golf Channel. “I was 1-over through seven holes, nine back of the lead, and I was getting mad at myself and didn’t realize I was playing all the hard holes. Just focusing on what I can do is most important.”

4. Alvaro Ortiz

This week’s Mexico Open at Vidanta is the tournament’s third iteration as a PGA TOUR stop. Before that, the event was a mainstay on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and Ortiz was the event’s last winner before the transition. Ortiz won the 2021 Mexico Open by three shots.

Ortiz was a decorated amateur. He won the 2019 Latin America Amateur Championship for his fourth top-three in five starts at the event. He became the first Mexican to play in the Masters since Victor Regalado in 1979 and went on to make the cut. He finished one shot back of low amateur Viktor Hovland.

After finishing his final round at Augusta National Golf Club, Ortiz was about to drive down Magnolia Lane when he realized Tiger Woods was coming up the 17th with potential history in the making. He turned his car around, parked and went to No. 18. He stood behind the TV to watch Woods come in.

“That was the cherry on the cake for me to finish my Masters week," he said. "The whole experience is something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”

Ortiz spent one season on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022 before he lost his card. He re-earned it through his finish at the Final Stage of Q-School presented by Korn Ferry last December.

5. Roberto Diaz

Diaz has plenty of PGA TOUR golf on his resume. The 37-year-old held TOUR status from 2017-19 and made 48 starts. He has spent the last several years aiming to get back there.

Diaz earned his first Korn Ferry Tour victory at the 2021 Chitimacha Louisiana Open during the 2020-21 combined season, which saw him finish No. 29 in the Korn Ferry Tour Points List. His victory came in his 13th year as a professional and in his 194th start in a PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour or PGA TOUR Latinoamérica event. Diaz is currently a full member on the Korn Ferry Tour.