This Win Is Magical in Mexico

Like most journeyman PGA Tour players, Esteban Toledo is accustomed to receiving minimal attention from fans.

The superstars attract the huge galleries, the swarms of autograph seekers and the media requests. The other guys labor in semi-anonymity, even during a successful year such as the one Toledo had in 2000, when he finished 69th on the money list with $673,000.

But Toledo got a taste of how golf’s royalty must feel last month when he won the Mexican Open by four strokes.

Thousands of fans lined fairways and surrounded greens for the final round at the Golf Club of Mexico near Mexico City, most no doubt pulling for Toledo, an Irvine resident who grew up in Mexicali, to become the first Mexican to win the national open since 1976.

Toledo needed security guards to clear a path for him to walk from hole to hole. The tournament was telecast throughout the country.

“The Mexican people were so excited that at least I had a chance to win it,” Toledo said.

Late in the final round, Toledo’s victory looked as if it could slip away. He started the day leading by three strokes over fellow PGA Tour pro Robin Freeman, but Freeman made five consecutive birdies to pull within two strokes at the par-three 16th hole.

Freeman’s tee shot on 16 was about a yard short of the green. Toledo’s was long, landing 30 feet above the hole and setting up a treacherous downhill putt with about four feet of break.

Toledo was only trying to get his putt close, but as the ball approached the hole, a roar started to build. And when it dropped, the usually low-key Toledo let loose.

“I threw my left hook and then my right hook,” he said, “because people know I used to be boxer. I got so excited I couldn’t hold my emotions. When I made the putt, I knew I had won the tournament.

“Now I know the feeling when Tiger Woods makes a putt.”

Toledo’s first-place check of $70,000 pales in comparison to the $216,000 he got for finishing second in the B.C. Open in July, but Toledo said winning was much more special. It was, after all, the first significant victory in a 15-year professional career.

“I heard one Mexican guy shout after I made the putt, ‘My gosh, we made history today, boys,’ “Toledo said.

TIGER CLINIC

Tiger Woods, who spent some of his formative years in the Long Beach junior golf program, will host a junior clinic and exhibition in the city April 14-15, the Tiger Woods Foundation announced last week.

Woods’ foundation will invite players from local junior golf organizations youth groups and after-school programs.