Roberto Diaz, 30, has secured a spot in next week's WGC-Mexico Championship via the Official World Golf Ranking as the highest-ranked player from Mexico as of Monday.
Diaz, who played college golf at the University of South Carolina-Aiken and now competes on the Web.com Tour, is ranked 472nd in the world. He lost in a playoff last week at the Club Colombia Championship, where he was the victim of some tough circumstances.
Ethan Tracy trailed Diaz by 2 strokes heading to the last hole, a par-5. From 101 yards, Tracy holed his third shot for an eagle, then defeated Diaz with a birdie on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. Diaz is currently fifth on the Web.com Tour money list after a tie for 19th on Sunday at the Panama Claro Championship. Last year, he finished 51st in earnings, with the top 25 automatically earning a PGA Tour card for the following season.
The tournament start at the lucrative World Golf Championship event will be just his fifth on the PGA Tour, the previous four all coming at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, a fall event played near Cancun.
The WGC-Mexico Championship will be contested in Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec beginning on March 2. The purse is $9.75 million with no cut, meaning every player is guaranteed a minimum of approximately $50,000.
