Tour de las Américas History

The concept of an organized golf tour for professionals in Latin America has been around for decades. An older generation still has vivid memories of watching young prospects full of potential compete in various Latin American countries on the former “Caribbean Tour” (Gira del Caribe). Played in the late 70’s and early 80’s, this tour served as a battleground for golf stars such as Curtis Strange, Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo, Sam Torrance, and Sandy Lyle among others.

Many tournaments in this era were highly prestigious, attracting renowned players, such as Arnold Palmer, Seve Ballesteros, Tony Jacklin, Lee Trevino, and Jerry Pate. These players would come to compete against the best of the continent, including Argentina’s Roberto de Vicenzo, Eduardo Romero and Vicente Fernandez, Brazil’s Priscillo Diniz and Mario Gonzalez, Mexico’s Ernesto Perez Acosta and Colombia’s Alberto Rivadeneira. However, due to the lack of coherent organization amongst the different entities that managed the sport in each country, the lifespan of this Tour was brief, and the golf fans in Latin America were soon deprived of the pleasures of the highest level of golf in their respective countries. Only a few tournaments a year, such as the traditional Argentina Open and the popular Mexico Open were able to attract respectable fields and provide top-level entertainment to the spectators.

South American Tour (1991-1999)

In the early 90’s, the concept of a South American Tour was revived by a few stalwarts who believed in the future of golf in their continent. They decided to schedule their respective national tournaments in sequential weeks so as to accommodate to the traveling needs of players and therefore attract better fields. In 1991 the new South American Tour was launched with a schedule that included the Los Inkas Peru Open, the Barquisimeto Open in Venezuela, the Litoral Open in Rosario, Argentina, and the Prince of Wales Open in Chile. A year later other countries such as Colombia, Ecuador and Argentina decided to add their national opens to the schedule.

By 1993 the South American Tour was staging events in almost every country of South America. This era, lasting until 1999, saw the emergence of many great South American players that have gone on to become established stars and champions on the main tours today. The South American Tour was the launching arena for present talents such as Argentina’s Angel Cabrera, a two-time major champion after his victories at the 2007 US Open and the 2009 Masters Tournament; Paraguay’s Carlos Franco, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, where he collected Rookie of the Year honors in 1999; as well as Argentina’s Jose Coceres, twice a winner on the PGA Tour, and Ricardo Gonzalez, a four-time champion on the European Tour.

Other players emerging from the South American Tour include former European Tour members Jorge Berendt and Gustavo Rojas from Argentina, former members of the Nationwide Tour Paraguayans Raul Fretes and Angel Franco, as well as the five-time winner on the Japanese Tour and a PGA Tour member in 2002 Eduardo Herrera from Colombia.

Tour de las Americas (2000-2006)

In 1999 the World Sport Group acquired the commercial rights of the South American Tour and formed the Tour de las Americas (TLA), a professional golf tour that now covered all of Latin America and the Caribbean. The TLA stages tournaments throughout the entire region, from Mexico to Argentina. The key to the newly formed TLA was the multi-media coverage that the tour could provide, a concept highlighted in a one hour TV show originally aired on the Pan-American Sports Network (PSN). The show then moved on to ESPN Latin America and is currently broadcasted by The Golf Channel Latin America. This factor, plus a pro-active web page and close relationship with the media in every country, allows each TLA tournament significantly increased regional and international exposure.

The mission of the TLA has been to transform Latin American golf from a collection of individually staged events into a professionally managed Tour modeled upon the highly successful golf tours of the United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The goal of the TLA is to provide a solid and expansive platform for Latin American professional golf. From this platform, the region’s golfers are offered unprecedented playing opportunities, serving to improve their skills and allowing them to achieve an exciting and challenging career path within the sport.

The TLA’s growth in its first two seasons has been tremendous. The 2000-2001 season featured seven tournaments in five countries and more than 80 Tour members, while the 2001-2002 season staged sixteen events in eleven countries and had over 200 Tour members coming from countries such as Japan, USA, Canada, Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Sweden, Finland, plus every country in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the time, the interest of Latin American fans experienced a major boost and thrill as Argentina and Paraguay finished second and third respectively at the 2000 EMC World Cup in Argentina – won by the USA’s Tiger Woods and David Duval.

In 2002 the Parallel Media Group assumed responsibility for the commercial activities of Tour de las Americas. By early 2003 the TLA had organized 33 events in 17 countries throughout the region for total prize money of more than $3 million dollars and provided competitive opportunities to professional golfers from 25 nations from around the world. These events included such prestigious and historic tournaments as the Argentine Open, the Brazil Open, the Venezuela Open, the Peru Open and the World Cup South American Qualifier, an event organized by the TLA on behalf of the International Federation of PGA Tours since 2002.

During the early part of 2003, the Tour established its first co-sanction events with the PGA European Challenge Tour to play three tournaments in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama. The success of such series of co-sanctioned events is still going strong and has allowed the new up-and-coming TLA stars a smoother transition into the next stage. Adding to it growth, in 2003 the TLA announced American Express as its new title sponsor. American Express served as the TLA’s title sponsor for the remainder of the 2003 season and the entire 2004 season.

The Tour de las Americas matured over the following two years, receiving support from The R&A and celebrating Argentina’s Cesar Monasterio on becoming its first member to win a European Tour title at the 2006 Aa St Omer Open. Monasterio’s victory was only a preview of what turned out to be a breakthrough 2007 season, both on and off the golf course.

Tour de las Americas (2007 to the present)

A major step was taken at the beginning of 2007, as the PGA of the Americas (PGALA), which owns and manages the Tour de las Americas under the direction of Commissioner Henrique Lavie, reacquired the exclusive commercial rights of the Tour de las Americas from the London-based Parallel Media Group (PMG).

Great news kept coming as the International Federation of PGA Tours announced on July 30, 2007 that the Tour de las Americas had joined the Federation under the Associate Membership category. Speaking on behalf of the Federation, PGA Tour Commissioner Timothy W. Finchem said, “It is a pleasure to welcome the Tour de las Americas to Associate Membership in the Federation. The TLA continues to make significant strides in developing a very solid competitive schedule and is producing an increasing number of outstanding players. The Federation looks forward to this new affiliation for TLA.”

The achievements of the TLA front office were matched by the players on the course during a brilliant 2007 season that had Latin America celebrating Angel Cabrera’s win at the US Open, our region’s first major champion since Roberto De Vicenzo won the 1967 British Open Championship. As if Cabrera’s success wasn’t enough, three other players who emerged from the TLA went on to collect European Tour victories that same season: Ariel Cañete at the Joburg Open in South Africa, Daniel Vancsik at the Madeira Islands Open in Portugal and Andres Romero at the TPC of Europe in Germany.

The European Tour titles earned by four former TLA members between 2006 and 2007 came as a result of the opportunities provided by the events the TLA co-sanctioned with the European Challenge Tour. Argentina’s Andres Romero, twice a winner during his 2003 TLA Rookie of the Year season, definitely serves as one of the best examples of the career opportunities ahead of a new generation of Latin American stars. It took him only six season to turn from 2003 TLA Rookie of the Year into 2008 PGA Rookie of the Year. His rise to the top featured a third place finish at the 2007 British Open, which he followed with wins at the 2007 TPC of Europe and at the PGA Tour’s 2008 Zurich Classic.

Besides Romero, there were two other Latin American winners on the top Tours during the 2008 season. Chile’s Felipe Aguilar went on the win the European Tour’s Indonesia Open, while Colombia’s Camilo Villegas finally proved his star power by winning the last two events of the PGA Tour’s Playoffs for the FedEx Cup: The BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. Although Aguilar and Villegas are not TLA products, their success has added to the impact of golf in there nations and across the region.

The accomplishments of these young men encouraged many others to reach for the stars, with other former TLA stars such as Rafael Echenique and Estanislao Goya having an impact on the European Tour. As the 2008 TLA Order of Merit winner, a season in which he also claimed TLA Rookie and Player of the Year honors, Goya went on to become the fastest to win on the European Tour with a victory at the Madeira Islands Open BPI – Portugal in March of 2009.

Going back to the end of the 2008 season, the Tour de las Americas had already co-sanctioned a record of 26 events with the European Challenge Tour. Although the ties with the Europeans remain strong, as the TLA strived to find new horizons and benefits to its players, a new partnership emerged with the Canadian Tour. As a result, the TLA and the Canadian Tour co-sanctioned its first series of three events ever in Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica.

Finally, Latin American golf seems to have no limits if the opportunities arise, as proven once again by Argentina’s Angel Cabrera. The former South American Tour star made the dreams of our region’s golfers and fans come true on April 12 as he won the 2009 Masters Tournament at Augusta National. His stunning win on a two-hole playoff awarded him a second career major championship for a record unique among our region’s greatest players of all-time. Definitely the future of Latin American golf is as bright as we can imagine!

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