THE WOODLANDS - Esteban Toledo never managed a win on the PGA Tour. But if you know his story, you realize his simply getting there was a triumph for the ages.
But Toledo has never been content to be just a pro golfer. What he calls his "goals and dreams" are bigger than that. And Sunday, in a dramatic finish to the 10th Insperity Championship, they finally came to fruition. Can it possibly get any better for a man from Mexico than to win a title on Cinco de Mayo - especially when the man from Mexico had to come from seven strokes behind, then battle his way through a three-man, three-hole playoff?
There's also the promise Toledo made to his dying brother Mario just a couple of months ago. He told Mario he would win a tournament for him, which is why he said, "Winning on this day is the most incredible thing I've ever done."He celebrated Cinco de Mayo by becoming the first Mexican winner in Champions Tour history. Toledo was the youngest of 11 children, raised in a home with dirt floors and no indoor plumbing. He earned a few pesos as a lad by fishing golf balls out of water hazards and selling them back to golfers (see Growing up in Morton Grove). He was self taught at a driving range and shifted his career focus to golf when his professional boxing career was cut short by a bout of appendicitis.
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| Esteban Toledo gives praise in thanks of victory. |
Arriba, Arriba, Arriba!
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