Of course I would have liked to see Bill Haas win the Bob Hope either with a 6-foot putt on the final regulation hole or in the three-way playoff, because Aynor grad Michael Maness is his caddie. But Jhonny Vegas is another great story in golf, not to mention an awesome name/nickname.
The first Venezuelan to win on the PGA Tour, Jhonattan Vegas first learned to play with sticks and stones while growing up in an oil-drilling camp. His victory could do a lot to reinvigorate golf in his country, where president Hugo Chavez has criticized the game as a sport of elitists and has closed six courses in the past seven years, according to published reports.
Vegas has expressed a desire to speak with Chavez in the hopes of changing his mind.
As a child, Vegas imitated the swing of his father, Carlos, who sold food and looked after a nine-hole course in the oil camp. It’s always been a dream of Carlos’ to attend the Masters, and he’ll be there as a guest of his son in April. The win earned Vegas an invitation to the year’s first major.
“I know it's a dream that my dad and I guess my American friends have to go to the Masters, just to walk around. That's kind of what they told me,” Vegas said in a press conference following his win. “It's like, ‘Before I die, just please get me to the Masters.’ So I just got to thank God one more time for making that happen.”
