On the shoulders of Nicolas Echavarría, a 30-year-old golfer with more talent than the numbers say – hence his two victories on the PGA Tour, the last one of great prestige at the Zozo -, Colombia returns with vigor to the headlines. The sport that has had Camilo Villegas as a star in the country, above all, but also Sebastián Muñoz, two winners on the big circuit, now celebrates the consolidation of Echavarría, solving the problems he had with the putter.
Ironically, Echavarría has gone to rise to prominence in Japan, the country that gave him difficult moments the first time he met it. “My first trip there with my friends (in 2014 in Karuizawa for the Amateur World Cup) was stressful. Lost in an unknown city, without knowing the language…”, he told the magazine of the Colombia Country Club, where he started in the game at the age of two and where he soon met Villegas, a confidant and advisor many times.
Both shared the same coach, Rogelio González, the largest institution in the past of a sport that now has 25,000 players. He won 127 tournaments and played on the PGA Tour, from which he was fired for having submitted the wrong card after a somewhat confusing evaluation. Those responsible considered that he had purposely falsified the result of the second round at the 1972 Greater New Orleans Open.
Echavarria on the last day
Echavarría was born in Medellín during the worst period, in 1994, the youngest of three brothers to whom his father and grandfather Jorge Enrique taught him and his brothers to play golf, especially Andrés, who was also in golf. high level in the PGA Latin America. With Emilio, his father, president of Valores Bancolombia, he won in 2010 the tournament he has the most affection for, the Farallones with that familiar tone tracing the steps that Andrés and Miguel, the elders of the saga, had previously achieved.
At that time, Nico, 15, was already a South American cadet champion, had won several national tournaments in lower categories and had in mind that he would be a professional. When questioned about this circumstance, the Colombian firmly acknowledges it. “It was September 8, 2008,” he told Abierto de Golf magazine. “Camilo Villegas won the BMW, his first PGA Tour tournament, and I got goosebumps. I remember saying to myself: if he who is my idol has achieved it, if I work hard I can too.” Then came the experience at the University of Arkansas, the jump to professionalism in 2017 and the time on the PGA Tour Latin America (two victories), the Korn Ferry Tour until reaching the big circuit.
Echavarria kisses his girlfriend Claudia after the victory
The Zozo champion will now enjoy the experience of playing the Augusta Masters for the first time, the fourth major of his career. Next week it will enter the world top 100 (it is 102), on the first page of the ranking. Where it has never been and where it should stay for a few years…
He looked so happy that he even allowed himself to joke when they reminded him that he had surpassed the score that Tiger Woods achieved in 2019, in his last victory so far. “It is an honor to win a tournament that Tiger has won. It is my second victory. I only have 80 left to equal it. I am on my way,” he said to the smiles of the journalists, while his parents were going to bed after having celebrated a of the most unforgettable nights of their lives.
