Twenty years ago, Fred Funk nearly backed out of the first official PGA Tour event ever played in Mexico.
He had initially committed to play, a major coup for tournament director Larson Segerdahl, who had moved to Mexico in the summer of 2006 to launch an event scheduled for February 2007 opposite the World Golf Championships-Match Play Championship. Without access to the world's top 64 players, Segerdahl needed a proven star to lend credibility to what was then known as the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
Funk, a former Players Championship winner and one of the PGA Tour's most recognizable veterans, fit the bill perfectly.
But doubts crept in after a scouting report from his longtime caddie, Mark Long.
Segerdahl had hired Long, who also produced the yardage
books used by many PGA Tour players and caddies. After studying El Camaleón, the Greg Norman-designed course at Mayakoba Resort near Cancun, Long wasn't convinced it suited the shorter-hitting Funk.
On that recommendation alone, Funk called Segerdahl ready to withdraw.
“I've got to pick my spots and maybe this isn't one of them,” Funk recalled saying.
Fred Funk was promoted in first Mexico event
Segerdahl had already been promoting Funk's participation and did everything possible to change his mind.
“I remember being like, ‘We need you down here, Fred. I know what Mark's telling you, but don't take his word for it. Come see for yourself.’ And Fred, being the class act that he is, was open to that. He ended up coming down, and I don't think I could've scripted a better finish for the first event,” Segerdahl said.
Funk not only showed up, he delivered one of the most memorable finishes in tournament history.
He holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, then defeated Argentina's José Cóceres with a birdie on the second extra hole. At the par-3 10th, Funk's 5-iron drifted right of the flag toward the water, not exactly where he intended. But it settled safely, and he converted the winning putt for an improbable victory.
Funk was 50 years, 8 months and 12 days old when he went wire-to-wire to win the inaugural tournament, making him the fifth-oldest winner in PGA Tour history at the time.
His victory became a fitting metaphor for the tournament itself.
Many questioned whether a PGA Tour event could succeed in Mexico. Others wondered whether it would survive beyond its initial sponsorship agreement. Yet nearly everyone who took a chance on the event ultimately benefited from doing so.
Mexico event has grown stronger
Today, the tournament known as the World Wide Technology Championship is stronger than ever.
As the tournament celebrates its 20th anniversary, those who helped build it look back on a journey that exceeded anything they imagined possible when the inaugural event teed off in 2007.
What began as an ambitious experiment has evolved into one of Latin America's most significant golf events.
“It’s a fun reminder of how much the event has grown,” said Taylor Ives, executive vice president of events and consulting at Team, who has been involved in all 20 editions of the championship. He keeps a photo in his office of tournament staff surrounding Funk with the trophy from that inaugural event. “And how styles and hairlines have changed!”
When Brent Geiberger struck the opening tee shot at 6:40 a.m. on Feb. 22, 2007, the game of golf in Mexico took a giant step forward. Few remember where that first ball came to rest, but the moment marked a turning point.
For the first time, a full-field official PGA Tour event was contested outside the United States and Canada.
“It showed this isn't just a U.S. thing,” Segerdahl said. “It's for us too.”
Idea for Mexican event had been brewing
The idea of bringing a PGA Tour event to Mexico had circulated for years, but efforts repeatedly stalled. That changed when OHL, the developer of Mayakoba Resort in Mexico's Riviera Maya, embraced the concept at its Greg Norman-designed course near Playa del Carmen.
From the beginning, the Tour's goal was to help grow the game in Mexico by showcasing the world's best golfers.
In the event's earliest years, however, there were limited options when it came to awarding sponsor exemptions to Mexican players.
“The first year it was Esteban and who else can play?” recalled Joe Mazzeo, who has served as tournament director since 2013. “Now, it's one of the most challenging decisions we have to make because there are so many talented young Mexican players.”
Over the years, participation in golf and the depth of elite talent throughout Mexico and Latin America have grown dramatically.
“We now host multiple qualifiers allowing players to compete for select invitations to the event,” Mazzeo said. “In the earlier years, it tended to be many of the same players receiving the exemptions year after year. That's not the case any longer.”
Mexican representation has grown over years
In 2019, a record eight Mexican players competed in the 132-man field. Carlos Ortiz recorded the best finish by a Mexican player in tournament history, tying for second that year before finishing runner-up again in 2021.
Ortiz, Abraham Ancer, Oscar Fraustro, Raúl Pereda and Emilio González are among the Mexican players who have used opportunities such as these as stepping stones to higher levels of professional golf.
The World Wide Technology Championship also helped pave the way for broader growth throughout the region.
When the event debuted in 2007, professional golf opportunities in Mexico were limited. Since then, PGA Tour Americas has been created, the Latin America Amateur Championship was launched through a partnership of Augusta National, the R&A and the USGA, the PGA Tour added the Mexico Open, and multiple Korn Ferry Tour events have been staged throughout Latin America, including the Tulum Championship at PGA Riviera Maya.
“Witnessing golf's growth in Latin America at all levels serves as a reminder that this is far more than a one-week tournament,” Ives said. “And I look forward to celebrating our first Mexican champion at some point over the next 20 years.”
Adam Schupak joined Golfweek in 2006 and covers the PGA Tour, the business of golf, and enjoys contributing to golf travel and architecture.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: World Wide Technology Championship at 20: From bold gamble to lasting legacy
