PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The steam-covered shower door became Marcelo Rozo’s makeshift vision board. Hours before the most important round of his life, he traced his finger through the condensation to spell out his dream:
PGA Tour member ’26.
“I was telling myself that it was going to happen,” said Rozo, the 36-year-old Colombian who’s spent over a decade chasing golf’s biggest stage. “It was my day, and I was built for this, that I’ve worked literally my entire life for this moment.”
On Sunday afternoon, Rozo delivered. A clutch par on the final hole at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley course capped a gritty 1-under 69 in windy conditions, securing his first PGA Tour card.
When his short putt dropped, erasing years of heartbreak, Rozo unleashed a powerful uppercut as emotion poured out. Amid a flurry of hugs, he briefly looked skyward, tears catching the setting sun, before pulling his hat brim over his eyes. This moment was for his late grandfather, Vicente Falaschini, an Argentine golf professional who first taught him the game before passing in 2004. It was also for Mateo, Rozo’s oldest brother and aspiring college golfer whose discipline inspired him. Mateo died from surgical complications when Marcelo was just 11, days before Mateo’s 20th birthday.
After Mateo’s death, Rozo’s other brother quit golf. But Marcelo played on, first in Latin junior circuits, then at D-II Lynn University before turning pro in 2012. He won three times on PGA Tour Latinoamerica and earned Korn Ferry Tour status in 2019.
Though Rozo maintained his KFT card, a serious wrist injury nearly ended his career. After months of unsuccessful rehab, he underwent surgery in December 2022 to repair a triangular fibrocartilage complex tear in his left wrist. It took nine months before he could even hit a chip, and the pain was excruciating.
“It’s really a blessing that I’m playing,” Rozo said. “I love this game, but I thought I was never going to come back.”
During his recovery, Rozo and his wife Manuela welcomed their first child, Lorenzo. With a growing family, he considered career changes. He got his real estate license and tried broadcasting. But Manuela wouldn’t let him quit.
“She’s my rock,” Rozo said. “There were a couple years there where she took everything on her shoulders when golf wasn’t working out for me.”
Rozo returned to competition in late 2023 but struggled, making only eight cuts and finishing 128th on the KFT points list. That’s when he called his countryman and idol, Camilo Villegas, the five-time PGA Tour winner. With Villegas’ guidance, Rozo pushed ahead, finishing 45th in points this year to secure his full KFT card for 2026.
“He just kept believing,” Villegas said. “At the end of the day, that’s the message for everybody; you’ve just got to keep believing.”
Villegas, who practiced with Rozo before Q-School and shared accommodations at Nico Echavarria’s home, saw Rozo’s potential firsthand. Rozo surged into contention with a second-round 64 on Friday at Dye’s Valley, followed by a late birdie barrage on Saturday at Sawgrass Country Club, where he birdied Nos. 15-17 to card a 65 and grab a share of the 54-hole lead with Ben Kohles.
On Sunday morning, Villegas sensed Rozo’s nerves before he left for his tee time.
“I was already stretching,” Rozo recalled, “and he came down and just told me, ‘Hey, you’re going to feel it’s going to get away from you at some point. For sure, it’s going to happen. Just know that you’ve just got to keep fighting until the end.'”
Despite talks with Villegas and his coaches, something still didn’t feel right.
“I’m like, man, I’ve got something – I’ve got some type of knot here in my chest,” Rozo said. “I’ve got to let it out.”
He went upstairs and cried.
“Emotions were running,” Rozo said. “I told myself, you have to see the emotions, recognize them, hug them, and then just move on because they’re there.”
Throughout the final round, Rozo’s mind kept drifting to the future. Each time, he’d look down at his feet and tell himself, bring it back. Avoiding leaderboards, he didn’t realize he was slipping with two bogeys and no birdies on his front nine. But he rallied with birdies on Nos. 10, 14, and 15 – the latter coming from a brilliant approach in difficult wind. After a disappointing par on the par-5 16th, he finally checked his position: one shot inside a potential playoff.
This wasn’t Rozo’s first brush with high-pressure moments. In 2019, he lost a Korn Ferry Tour playoff to a young pro named Scottie Scheffler. Had Rozo won that day, he likely would’ve earned his PGA Tour card then.
“He crossed my mind…,” Rozo said. “I’m glad I get to see him again.”
Rozo felt his heart pounding on the final tee as he prepared for what he called “the hardest tee shot I’ve ever hit in my career.” He chose 5-wood for safety, played away from the water left, and missed right, clipping a tree branch. From there, he managed to hit the green and two-putt for the clinching par.
“It was probably the hardest par I’ve ever made in my life,” Rozo said.
Manuela had driven up Sunday morning with Lorenzo to surprise her husband and was watching the broadcast on her phone behind the clubhouse. Villegas, who finished one shot out of the playoff after missing a short birdie on the last, sat beside them. When Rozo secured his card, Manuela screamed in excitement. As Rozo approached scoring in a cart, she jumped up and down while Lorenzo played with a stuffed Mickey Mouse doll. The family embraced in a tearful hug.
“As much as that short putt I missed on the last hurts, I think watching my peers accomplish their dreams and having this be a special day for Marcelo was pretty cool,” Villegas said. “I was pretty emotional. I had tears in my eyes.”
He wasn’t alone. Rozo choked up several times during his post-round interview. Asked what he knew about the PGA Tour, Rozo, who’s played just four events there, admitted he didn’t know much – only that he wanted to play on it. The journey has been tough, but realizing his dream made everything worthwhile.
His grandfather and brother Mateo weren’t there to witness this breakthrough, but Lorenzo was.
Rozo hopes his son someday takes away this:
“Nothing in life comes easy, but if you work, you can achieve anything you dream of.”
And as Sunday proved, it helps to write it down.
