Jose de Jesus

Rodriguez

The 41-year-old Mexican, whose 32 international titles include one KFT win (2018 United Leasing & Finance Championship) and four PGA Tour Latinoamerica victories, last had his PGA Tour card in 2018 and played full-time on the KFT last season, where he made 17 cuts in 32 starts with two top 10s. In four other KFT starts this season, he’s missed two cuts (Panama Championship, LECOM Suncoast Classic), but finished a respectable T-18 at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic and T-21 at the Astara Golf Championship. Rodriguez is in the field this week for the inaugural Lake Charles Championship at The Country Club at Golden Nugget in Lake Charles, La.

El Camarón is 3-for-8 at this event with a T38 in 2009 being the highlight. Despite the lackluster results, the 38-year-old from Mexico will be a fan favorite this week in Playa del Carmen. Rodriguez had to rely on a sponsor’s invite this week after he finished 177th in the FedExCup race last season (10-for-23 with three top 25s). This will be his first start of the new season and first event since three straight top 35s in the Korn Ferry Tour finals left his three shots shy of regaining his PGA TOUR card.

El Camarón is playing his first full season as a PGA TOUR member and went 2-for-5 during the fall schedule (T41 at the Shriners being the best). The 37-year-old from Mexico made headlines this week when Alan Shipnuck wrote about his unlikely journey into the world of golf. Perhaps all the attention from that article is fueling his fire this week because today is the first time (in 14 career events) that he’s positioned himself inside the top 10 after any round on the PGA TOUR. Rodriguez pelted 15 greens and then gained 2.502 strokes putting. He will continue to be a fan favorite anytime he pegs it.

Rodriguez, also known as Camarón which translates to Shrimp, was 12-for-24 on the Web.com Tour last year. That included a victory at the United Leasing & Finance Championship. Before this season, seven of his eight PGA TOUR appearances had come at the Mayakoba Golf Classic (2-for-8 in those events). Last week he posted a T63 at the Sanderson Farms Championship but he lost strokes in all sub-categories of strokes gained except for around-the-green (+1.4 SG:ARG). Shrimp is a fun golfer to root for but there is no reason for gamers to invest in weekly leagues.

This isn’t just a token invite, as he leads the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica’s Order of Merit. Given that he is a native of México, he should quickly find himself to be a local fan favorite.

It was always going to be hard to replicate his opening-round 63, so just breaking 70 was more than acceptable in his second navigation of Ashburn Golf Club. Rodriguez began his day on the 10th hole and bagged one birdie on the back before turning his attention to the front. After birdies at the fourth and sixth holes, he suffered his only bogey of the day at the par-4 seventh.

He was off to a dream start, backing up birdies on the second and fourth holes at Ashburn Golf Club with an ace at the par-3 fifth hole. He finished his front nine with with birdies at seven and nine. His 59 watch took a hit with a bogey at the par-4 11th, but he bounced back nicely with a birdie at the par-5 12th before concluding his round with an eagle at the par-5 17th. His 1.385 putting average tops the field. He’s made half of his 12 cuts on the Web.com Tour in 2014 season, ranking 68th on the money list with a T9 at the Chile Classic the highlight.

Rodríguez has twice made the cut at El Camaleón GC, with his T38 in 2009 serving as the highlight. He played a full Web.com Tour schedule in 2014, twice cracking the top 10. He tied for fifth in the 56-degree TransAmerican Power Products CRV Abierto Mexicano de Golf presentado por Heineken in his last start on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica.