PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Mark Wilson came south of the border to work. Although his job took him to a Mexican resort, and he stayed at a hotel near the beach, never once during the Mayakoba Golf Classic did he hear any mariachis play.
Not until the eight guys in sombreros and matching cream-colored suits were playing in his honor.
The co-leader after the second and third rounds, Wilson went ahead for good on the second hole Sunday, then held on through dark clouds and wild winds over the back nine to secure his second career PGA Tour victory.
“Holes that we saw earlier in the week hitting 3-wood and 8-iron into, we were hitting driver and 3-wood into,” said Wilson, who shot a final-round 68 and finished at 267, two stokes ahead of J.J. Henry. “It was definitely a different challenge.”
Wilson opened this tournament with a birdie and remained steady all week. He got to the 13th tee box leading Henry by three strokes, but was up only one by the time he tapped in for bogey on 14. Then he bogeyed 16, too.
Henry, however, was having just as tough of a time. He bogeyed 16 and 17, then turned up his palms in frustration when the wind grabbed his approach on 18. Although he parred the hole, it wasn’t enough. When Wilson’s approach on 18 landed on the back of the green, it was time to cue the mariachis.
“Once I hit the 3 wood, it was just pure joy,” Wilson said. “You know, you’re so nervous and you somehow pull off one of the best shots (of the) week. It’s just pure joy and satisfaction that the hard work went in and that you didn’t get overwhelmed by the situation and hit a good shot.”
Henry also shot 68 to finish alone in second at 269.
“(It was) extremely difficult, but it was the same for everybody,” said Henry, who still had his best finish since 2006.
Kevin Streelman, whose 64 was the low round Sunday, and Heath Slocum (67) tied for third at 270.
Bo Van Pelt, who started the day tied with Wilson, shot 76 to finish at 275 and tied for 15th.
At 5-foot-8, 145 pounds, Wilson fits the mold of the previous two winners of this event, Fred Funk and Brian Gay. Like the other little guys, he tamed the 6,923-yard, par-70 El Camaleon course by keeping tee shots in the fairways and mastering the speed of the greens.
“You’ve got to be a straight driver of the golf ball; it’s that type of course,” Wilson said. “It’s not a bomber’s paradise.”
Wilson’s only previous victory was at the Honda Classic in 2007, and it took winning a four-man playoff. But that wasn’t even the biggest story of that week. Wilson was on the verge of missing the cut when he took a two-stroke penalty because his caddy told another golfer in the group what club Wilson had hit on a hole, violating a rule about not giving advice. Technically it’s Rule 8-1, but it’s come to be known as the Mark Wilson Rule.
He had the same caddie this week and they bumped fists afterward.
“I’m glad the focus is more on my play and not something weird that happened on a Friday,” Wilson said.
Coincidentally, the Honda Classic is up next. Wilson is looking forward to keeping up the good play he discovered this week after struggling through five previous tournaments in 2009. He missed three cuts and was an also-ran the other two times.
“I was looking at going to Honda with my worst start in my career, now it’s the best start to the year,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
To try breaking out of his slump, Wilson spent last Sunday night visiting with putting guru Kevin Weeks. The instructor immediately saw that Wilson was lining up wrong, throwing his balance out of whack. To fix it, Wilson merely had to put his right foot a few inches wider.
“I’m going to call Kevin Weeks and tell him I’ll pay him in pesos,” said Wilson, who earned $648,000 — or about 9.4 million pesos.
Wilson also noted the putting change wasn’t necessarily the cure-all. He made another big breakthrough during the pro-am Tuesday.
“With five holes to go in the pro-am, I just thought, `Why don’t we take a thought of hitting it 80 percent all week?’ All of a sudden, the ball starting curving a little left, which I like,” Wilson said. “I kind of just went from there.”
Also Sunday, the head of tournament sponsor OHL, Juan Miguel Villar Mir, said he’s hopeful that within two years this tournament will get its own weekend on the PGA Tour calendar, instead of being overshadowed by the Accenture Match Play Championship. He said the global economic crunch could open up a spot and his company “would take that week immediately.”
“The PGA has told us we are in line,” Villar Mir said.
At the front?
“We hope so,” he said, adding that the purse would grow from $3.6 million if more of the world’s best players were here. “We would not have a problem putting the money up if we have our own week.”
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