José who?

José Maria Olazabal, a two-time Masters champion, is also a long-time stalwart on the European Tour and a Ryder Cup veteran. José Maria Canizares plies his trade on the Senior PGA Tour circuit and has been a solid performer for several years.

But José Coceres? Just who is this guy?

Well, if anyone wondered who he was, Coceres certainly answered a lot of questions by capturing his second PGA Tour victory at the last week’s National Car Rental Golf Classic at Walt Disney World Resort. Not only did he prove his win in April at the Worldcom Classic --The Heritage of Golf was no fluke, but Coceres also showed that perseverance, hard work and patience will eventually pay off.

After all, here’s a guy who learned to play golf using branches and rocks in his native Argentina. His family was so poor that he had to live with 10 siblings and his parents in a two-bedroom home. He didn’t get his first set of clubs until he was 18, but now he has more Tour wins this year than David Duval, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Darren Clarke, all of whom are in the top 10 in the World Golf Ranking.

Coceres is this year’s equivalent of Carlos Franco, who experienced similar adversity in Paraguay and became a star on the PGA Tour with three wins in 1999 and 2000. In other words, José is the guy you want to root for week in and week out. That his victory came on Argentinian Mother’s Day made his effort that much sweeter.

Davis Love III shot 66 on Sunday and still lost by a stroke. That’s how good Coceres was down the stretch. His final round score of 68 was capped by making the nerve-racking six-foot par putt on 72nd hole to avoid a playoff.

Then again, to Coceres, having to make a six-foot putt for a win perhaps has never constituted pressure. To him, pressure was having no idea whether he would eat anything the whole day. Having gone through that and having now realized his potential as a capable professional golfer, Coceres sure won’t sweat the small stuff on the course.

Coceres’ presence also adds to already strong international flavour on the Tour this season. Fellow Argentinian Angel Cabrera had top 10 finishes at the Masters and the Open Championship. Aussie standouts Robert Allenby and Stuart Appleby are now fixture on the Tour scene. Japanese stars Shigeki Maruyama and Shingo Katayama are fan favourites thanks to their engaging personalities and even better games. Their compatriot Kaname Yokoo was the 36-hole leader at Disney and is one of many promising Japanese golfers coming up the ranks now. K.J. Choi, the first Korean to earn the PGA Tour card, has had a strong season with four top 10s and over $700,000 (U.S.) in earnings.

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