There is more than one way to gain a sponsors invite to a PGA Tour event. The most obvious route in is to win somewhere of note, but shooting a very low number to make the headlines can also do the job.
That’s what Cristobal Del Solar did at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Golf Championship in Colombia on February 8, and that low number was, in case you hadn’t heard, a 57, a round that started with six consecutive 3s.
His 13-under-par, which was the lowest ever round shot in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event, may only have been good enough to help him to a tied-fifth finish, but Mr 57 has now earned himself a spot in this week’s Mexico Open at Vidanta.
The Chilean, who won his national Junior Open in 2009 and 2010, made his PGA Tour debut at the event a year ago, which will once again take place at the Greg Norman-designed Vidanta Vallarta.
Rounds of 68 and 74 saw him miss the cut, but the 30-year-old’s heroics at the start of the month heave earned him another crack at the event and a chance to compete alongside some of the best players in the world, including the likes of Tony Finau and Nicolai Hojgaard, the former of whom will be defending his title.
Del Solar, who attended from Florida State University, has shown a lot of promise on the Korn Ferry Tour, having made his way through the PGA Tour Lationamerica and PGA Tour Canada.
Remarkably, Del Solar had a look at 56 on the Pacos Course at Colombia's Country Club de Bogota, where he went out in just 27 shots and closed with a safe two-putt.
The chances of seeing another 57 this week in Mexico are slim, even if Finau did finish up at -24 last year, three shots ahead of Jon Rahm.
