The Tour de las Américas (TLA) was the principal men's professional golf tour throughout Latin America and the Caribbean from 2000 through to 2012 when it was superseded by the PGA Tour Latinoamérica.
| Formerly | South American Tour |
|---|---|
| Sport | Golf |
| Founded | 1991 |
| First season | 1991 |
| Ceased | 2012 |
| Country | Based in Latin America |
| Most titles | Order of Merit titles: Raúl Fretes (2) Rafael Gómez (2) |
| Related competitions | PGA Tour Latinoamérica TPG Tour |
| Official website | http://www.tourdelasamericas.com |
History edit
Top level tournament golf in Latin America has had an unstable history. Some of the national open championships in the region are long established, but they did not traditionally form a coherent tour. From the late 1950s through to the mid 1970s the Caribbean Tour, which was affiliated with the PGA Tour, comprised only a small number of tournaments but attracted entrants from leading European and American golfers. As interest from PGA Tour players dwindled, the tour eventually withdrew their support and the Caribbean Tour folded. The next attempt was the IMG promoted South American Tour, which began in 1979 with the existing national opens of the five leading Latin American countries and a circuit prize sponsored by Pierre Cardin.[1]
A new circuit was founded in 1991, the Tour Sudamericano,[2] which would become the first long-lived stable tour in the region. In 2000, new owners relaunched the tour under the name Tour de las Américas with the aim of creating a schedule which would cover the whole region from Argentina to the Caribbean, and gain broader media exposure. The tour soon introduced a policy of co-sanctioning some events with Europe's second tier Challenge Tour, and some years later, in 2008, a similar arrangement was agreed with the Canadian Tour. The TLA also co-operated with the Nationwide Tour; whereby some of the leading Tour de las Américas players are given entries to specific Nationwide Tour events.
In May 2003, it was announced that the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with American Express, being renamed as the American Express Tour de las Américas.[3]
In the early 21st century, Latin America was the only region of the World which still did not have a professional tour which was a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours, the Tour de las Américas having joined the federation as an associate member on July 30, 2007. In August 2010, the Governing Board of the Official World Golf Ranking made a provisional announcement that the tour would offer ranking points starting in 2011.[4] The first tournament to receive ranking points was 2011 Abierto de Chile.[5]
Order of Merit winners edit
| Season | Winner | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Marco Ruiz |
26,884 |
| 2011 | Joaquín Estévez |
51,970 |
| 2010 | Julián Etulain |
56,593 |
| 2009 |  Peter Gustafsson |
40,934 |
| Season | Winner | Prize money (US$) |
| 2008 | Estanislao Goya |
58,105 |
| 2007 | Miguel Rodríguez |
60,180 |
| 2006 | Fabrizio Zanotti |
68,790 |
| 2005 | Daniel Barbetti |
41,514 |
| 2004 | Rafael Gómez (2) |
59,220 |
| 2003 | Eduardo Argiró |
48,174 |
| 2001–02 | Rafael Gómez |
55,987 |
| 2000–01 |  Ángel Romero |
49,396 |
| 1999 |  Scott Dunlap |
|
| 1998 | Raúl Fretes (2) |
|
| 1997 | Ricardo González |
|
| 1996 | Pedro Martínez |
|
| 1995 | Ángel Cabrera |
|
| 1994 | Raúl Fretes |
|
| 1993 | Carlos Franco |
|
| 1992 | Eric Woods |
|
| 1991 | Ángel Franco |
References edit
- ^ Dobereiner, Peter (9 April 1979). "How the various golf circuits may be shorted". Business Times. Singapore. p. 11. Retrieved 6 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
- ^ "El Tour de las Américas homenajea al Dr. Humberto Berger" [Press Share Tour of the Americas honors Dr. Humberto Berger]. Crónica Golf (in Spanish). 3 June 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ "American Express is the new title sponsor". Tour de las Américas. 15 May 2003. Archived from the original on 5 September 2003. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ "Official World Golf Ranking board announces new directives". Official World Golf Ranking. 23 August 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
The Board also agreed that the KPGA (Korean Golf Tour) and the TLA (Tour de Las Americas) should also be incorporated into the Ranking system from January 1 2011 on the same basis once the Technical Committee has liaised with the Tours concerned to establish their player listings and schedules.
- ^ "TLA events count for World Ranking starting this week". Tour de las Américas. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
External links edit
- Official website (in Spanish)