World Class Mexican Golfer Can’t Play in the US

[Editor’s note. This story was originally reported by Sandra Velázquez of ESPNdeportes.com]

They call him El Camarón, Jose de Jesus Rodriguez,  the best professional golfer in Mexico. He’s played in tournaments in Canada,Venezuela, Chile and Argentina, and is scheduled to play this year in Colombia. He’s got Titleist’s endorsement: they give him clubs, caps, gloves and umbrellas. But he can’t get a Visa to play in the US.

Years ago, the now 29 year-old golfer came to the United States to look for work without proper documentation. He found work maintaining golf course greens. He regularly sent money to care for his seven brothers and sisters in Irapuato, Guanajuato. And he soon returned home to pursue his childhood dream – to make a living playing his favorite sport.

This is where fate and talent came together in El Camarón’s life. He entered the Negra Model circuit and won rookie of the year honors in 2007. But his prospects were slim because golf is, after all, an expensive sport.  His boss, Alfonso Vallejo, saw Camarón’s potential and decided he’d pay for his expenses and the rest is, well, still being written.

He hired a coach, devoted himself full time to his sport and in 2008 el Camarón turned professional. That same year he was invited to play in a Nationwide tournament in Louisiana. The officials at the US Embassy in Guadalajara didn’t believe his story, that he’d become such an accomplished golfer in such a short time. Letters and news clippings notwithstanding they rejected his request. The officials even told him that if he insisted in getting the Visa he would be punished and his requests would be voided until 2015.

So the best golfer in Mexico waits for an embassy bureaucrat to believe his story so he can come to the US to measure himself against the best in the world. He says he hasn’t lost hope.

Follow Victor Landa on Twitter: @vlanda