PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Rafael Alarcón
Rafael Alarcón
Personal information
Full name	Rafael Alarcón Menchaca
Born	5 August 1958 (age 66); Guadalajara, Mexico
Sporting nationality	Mexico
Residence	Guadalajara, Mexico
Children	3
Career
College	Oklahoma State University
Turned professional	1980
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour; European Tour; Nike Tour; Canadian Tour; Tour de las Américas
Professional wins	3
Best results in major championships;
Masters Tournament	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP
U.S. Open	T52: 1985
The Open Championship	DNP

Rafael Alarcón (born 5 August 1958)^[1] is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour.

Early life

Alarcón was born and raised in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, playing golf from young age at Guadalajara Country Club, one of the oldest golf clubs in Mexico.^[2]

Amateur career

He played on two NCAA Division I Championship winning teams, 1976 and 1978, and was a three-time All-American while attending Oklahoma State University. In 1976 he lost in a playoff to Jim Nelford at the Canadian Amateur Championship. In 1977, he was runner-up at the Western Amateur, losing in the final. Three years after his playoff loss at the Canadian Amateur, he won the championship at Brantford Golf Club, Ontario, and another important amateur tournament in North America, the Southern Amateur at the Country Club of North Carolina, Pinehurst.

Alarcón represented Mexico three times in the Eisenhower Trophy, the first time in 1974 at age 16. In 1980, at Pinehurst Country Club, North Carolina, the Mexican team finished 9th.^[3]^[4]

Professional career

Alarcón turned professional after the 1980 amateur season and played in North and South America, Europe and Asia. In 1981, he finished runner-up to Tim Simpson at the unofficial European Tour approved event Cacharel World Under-25 Championship in Nimes, France.

His first professional win abroad came in 1984 at the Indian Open on the Asia Golf Circuit.^[5]

Alarcón qualified for the 1983 PGA Tour season.^[1]^[6] Alarcón never won on the PGA Tour, to match Cesar Sanudo and Victor Regalado, who, at the time of Alarcon's active career, were the only native Mexican golfers to have done so. Alarcón's best finish was tied 19th at the 1997 Kemper Open.

Two years in a row, 1995 and 1996, Alarcón finished runner-up in a tournament on the American second-tier Nike Tour, later named the Korn Ferry Tour, namely the Nike Monterrey Open, played in his home country of Mexico. In 1995, winner Stuart Appleby needed seven extra playoff holes to beat Alarcón.

Alarcón won the 1990 Mexican PGA Championship and led the Mexican PGA Tour in earnings 1989−1992.^[7]

Alarcón represented Mexico seven times in the World Cup and twice in the Dunhill Cup. In the 1995 World Cup of Golf at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China, the Mexico team of Alarcón and Esteban Toledo finished tied 10th, eight strokes from second place.

On 1 December 1997, Alarcón won the Compaq World Putting Championship by Dave Pelz at the Bonnett Creek Golf Club at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. He beat Spike McRoy on the second sudden-death playoff hole, winning a first prize of $250,000. Second prize was $50,000.^[8]

At 43 years of age, in 2001, Alarcon won the Venezuela Open on the Tour de las Américas.^[9]

Private life, awards

After mainly retiring from competition play in 1997, Alarcón made a few tournament appearances in Latin America and worked as a coach for Lorena Ochoa.^[10] When Ochoa, also a Guadalajara native, was 11 years old, she approached Alarcón and asked him to coach her. During his time as her coach, she won 27 LPGA Tour titles, including two majors and reached number one on the Women's World Golf Rankings, before she retired at 28 years of age.^[11]^[12] After her retirement, he has been coaching at Lorena Ochoa's Golf Academy.^[13]

Alarcón also worked as a golf course designer, together with Carter Morrish at Alarcon Morrish Golf Course Design.^[14]

Alarcón was appointed Jalisco State Golfer of the Century. He was awarded the National Prize for Sports, received on 20 November 2009 from the President of Mexico during a ceremony at the official presidential residence.^[4]^[15]

Amateur wins

1976 Mexican Junior^[16]
1977 Mexican Amateur^[17]
1978 Mexican Amateur^[18]
1979 Canadian Amateur Championship, Southern Amateur
1980 Big Eight Individual

Professional wins (3)

Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runners-up
1	18 Mar 1984	Indian Open	−13 (70-68-71-70=279)	3 strokes	Richard Cromwell, Lai Chung-jen

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	1985	Taiwan Open	Lu Liang-Huan, Hsieh Yu-shu	Lu won with par on sixth extra hole Hsieh eliminated by par on first hole

Tour de las Américas wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	18 Nov 2001	Movilnet Venezuela Open	−12 (71-68-66-63=268)	1 stroke	Alexandre Rocha

Other wins (1)

1990 Mexican PGA Championship

Playoff record

Nike Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1995	Nike Monterrey Open	Stuart Appleby	Lost to birdie on seventh extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
U.S. Open	T62	T52	CUT									CUT

Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Note: Alarcón only played in the U.S. Open.

Team appearances

Amateur

Eisenhower Trophy (representing Mexico): 1974, 1976, 1980

Professional

World Cup (representing Mexico): 1988, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999
Dunhill Cup (representing Mexico): 1990, 1993

References

^ ^a ^b "Rafael Alarcón Bio". Yahoo Sports.
^ "The Maestro Behind Lorena's Success". Golf Digest. 15 November 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
^ "World Amateur Team Championships – Men's Records". International Golf Federation. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
^ ^a ^b ""El golf mexicano en su mejor época": Alarcón" ["Mexican golf at its best": Alarcón] (in Spanish). México Golf Tour. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
^ "Alarcon wins Indian title". The Straits Times, Singapore. 19 March 1984. p. 25. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
^ "Rafael Alarcón, promotor del golf mexicano" (in Spanish). 28 April 2020.
^ Lemon, Del (2001). The Story of Golf in Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma Press´. p. 311. ISBN 0-8061-3300-7. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
^ Smits, Garry (4 December 1997). "PGA Tour Dominates Putting Event". The Florida Times Union. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
^ Diaz, Carlos (20 November 2001). "Rafael Alarcon with -12 champion in Venezuela". El Universal, Mexico. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
^ "Lorena Ochoa retired from pro golf at age 28, but she still has big ambitions". latinbusinesstoday.com. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
^ "Lorena Ochoa Facts". JockBio.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
^ "Who is Rafael Alarcon?". Golfweek, USA Today Sports media Group. 26 February 2002. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
^ Zaldivar, Gabe (29 September 2020). "Lorena Ochoa Discusses Success, Retirement and the Future of Golf in Mexico". SI En Fuego. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
^ "Our team, Rafael Alarcon & Carter Morrish". alarconmorrish.com/. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
^ "National Prize of Sports 2009". gettyimages.com/. Getty Images. 20 November 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
^ "Foreign Champions of 1976, Men Amateurs, Mexico". Golf Digest. February 1977. p. 133.
^ "Foreign Champions of 1977, Men Amateurs, Mexico". Golf Digest. February 1978. p. 135.
^ "Foreign Champions of 1978, Men Amateurs, Mexico". Golf Digest. February 1979. p. 127.