For most golfers, earning a PGA Tour card is emotional enough. But for Marcelo Rozo, the tears that followed his final putt at the Q-School weren’t just about his grind over the years. They were about loss and the people whose presence he still feels, even in their absence.

“I was telling myself that it was going to happen,” Rozo said. “It was my day, and I was built for this; I’ve worked my entire life for this moment,” Rozo told the Golf Channel after he earned his PGA Tour card. “I don’t know if you guys could tell when I look up in the sky. I thought about him… not only him, but also my grandfather. I knew they were present and that they helped me get the toughest hook off for me,” Rozo said.

Rozo pulled his cap down with tear-filled eyes when he sank the final putt, capping a gritty 1-under 69 in windy conditions to claim his PGA Tour card. The celebration was not just about years of grinding or missed cuts. It was a tribute to his lost ones, who he knew were watching from above and were by his side. So, when the final putt dropped at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course, Marcelo Rozo looked towards the sky with emotion. Rozo’s older brother died in 2001 at just 19 after complications from what was supposed to be a routine surgery.

Mateo was an aspiring college golfer whose discipline and fun-loving spirit inspired Rozo. Marcelo Rozo was just 11 years old when Mateo “went in for a nose surgery to alleviate some allergies,” as per Golf Channel. Unfortunately, due to some complications, he developed an infection in the operating room and died three months post-surgery, and sadly, just days before his 20th birthday.

This one was also for his late grandfather, Vicente Falaschini, a revered Argentine golf professional and course designer who taught Rozo the game before passing in 2004.

What made this moment even more emotional for Rozo was that Mateo used to play with Camilo Villegas, who, too, was at the Q-School last week. Villegas not only played competitive golf with Mateo but also was Rozo’s role model growing up. And it was Villegas’ gesture towards Rozo that added another layer to all the emotion.

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Camilo Villegas Witnessed Marcelo Rozo’s PGA Tour Dream Come True

There was another layer to Rozo’s moment, one that made the celebration even heavier in the best possible way. Standing nearby was Camilo Villegas, the player Rozo grew up watching and the idol who helped shape his golfing dreams. Villegas had just endured his own heartbreak at Q-School, missing out by a single shot, yet he stayed. He waited. He watched Rozo finish the job and earn his card.

“To see Camilo there and kind of congratulate you… It meant the world to me,” Rozo said. “For him to stay after missing that part on the last… which I didn’t even know at the time… it meant everything. As I said, I grew up watching him, having him as a role model, as an idol kind of thing,” he added. It was evident that Villegas’s small gesture stayed with Rozo.

And Camilo Villegas, a five-time PGA Tour winner, knows that feeling better than most. The 43-year-old Colombian has lived both extremes, from breaking a nine-year winless drought in Bermuda two years ago to grinding again for status. His fight at Dye’s Valley was tough, and he ended up just one stroke short of making it. But instead of hanging his head low, he stayed to celebrate Rozo, a small gesture that spoke loudly and one Rozo won’t soon forget.