Esteban Toledo

The youngest of 11 children, Toledo fished golf balls out of a pond at Mexicali Country Club as a youngster and then sold them back to golfers. I learned to play golf while working at a driving range in Mexico. The first club was a 7-iron, which he found and used to hit rocks. He was a professional boxer for four years with a 12-1 record before a bout of appendicitis ended his ring career.
In January 2007, while riding in a car on a Los Angeles freeway, he rescued two sisters after their car collided with another, then crashed into a divider, flipped, rolled over twice, and stopped on its roof. He pulled them from the wreck, called 911, and controlled the situation until paramedics arrived.
He played on the PGA and Korn Ferry tours between 1990 and 2010. He was on the PGA Tour in 1994, then from 1998 to 2004. He played in 289 events, was runner-up twice, and finished in the top 10 11 times. Made 148 cuts and earned $3.7 million. He finished in the top 125 of the money list six times, where his best finish was in 2000 when he was 69th with earnings of $673,387. That year he was runner-up at the B.C. Open and runner-up at the 2002 Buick Open.
He played on the Korn Ferry Tour from 1990 to 1993, 1995, 1997, and between 2005 and 2010. Played 323 events and won once at the 2005 Lake Erie Charity Classic. They had 30 top-10s and made 193 cuts, ultimately earning $900,492.
2012 Notes: His PGA Tour Champions debut came at the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn, where he finished T-72nd after shooting 66 in the open qualifier. Received a sponsor exemption into the AT&T Championship and finished T-20th in San Antonio. He earned conditionally exempt status on the 2013 PGA Tour Champions by securing the seventh position at the National Qualifying Tour. He finished 72 holes in a T-4th, but he first lost out with a par on the first playoff hole and then lost out for the sixth spot in a playoff.
2013 Notes: On Cinco de Mayo, he became the first player from Mexico to win on the Champions Tour when he claimed the Insperity Championship near Houston. He defeated Mike Goodes and Gene Sauers in a playoff, and the win came in his ninth career Champions Tour start. He added a second title in early September when he chipped in from 35 feet on the third playoff hole to defeat Kenny Perry at the Montreal Championship. They started the final round four strokes behind 36-hole leader Bernhard Langer and trailed Perry by two late in the final round. Playing in a group one ahead of Perry, he made a birdie at No. 16 to pull within one, and minutes later, Perry dropped into a tie after a bogey at No. 17, leaving the pair tied at 5-under-par 211 at the end of regulation. After each made pars on No. 18 twice, he chipped in for the win at No. 10 for the win. He played 25 times and had nine top-10s. Finished 12th on the money list with earnings
2014 Notes: Managed to sneak into the top-30 money-winners at the final full-field event of the season, the AT&T Championship. Birdied his final three holes to shoot 68 and move into the top 30 on the money list to claim a spot at the season finale, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, bumping Rocco Mediate from the field.
His best finish came in early September when he was the 36-hole co-leader at the Quebec Championship but carded a final-round 71 to finish T-3rd in defense of his title. At the Insperity Invitational, finished 4th and a T-6th finish at the Encompass Championship. For the year was 27th on the money list and 24th in Schwab Rankings.
2015 Notes: Birdied four of his final six holes in the final round and, with a bogey-free, 6-under-par 66, finished 3rd at The ACE Group Classic. He turned in his best performance in a senior major when he finished 2nd at the Senior PGA Championship. Battled Colin Montgomerie for most of the final round, getting within a stroke of the lead twice, before eventually finishing four back on The Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort. Their performance in Indiana was his best since winning in Canada in 2013. He won his third time but a shot over Tom Watson at the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. He was 9th on the money list and 8th in the Schwab rankings.
2016 Notes: Played in 26 events and beat Billy Andrade in a playoff to win the Allianz Championship. The next best finish was T-10th at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. He was 33rd on the money list and 24th in the Schwab Rankings.
2017 Notes: Played in 24 events but dropped from 33rd on the money list to 51. He had two top-tens, T-6th in defense of his Allianz Championship win and T-5th in Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship.
2018 Notes: Played in 24 PGA Tour Champions events with one top-ten finish. That was an 8th place finish at Shaw Charity Classic, was 5 shots back of winner Scott McCarron. He finished 51st in the Charles Schwab Cup after eight top-25 finishes.
2019 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour Champions events with one top-ten finish. He was 55th on the final Schwab Rankings. Best finish T-7th at the Sanford International, four shots back of winner Rocco Mediate.
2020 & 2021 Notes: Played in 18 PGA Tour Champions events. He was 82nd in the Schwab Rankings and 82nd on the money list earning $167,474. Best finish T-18th at the 2021 SAS Champions. He returned to the Qualifying tournament and was 16th.
2022 Notes: Played in four PGA Tour Champions events, best finish T-32nd at the Principal Charity Classic.
2023 Notes: T-24th at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic.