Jose Coceres

A former caddie, Coceres had to earn money for his 10 brothers and sisters when his bricklayer father was killed in a road accident. Took up the game when one brother cut branches from a tree and fashioned a golf club. He used the makeshift club to hit makeshift balls, which were rocks. Four of his brothers are golf professionals today.
Coceres turned professional in 1986 and won a place on the European Tour at the 1990 Qualifying School. After struggling in 1991 and 1992, he performed steadily on the tour from 1993 onward, and in 2000 he reached a career high of 13th on the Order of Merit. His two European Tour wins came at the 1994 Heineken Open Catalonia and the 2000 Dubai Desert Classic.
In 2001, Coceres switched to the PGA Tour. His first season in the U.S. was very inconsistent, with seven missed cuts and only two top 10 finishes, but those top-10 finishes were wins at the WorldCom Classic - The Heritage of Golf and the National Car Rental Golf Classic Disney. He was the first Argentine to win on the PGA Tour since Roberto De Vicenzo at the 1968 Houston Champions International. He broke his arm before the start of the 2002 season, and has struggled for form since. After the 2002 Disney win, he moved up to 17th in the Official World Golf Rankings. Coceres did not play on the PGA Tour for four years due to an injured left wrist though he still has his tour card via a medical extension. He played the 2013 Frys.com Open, his first PGA Tour event in four years.
Coceres has won several tournaments in his home country and elsewhere in South America. In 2002, he became the third golfer to receive Argentina's highest sports award, the Olimpia de Oro ("Golden Olympia").
Was a regular on the PGA Tour between 2001-09, where he made 159 career starts, with two victories both of which came during a highly successful 2001 season. He finished 34th on the money list that season, with a career-best $1,502,888. In his decade of playing on the PGA Tour earned $5,337,955.
2013 Notes: Made his Champions Tour debut at the AT&T Championship, where he finished 80th (only Champions Tour start of the year). Played in four events to kick off the 2013-14 PGA Tour season, including two before his Champions Tour debut. Missed the cut at the Frys.com Open but finished T-30th at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open in Las Vegas. Later missed the cut at The McGladrey Classic in November but finished T49 at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba the following week.
2014 Notes: Competed on both the Champions Tour via the Career Victory category and the PGA Tour as a Past Champion. Made 15 Champions Tour starts, with best finishes coming at the Encompass Championship (T-14th) and the Greater Hickory Kia Classic (T-18th)...Made the cut in three of six PGA Tour starts, with a T-30th at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open his best outing.
2015 Notes: Played in 13 PGA Tour Champions events with two top-tens. Was T-6th at the Allianz Championship after posting his career-best score, a 9-under 63 on the final day. Equaled the low Sunday round with a 68 at Fallen Oak to move into a T-9th at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic. Was 63rd on the money list and 60th in the Schwab rankings. Regained fully exempt status for the 2016 season with a T-2nd finish at Champions Tour Q School. Was tied with Brandt Jobe with one hole to play but a bogey on the final hole, his first in 40 holes, dropped him into a runner-up spot with Tom Byrum and Willie Wood. Made a double-eagle in the second round, then used a 7-under 64 in the third round on the Champions Course to jump into contention.
2016 Notes: Played in 14 PGA Tour Champions events with two top-tens and finished 63 in the Charles Schwab Cup. Was 9th at the 3M Championship shooting 65-67 on the weekend. Was T-6th at the Shaw Charity Classic, eight shots back of winner Carlos Franco. In his final event of the season was T54th at the PowerShares QQQ. Had to return to PGA Tour Champions Qualifying Tournament and finished T-7th which gained him associate membership.
2017 Notes: WIth limited availability on the PGA Tour Champions he only played once finishing T-76th at the Constellation Senior Players Championship. He played in events in South America, was T-60th at the Open de Argentina and T-50th at the NEC Argentina Classic. Returned to PGA Tour Champions Qualifying Tournament and was T-51st which didn't help his cause for 2018 in which he didn't play in any Champions events.
2018 Notes: Returned to Europe and played in 10 Legends Tour events finishing twice in the top-ten. He was 35th on the Order of Merit with euro60,920 in earnings. His best finish was T-4th at the VTB Russian Open five back of winner David Shacklady. Shot a final round 64 at the European Tour Properties Senior Classic to finish T-6th six shots back of winner Magnus Atlevi. Played in several events in South America and his home country missing the cut.
2019 Notes: Played in 14 European Legends Tour events with five top-ten finishes. He was 7th on the Order of Merit with euro155,213 in earnings. He won the Austrian Senior Open and the Swiss Senior Open, was T-3rd at the Senior Italian Open and T-4th at the Jordan Mixed Open. In South America was T-8th at the Molino Canuelas Championship. Tried again at PGA Tour Champions Qualifying Tournament but was T-36th.
2020/21 Notes: With most of senior golf on hold due to COVID, he played in no events in 2020. In 2021 missed the cut at the U.S. Senior Open and was T-35th at the Senior Open Championship held at Sunningdale. He played in 8 events on the Legends Tour and had a 2nd place finish in the Riegler & Partner Legends four shots back of winner Mauricio Molina. Again he went back to both stages of the Qualifying Tournament and again was disappointed, in the finals shot 78-75-78 and withdrew.
2022 Notes: Was T-24th at the Riegler & Partner Legends.