Twenty years after fleeing Venezuela and landing in Houston, Jhonattan Vegas could win on Sunday in his adopted hometown

Jhonattan Vegas has a chance to win on Sunday in his adopted hometown of Houston. The 37-year-old native of Venezuela shot 2-under 68 in the third round of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open and trails leader Scottie Scheffler by one stroke.

What a story it would be if Vegas was hoisting the trophy on Sunday — 20 years after he left Venezuela at age 17 knowing all of 10 words of English. Victor Hugo, the President of his country, treated golf as if it was a frivolous pursuit of the upper crust and started closing golf courses throughout the country. Vegas was a toddler swinging a broomstick when he first showed promise for golf. He broke a window, but soon graduated to a makeshift nine-hole course built for employees of the oil company for whom his father worked. He won his country’s Junior and Amateur titles and showed enough promise to compete in the World Junior Golf Championships in San Diego, tying for sixth at Torrey Pines.

Vegas refused to let politics stand in his way of chasing his dream of becoming a professional golfer. Even if that meant leaving his family and living with former Venezuela national coach Franci Betancourt, his wife and several other young talented golfers encountering similar resistance.

“Let me tell you, it’s not easy to leave home, especially at a young age,” Vegas told Golfweek several years ago.

He learned English well enough to pass his TOEFL exam and his game progressed under the watchful eye of Betancourt and instructor Kevin Kirk, the 2019 PGA Teacher of the Year, at nearby Cypresswood Golf Course. Vegas validated all that raw promise by Monday-qualifying for a spot in the Houston Open in 2003 at age 18.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open: Scores | Yardage book | Photos

“Oh my God, probably the biggest memory I have as a Tour player, I remember just walking into that locker room and seeing all the guys there,” he said. “I remember Vijay, Freddie, Phil. I mean, you name it, they were playing that week. As an 18-year-old just to be there and kind of feeling that, seeing those guys and kind of feeling that energy of a lot of those guys playing on Tour and they were at their best, it just really made me super excited about golf.”

It also grabbed the attention of University of Texas men’s golf coach John Fields and lead to a college scholarship. Vegas made it through the first stage of 2008 PGA Tour Q-School in Houston en route to becoming the first Venezuelan member of the PGA Tour, and still calls Southeast Texas home.

“I feel like a Houstonian, for sure,” Vegas said. “The city has embraced me ever since I came from Venezuela. It would be amazing to kind of share like a home title with everyone here in Houston. Like I said, it will be up there with if not the biggest win for me.”

Vegas has made 11 starts in Houston and never recorded a top-10 finish in this event, but he’s found Memorial Park more to his liking than the tournament’s former home (Golf Club of Houston), leading the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (3.387) and posting three rounds in the 60s so far. Vegas has won three times on Tour, the last being the 2017 RBC Canadian Open, and finished second three times during the 2020-21 season. On Saturday, he birdied three of the first four holes and shared the lead at one point before making bogeys at Nos. 14 and 16, where his second shot to the par-5 never had a chance of clearing the water.

“I was trying to hit a hard 4-iron, obviously hit it heavy into the water. Disappointing,” he said. “I hit it in the water yesterday, hit it in the water today. It’s just not a comfortable hole for me and just got to try to put it behind the best way you can and move on.”

But he bounced back with a birdie at 17, wedging to 15 feet and holing the putt to get back to 7-under 203 and part of a five-way tie for second. Vegas said he’ll enjoy sleeping in his own bed and playing in a city that has been so good to him.

“It’s been fun playing in front of the home crowd,” he said. “Having the crowd and having the support has just been amazing.”