If you’re looking for a PGA TOUR rookie to support in 2026, let us introduce you to Marcelo Rozo.

The 36-year-old Colombian earned his first TOUR card in emotional fashion at Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, closing in 1-under 69 at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course – on what he deemed the hardest day of golf in his life – to share second place in a grueling event with just five TOUR cards available among a 174-player starting field. There were tears of joy, gratitude, everything – tears that only scratched the surface of the arduous journey to reach this point.

Three years ago, Rozo underwent wrist surgery that forced him to spend a year away from competitive golf. He pursued his real estate license and was forced to conduct an honest evaluation of his career to that point. He couldn’t have afforded Q-School in 2024 if not for others footing the entry fee. Was it financially sensible to keep going, he asked himself? Was this whole thing sustainable for a family man?

Rozo’s #TOURBound moment, shortly followed by congratulations from his wife Manuela and young son Lorenzo, offered the definitive answer.

“Seeing my wife and son on 18,” Rozo said, “that’s the most special thing that’s ever happened.”

It’s family first for Rozo, and the roots in his odyssey to reach the pinnacle of professional golf run quite deep. Among those to also greet Rozo in the immediate aftermath of his #TOURBound moment: fellow Colombian Camilo Villegas, with whom a connection extends far beyond their shared country of origin. Roughly an hour earlier, Villegas had missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole that would have earned him a spot in a playoff for the final card, but the two-decade TOUR veteran stuck around for congratulations and beamed as Rozo was announced as #TOURBound at the card ceremony in the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse. Villegas would’ve never missed this moment, though. The five-time TOUR winner grew up playing golf alongside Rozo’s older brother Mateo, who tragically passed away at age 19 after developing an infection following nose surgery. Marcelo was just 11 at the time, and the loss created a wound that will never be fully healed.

But last Sunday marked the culmination of a shared dream, and Rozo pointed to the sky after completing the 72nd hole at Final Stage in tribute to his brother and also their late grandfather, a golf professional and golf course designer who taught his grandchildren the game.

“It runs in the family,” said Rozo, whose uncleIván Rengifo played professionally and represented Colombia seven times in the World Cup. “(My parents) would drop me off at the course at 7 a.m., pick me up at 5, and that’s what I did. Played every sport, and golf every day, and this is the one I chose to do for a living.

“It meant the world, for (Camilo) to stay after missing the putt on the last,” Rozo added. “I grew up watching him, having him as a role model, as an idol … he was very emotional as well. I think he was crying with me, and he told me how proud he was. I’ll be forever thankful that he stayed to give me a good hug and be with me and my family.”

It has been a long road to this point for Rozo, who turned pro in 2012 after a collegiate career at Division II Lynn University and has made 150 career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, most memorably a playoff loss to Scottie Scheffler at the 2019 Evans Scholars Invitational (Rozo said he actually thought of Scheffler on the morning of the final round at Q-School). Rozo was a mostly steady presence on the Korn Ferry Tour in his early years as a pro, but after finishing No. 62 on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, his wrist injury and subsequent surgery forced some difficult questions.

“I had some issues with my wrist, and after I checked with a third doctor in Colombia, he told me that I’ve done everything possible to avoid surgery and that the only thing left was surgery,” Rozo said. “It’s very shocking when someone tells you, ‘Hey, you could be done,’ because surgeries could go wrong. Thankfully, mine, it’s been really good after it, but I was very uncertain that I could play golf again, especially during the rehab time, it would hurt a lot … it was just painful, so I was doubting that I could play competitive golf.

“That was the toughest moment, and after that, came back in 2024, just burning money and running out of funds to maintain my dream alive. I’m so thankful to the people and some friends that gave me another chance to play golf. They knew I had more steam inside of me, and I owe a lot to them right now.”

After an uneven 2024 season in his return where he finished a distant No. 128 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List to lose status, Rozo earned back Korn Ferry Tour starts with a medalist finish at Second Stage of 2024 Q-School in Savannah. He grew emotional in his post-round interview that Friday as he thought of everyone that has supported him in his journey – those who made it possible to return, his wife and son, and everyone who has been a part of this eclectic journey dating to childhood. That interview also offered a glimpse of what this dream meant to Rozo and how badly he wanted to keep going. It was a sign of things to come.

“My wife is the rock. She’s the rock of my house,” Rozo said that day. “My kid. I do it for them … there are a couple people that I have to thank, because they helped me pay for Q-School. I couldn’t afford it. I had to go work between First Stage and Second Stage … there are tears of joy, and knowing that the last two years have been challenging, but I have a great support system, it just means the world. I know that I can play this good, but I haven’t reached my potential, but with their support, I’m just going to keep trying it and keep grinding because I love this game, and I wouldn’t want it any other way in my life.”

Rozo finished No. 45 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List to earn direct access to Final Stage of Q-School – crucially avoiding the Second Stage gauntlet – and he opened in rounds of 70-64-65 at Final Stage in northeast Florida to reach the precipice of a lifelong PGA TOUR dream. He cried on the way to the golf course that Sunday, realizing what the afternoon ahead could mean, and shortly after inscribing PGA TOUR Member ‘26 on the shower wall.

“I was telling myself that it was going to happen,” Rozo said, “(That) it was my day and I was built for this, that I’ve worked literally my entire life for this moment.”

Rozo went out and got it, and now he’ll have the opportunity to compete against the world’s best – including Scheffler – in 2026 and perhaps beyond.