Player Highlights
If this affable rookie were a start-up company, you’d have to be impressed with his early returns. Since earning a degree in business administration and entrepreneurship at the University of North Texas in 2015, Muñoz turned pro and began making a name for himself—building a brand, if you will—one birdie at a time. Within months of winning the Conference USA individual title as a member of the Mean Green golf team, Muñoz posted two wins and two other top-fours on the Colombian Tour. Later last year, at the grand finale of the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica’s developmental series in Quito, Ecuador, he fired a final-round, course-record 63 at Arrayanes Country Club—including eight consecutive birdies—to earn exempt status for the first half of the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica’s 2016 season. The former college teammate of Carlos Ortiz, 2014 Web.com Tour Player of the Year, was just getting started. Playing on a sponsor exemption in his hometown at the Web.com Tour’s Club Colombia Championship presented by Claro last February, Munoz birdied the par-5 72nd hole at Bogota Country Club to break out of a tie with Richy Werenski and Matt Atkins. The popular victory, which earned him $126,000, exempt status on the Web.com Tour and a congratulatory text from countryman and four-time PGA TOUR winner Camilo Villegas, made him the first Colombian to capture a Web.com Tour title. It was also the first time a sponsor invitee prevailed on Tour since Russell Henley captured the Stadion Classic in 2011. Lofting the trophy and draped in the yellow-blue-and-red flag of his native land at the presentation ceremony, Muñoz smiled the broad smile of a champion, looking very much like a young entrepreneur with a winning business plan.
