Thursday, Oct. 12, 2000 | 11:31 a.m.
Thirty feet from the pin, five feet off the green and his ball nestled against the second cut, Esteban Toledo chose to putt rather than chip. It seemed a risky move.
But with perfect execution, he rolled the putt home and, fittingly, punctuated the birdie at the 17th hole at the TPC at Summerlin by displaying a technically sound left cross.
The six or eight friends that were accompanying him Wednesday let loose with a rousing cheer. Their man was on a knockout spree.
Added to the four birdies he collected on the front nine -- at hole Nos. 3, 4, 7 and 9 -- Toledo completed first-round play in the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas with a fashionable 67. He's in contention for the championship, just as he feels he would have been a contender for a world title had he remained a professional boxer.
"I still think I'm more of a boxer than a golfer," Toledo said later, reflecting on his dual careers. "It was in boxing that I learned all the tricks, things like courage and determination and discipline, that are still helping me today."
The native of Mexicali, Mexico, is likely the only man in history who fought professionally as a young man and then became an accomplished pro golfer. While he has spent the last 10 years playing the Nike and PGA tours, Toledo still lives and breathes boxing.
Asked how three major fights yet to be held this year will turn out, he didn't hesitate.
Andrew Golota vs. Mike Tyson?
"That's easy," Toledo said. "Tyson kills him in two rounds."
David Tua vs. Lennox Lewis?
"Easy again," Toledo said. "Lewis kills him in two or three rounds, and Lewis beats Tyson if they ever fight."
And Fernando Vargas vs. Felix Trinidad?
"That's a little harder," Toledo said. "But I'll take Vargas."
Toledo, 38, is an expert in both sports, having won $1.5 million in pro golf and having won 12 of the 13 professional fights he took part in as a lightweight. But he had to quit boxing at the age of 20 after an appendectomy.
"I was very upset at the time," he said. "I was a very good boxer and wanted to keep going, but I guess God wanted me to go a different direction.
"But I would have made a lot of money in boxing and I think I would have been a world champion."
He remains friends to this day with ex-champ Jorge Paez, who fought just last month in West Wendover, Nevada.
"Boxing was a great experience for me, even if my future probably would have been in a hospital if I'd have kept going after that appendicitis," Toledo said. "It taught me to work hard and it taught me the importance of conditioning.
"I still run almost every day."
By virtue of his athleticism and the fact his family lived across a river from the Mexicali Country Club, Toledo developed talents in two sports; three, if you count swimming, as he would fish balls out of the river and sell them back to the golfers.
"I'd sneak across the river and play about three holes after the members were gone," he said. "I didn't really know the game at all and I was pretty much by myself, but golf provided me with a living and an education."
This is his fourth full year on the PGA Tour and it has been his best. Coming into the Invensys he ranks No. 75 on the money list with $573,995. Obviously, he's looking to add to that total and maybe pick up his first win as well.
"I'm not backing off this week," he said. "I've got some friends here with me and I'm going to try and win. The support of the crowd means a lot to me."
The fighter in him had come to the fore.
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