The untold story of the special bond between Alejandro Tosti and Jay Monahan

Posted by Admin December 16, 2024 Golf

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – As PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan handed a PGA Tour card for the 2025 season to Alejandro Tosti, he leaned in and said, “You know who’s looking down on you, don’t you?”

Tosti smiled and didn’t hesitate to say the name of their mutual friend, Pete Fox.

“I thought about him all day,” Tosti said.

The 28-year-old Argentine, who was 5 over after 36 holes, rallied with a 65 at Sawgrass Country Club, the low round of the day on Saturday, and birdied three of the first six holes on Sunday at Dye’s Valley at TPC Sawgrass to shoot 66 and finish T-4 to regain his exempt status for next season.

Monahan walked with Tosti for a few holes on the back nine on Sunday and waited behind the green to congratulate him, where he wrapped his left arm around his neck in a loving headlock.

“I had a good feeling,” Monahan said of Tosti. “He made a couple of birdies early and I thought, ‘This guy has a lot of fight in him.’ ”

Of all the 170 players in the field battling to finish in the top 5 and ties to earn a Tour card, Monahan admitted he has a soft spot in his heart for Tosti because of Fox, who died of Ewing Sarcoma, a rare, cancerous tumor that forms in the bones or soft tissues, in 2017 at age 46.

After Monahan moved to Florida to join the Tour in 2008, he created a Golf Fights Cancer event, an offshoot of the non-profit he formed with friends in memory of a colleague who died of cancer, and Fox helped support it. He loved golf and the University of Florida grad, who met his wife there — which he dubbed his best sales job — lived for his Gators. Fox worked at Boston Scientific Corporation, rising to vice president of corporate sales, and based on his twin loves, he developed a special place in his heart for the UF golf team.

“Of all the players, I would say Alejandro and Pete had the closest bond,” Monahan said.

Florida men’s coach J.C. Deacon said Fox took a liking to Tosti and understood that he was dealing with a different experience than most students who had grown up in the U.S. and spoke English fluently. In describing Tosti as being a bit rough around the edges, Deacon explained that Tosti came from poverty and meals weren’t always guaranteed. “The kid has been through a lot to get where he is now,” Deacon said.

Throughout his career, Tosti, who has been tabbed a fiery player, has rubbed some of his competitors the wrong way. He was suspended in 2023 during the Korn Ferry Tour playoffs for conduct unbecoming a professional. One veteran of the Tour said Tosti is a sweetheart to be around in pro-ams and described him as a “Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde type.” He continued: “I asked him one morning at breakfast, ‘Why are you a such a jerk?’ He said, ‘I’m only a jerk Thursday through Sunday. That’s my chance to make money and I don’t like anyone getting in the way of me getting my money.’ ”

Tosti is the first to admit that he runs hot and he struggles with the mental side of the game. “It’s been the challenge for me my whole life, dealing with myself,” he said.

In the opening round at Q-School, he stood 3 under at Dye’s Valley going into the par-5 16^th and failed to make a birdie despite a 6-iron in his hand for his second shot. “Then bogeyed 17, tripled 18 so I gave away around five shots. Yeah, it was a plus one round,” he recalled.

However, he had a positive talk that afternoon with his sports psychologist, who reminded him that it was just the start of the tournament. He attempted to play with a positive mindset even after a bad stretch on Friday that left him 5 over and a longshot to improve his conditional status for next season. On Saturday, his putter caught fire and he finished off the last hole with his seventh birdie of the day and thought to himself, “Maybe tomorrow it’s the other way around and we’ll have a chance to be on the PGA Tour again.”

Is this a sign of maturity and growth in Tosti? Time will tell but Deacon is encouraged that he’s making strides.

“He’s not there to be your friend, he’s not there to have conversations; he’s there to win. It’s like a life-or-death thing for him,” Deacon said. “We’ve tried to educate him on the sportsmanship side of the game. It’s taken him a little longer to learn that and understand that. Pete only saw the best in him and Ale really appreciated that.”

Fox proved to be a big influence in Tosti’s life. Prior to his passing after a 15-year cancer fight, Fox put a plan in place for the creation of the Gator Good Guys Collegiate Cup, which is now in its 12^th year, with proceeds benefiting Golf Fights Cancer (as well as to fund ground-breaking research on Ewing sarcoma). Tosti had never known anyone who dealt with cancer.

“He was an inspiration, definitely for me, and made me see life in a totally different way,” Tosti said on Sunday. “He had a passion for life even though he was battling cancer. He would be so happy just to be around me.”

And perhaps that’s why Tosti, without being prompted by anyone else, hopped in his car and drove from campus in Gainesville to Fox’s home in Ponte Vedra Beach to see Fox in the last throes of his battle with cancer. So, too, did Monahan who stopped by Fox’s place to say goodbye to his dear friend at the same time. When he peeked his head into Fox’s room, Tosti was at his bedside, a notebook spread open in his hands.

Tosti proceeded to pepper Fox with an array of questions about life and leadership, trying to squeeze as much knowledge as he could from someone he admired for his zest for life.

“I’ll never forget it,” Monahan said. “They were talking and I thought, you know what? I’m going to go hang and wait in another room.”

Tosti eventually exited, his eyes red from tears. And so forgive Monahan if he felt a certain joy in seeing Tosti, who had finished No. 137 in the 2024 FedEx Cup Fall standings as a rookie and only had conditional status for next season, come through in crunch time.

“He’s finding his way,” Monahan said. “This is a big moment for him.”

Fox, who asked a friend to keep tabs on Tosti when he was gone, would be so proud. As is Deacon, who said it’s a shame the golf world doesn’t get to see the soft, gentle, caring side of Tosti.

“It just doesn’t come out when he’s competing, and I don’t think you’ll ever see it while he’s competing,” Deacon said. “He’s probably the most talented player I’ve ever had and that’s saying something over the 11 years I’ve been at Florida. If he can ever calm down and get comfortable out there, I believe he’s going to win majors. I really do, he’s that good.”