Mateo Pulcini of Argentina defeated Venezuela’s Virgilio Paz on the second playoff hole to win the Latin America Amateur Championship on Sunday in Lima, Peru.
The victory earned Pulcini entry into three of golf’s four majors this season: the Masters, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship.
Pulcini, 25, is the oldest winner of the event that began in 2015.
“There were a lot of nerves coming in, but I tried to have fun, I tried to laugh,” Pulcini said, per GolfChannel.com. “… Being in that position was something that I was dreaming about at the beginning of the week, so why not take advantage of that and enjoy it?”
Pulcini and Paz both shot 2-under-par 68 in the fourth and final round Sunday at Lima Golf Club to post matching four-round scores of 5-under 275.
Pulcini stayed alive on the first playoff hole by powering his second shot through the trees in front of him after an errant drive. He managed to save par and Paz could not birdie the hole. At the second hole, Paz missed the fairway and the green and could not set himself up for a short par putt, allowing Pulcini to tap in for par for the victory.
Pulcini is the third Argentine winner of the event, following Abel Gallegos (2020) and Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (2023). Last year’s winner, Justin Hastings of the Cayman Islands, went on to make the cut at the U.S. Open and earn low-amateur honors.
