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Mateo Fernández de Oliveira, a sophomore at Texas Christian University, holed a 4-foot putt for par on the first playoff hole to win the Azalea Invitational at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina. The young Argentine defeated Jamie Wilson, a graduate student at the University of South Carolina, after both finished 72 holes at 7-under-par 277.
Both players hit left off the tee to begin the playoff but had open shots to the green. Fernández de Oliveira (above) put his second shot in the middle of the green, while Wilson caught a flyer and went long into a penalty area. He recovered to 3 feet, but Fernández de Oliveira calmly two-putted for a winning par.
Fernández de Oliveira played his way into the mix with a 6-under 66 in Saturday’s windy third round. He had advanced to the round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes in August and was ranked No. 209 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking coming into the event.
After recording the biggest win of his amateur career, Fernández de Oliveira told GGP, “This means a lot to me. I didn’t come here with many expectations, so this is pretty special.”
Ryan Hall, a teammate of Wilson, finished tied for third with mid-amateur Stephen Behr at 5-under 279. Behr, a former Clemson University standout who chose not to pursue a professional career after graduating, entered the final round with a two-shot lead but made six bogies to miss the playoff by two shots.
Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci shot 2-under 282 to finish T12.
The Azalea, which is usually played in April, moved to November this year after the spring outbreak of COVID-19. It is one of the few independently run amateur tournaments to have been played in 2020.
Staff and Wire Reports