Mexico’s Santiago De la Fuente buried some 2-year-old demons with a short birdie putt on the 71st hole to take his first lead of the week en route to winning the Latin America Amateur Championship by two shots over countryman Omar Morales in Panama City, Panama.
De la Fuente’s 6-under 64 on Sunday rallied him past Morales, who carried a three-shot lead into the final round at Santa María Golf Club but got passed despite his fourth consecutive sub-par round. De la Fuente, 21, is the second Mexican player to win the LAAC in its nine-year history, joining 2019 champion Alvaro Ortiz.
Two years ago in the LAAC at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, De la Fuente missed a 3-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole that would have put him in a playoff with eventual champion Aaron Jarvis of the Cayman Islands. He handled that crushing missed opportunity in style.
“I could have done more, but there’s no reason to blame that one putt on 18,” De la Feunte said that day. “A lot of other putts throughout the day could have dropped.”
Given another critical chance from close range, he didn’t flinch after his tee shot on the 183-yard par-3 stuck 24 inches above the cup to put pressure on Morales that he couldn’t match. Morales charged a 35-foot birdie putt 4 feet past and calmly made the comebacker for par, but De la Fuente tapped in his shorty for birdie and a one-shot lead heading to the last hole.
“I don’t think there has been any better moment in my life. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I know what a good player Omar is. ... After what happened in the Dominican Republic … I can say I did it.”
Santiago De la Fuente
Morales had a chance for birdie from 20 feet on the last but came up short, and De la Fuente nailed an 11-footer for a final birdie and two-shot win with a 10-under-par 270 total. Colombia’s Mateo Fuenmayor finished third at 3-under, and Justin Hastings of the Cayman Islands finished fourth at 2-under.
“I don’t think there has been any better moment in my life,” De la Fuente said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I know what a good player Omar is.
“After what happened in the Dominican Republic … I can say I did it.”
Morales had led in Panama City from the start, sharing the first-round lead with De la Fuente and Guatemala’s José Arzú with 1-under 69s at Santa María Golf Club. Morales, who was the only player to break par in every round, built a two-shot lead after another 69 on Friday and extended the advantage to three shots over De la Fuente and four up on Fuenmayor with a Saturday 65.
Things tightened quickly on Sunday and turned into a roller-coaster two-man Mexican showdown when Morales bogeyed the second hole. De la Fuente birdied to cut the lead to 1 and tied it with his third birdie of the morning, at No. 6.
Both the seventh and eighth holes provided more two-shot swings in the intense match. Morales birdied 7 and De la Fuente bogeyed to push his lead back to two, but De la Fuente flipped it right back with a birdie on 8 when Morales bogeyed.
At the par-4 ninth, Morales reclaimed the lead with another birdie and headed to the back 1 up. But De la Fuente caught back up with a birdie at 11.
“I gave it all today,” Morales said. “Not my best day, especially off the tee, which is weird. My driver is the best club, and just simply didn't hit it right. But if I can have off‑days and not play my best and still have a chance to win, then it means my game is in the right spot.”
With the victory, De la Fuente received an invitation to the Masters in April and exemptions in the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 and Open Championship at Royal Troon as well as the U.S. and British Amateurs. As runner-up, Morales earned exemptions into final qualifying for this year’s U.S. Open and Open Championship.
“I’m so happy to be playing in these majors,” De la Fuente said. “What a great opportunity I have. It’s amazing,”
De la Fuente, a senior at the University of Houston, is a four-time winner in college including last season’s American Athletic Conference Championship and ranked 87th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking entering the week.
Morales, a junior at UCLA, got to hit the opening tee shot in the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club after qualifying. He has won twice in college for the Bruins in the last two seasons and entered LAAC week ranked No. 72 in the WAGR.
RESULTS
Australia’s Quinnton Croker ran away with the Australian Amateur title Friday at Yarra Yarra Golf Club in suburban Melbourne.
Croker, who entered the final round with a four-stroke lead, cruised to a five-shot victory at Yarra Yarra. He shot 3-under 67 – his third consecutive round in the 60s at Yarra Yarra after opening with a 1-over 73 at nearby Keysborough Golf Club – for a 14-under 268. Phoenix Campbell – who was considered to be the tournament favorite after his victory one week earlier at the Australian Master of the Amateurs and the fact that Yarra Yarra is his home track – finished solo second at 9-under 273.
Croker made three consecutive birdies in the final round, on holes 8-10, then added a birdie at the par-4 14th to stretch his lead to eight before Campbell made a late charge.
“Walking off 15 green, I saw the leaderboard and the swings got a bit easier,” the 21-year-old Croker said in an interview with Golf Australia.
Croker knew on the first tee that he would have his hands full in outlasting Campbell, his playing competitor.
“I'd never played with him round here before,” Croker said, “and stood on the first tee, and he made a bloody good swing off the first tee, so I knew it would be no kick-in.”
With the victory, Croker earned a spot in the ISPS Handa Australian Open, which is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia. He entered the week at No. 338 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking after a runner-up finish against professionals at the Heritage Classic on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
Noah Kent, a University of Iowa freshman from Naples, Florida, and one of only two Americans to make the trip Down Under, tied for seventh.
The Australian Amateur, which dates to 1894, is among the world’s oldest amateur championships. Other than during a brief stretch near the turn of the 20th century, it was contested as match play from 1908 until 2021, when the format changed to 72 holes of stroke play. The list of winners includes future major champions Michael Campbell (1992) and Cameron Smith (2013).
In the Australian Women’s Amateur, Japanese 16-year-old Mamika Shinchi matched the women’s course record at Yarra Yarra with a 7-under 66, erasing a six-stroke deficit to start the final round and holding off local favorite Amelia Harris.
Shinchi, who was ranked No. 52 in the world, birdied eight of her final 11 holes after a shaky start and finished at 10-under 282 to win by two strokes.
Shinchi was the second consecutive Japanese to win the Aussies’ national title, after Mizuki Hashimoto, who tied for 30th in her title defense. The tournament, which like the men’s event also dates to 1894, has produced a number of future professional champions, including LPGA winners Lydia Ko (2012), Minjee Lee (2013 and 2014) and Grace Kim (2021).
MEN’S RESULTS / WOMEN’S RESULTS
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