Two weekends ago, Mateo Pulcini beat Virgilio Paz Valdes on the second playoff hole to win the Latin America Amateur Championship in Lima, Peru. At 25, he became the oldest player to win the tournament and the third Argentinian champion. With the victory, Pulcini earned admittance to some of the biggest stages in golf: this year’s Masters Tournament, U.S. Open and Open Championship.
“I imagined that putt to win the LAAC a thousand times but I didn’t imagine this current moment, that I’m going to play Augusta in three months,” Pulcini said.
Pulcini almost never had this opportunity in the first place. He contemplated turning professional after the Latin America Amateur in 2025, when he finished T6. Then, his father, Juan, suggested that Pulcini take his time and play in tournaments such as the World Amateur Team Championships and the U.S. Mid-Amateur, a decision that’s paying off.
“To everyone who asks me about the pro life I tell them this story about my dad,” Pulcini said. “Becasue I’m really happy about what he made me do and how it paid off.”
Pulcini grew up in Río Cuarto, Argentina, and started playing golf at age 11. He quickly fell in love with the game and improved his handicap steadily. At 17, Pulcini played in his first national-level tournament.
“I played pretty bad,” Pulcini said. “But then I played another important junior tournament and I finished fourth. That’s when I realized I could be good.”
“To have fun is my main goal because I know that my best golf comes with a lot of joy while I’m playing. I want to beat you with me playing good and not you playing bad.”
Mateo Pulcini
In 2019, Pulcini started his first year at Division II Oklahoma Christian, where he won two collegiate tournaments and was a three-time Golf Coaches Association of America All-American. Head coach David Lynn quickly warmed to the long-hitting Argentinian for both his play and attitude.
“I would describe him as having a very big heart,” Lynn said. “He’s a very sensitive type of person and always has a smile on his face. He always has a good time and is joking and laughing.”
Lynn also says Pulcini is a very streaky putter who is fearless on the greens. Pulcini’s putts often have a better chance of going 6 feet past the hole than staying short.
“He lives in the kill zone,” said Lynn, who was watching on TV as Pulcini came down the stretch in Peru. “He’s always hitting putts too hard or very firmly. That’s one of the first things I texted him when he finished at the LAAC, ‘I can see you’re living in the kill zone.’”
Pulcini has a good laugh when he hears the term “kill zone,” and that putting style was evident during the championship.
“I wasn’t leaving those putts short for sure,” Pulcini said. “If my caddie said two balls out I was aiming one ball out and hitting it hard.”
While his putts were dropping in Lima, Pulcini’s putting has gotten him into plenty of trouble. After four years at Oklahoma Christian, Pulcini transferred to the University of Arkansas as a graduate senior in 2023. He hoped to continue to improve at the Division I school before turning professional once he graduated.
However, largely because of his putting, Pulcini played in only five tournaments and his scoring average shot up to 74.08, his highest since his first year at Oklahoma Christian. Something had to change.
“It was hard because I was playing well and then I started struggling with the putter,” Pulcini said. “Then in the beginning of the spring [2024] I started seeing a psychologist and was working hard with her. I tried to take things easier and have more fun while playing.”
That joy was on full display in Peru, as Pulcini was often smiling, engaging with the crowd or telling his playing partner “good shot.”
“To have fun is my main goal because I know that my best golf comes with a lot of joy while I’m playing,” Pulcini said. “I want to beat you with me playing good and not you playing bad.”
Pulcini says he felt proud to win the Latin America Amateur for himself, Rio Cuarto and Argentina as a whole. In a few months, he’ll represent Argentina at Augusta National, following in the footsteps of fellow Argentinian and 2009 Masters champion Ángel Cabrera, whom Pulcini has played with and will ask advice from. Both players are from the Córdoba province of central Argentina.
It will be an opportunity for Pulcini to see if the professional path is something he actually wants to pursue.
“During Masters week I’m almost going to be a professional because they’re going to interview me and the world will be looking at me.”
“The first thing I want to take away is how much I like professional work,” Pulcini said. “I want to see if I like the environment with fans moving all the time, which isn’t something we have to deal with as amateurs. During Masters week I’m almost going to be a professional because they’re going to interview me and the world will be looking at me.”
Lynn plans to follow Pulcini every step of the way at Augusta. His advice: have fun.
“First and foremost I want him to enjoy himself which I don’t think will be a problem,” Lynn said. “Mateo has fun wherever he goes. But I want him to soak it in. The first thing I would tell him is to be himself. His game and being himself has gotten him to that point.”
While Pulcini won’t change his cheerful nature for the Masters, he may have to escape the kill zone with his putter on the undulating greens of Augusta National.
“I have to change that mindset a little bit because I’m not sure I’m going to have fun doing that at Augusta,” Pulcini joked.
Top: Mateo Pulcini’s Latin America Amateur victory earned him entry into this year’s Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship.
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