Colombia’s Nico Echavarria has secured his PGA Tour future with a two-shot victory in the Puerto Rico Open while Australian veteran Geoff Ogilvy tied for 11th.
Echavarria, a 28-year-old rookie, had missed the cut in eight of 10 tour events entering the tournament, including the last four.
But he fired a four-under 68 at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande on Sunday to get to 21-under 267 and claim his first PGA Tour victory by two shots from Akshay Bhatia.
Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, left the tour after 2018 but has been giving it another crack at age 45 and he secured his best result in three starts – no missed cuts – with a closing 69.
He birdied the final two holes to secure a share of 11th, nine shots behind the winner.
The victory earned Echavarria a spot in this week’s Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, near where he now resides.
“With the way I was playing the last couple weeks, at Honda, that course is really hard but I missed the cut by 8 or 9,” Echavarria said. “At Pebble (Beach) I missed it by a lot.
“You just don’t think it’s going to get better until things like this week clicks and finding something on the range on Friday just changes your week. … If I wouldn’t have had that practice session on Friday afternoon very late and found what I found, I don’t think I would be here because it cleared my mind up.”
Bhatia (65) didn’t have a chance at catching Echavarria, but his torrid finishing kick of four consecutive birdies allowed him to overtake Nate Lashley (69) and Carson Young (71), who tied for third at 16 under.
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