Argentina's Pulcini wins Latin America Amateur playoff to earn 3 major invites

Standing over a three-foot putt on the 18th hole at the Lima Golf Club in Peru's capital city, with a chance to win the Latin America Amateur Championship on the second playoff hole, Mateo Pulcini did his best to stick to a relatively quick routine. He adopted it for moments like these, when spending too much time thinking about the importance of the putt would just make everything more difficult. And the stakes here were as high as they had ever been in his life—sink this, and the list of rewards was staggering enough to make a lesser man faint:

—Entry to the Masters
—Entry to the U.S. Open
—Entry to the Open Championship
—Entry to the both the British Amateur and U.S. Amateur

Finish second, though? No Masters, and "only" a free pass into the final qualifying stage at the two other majors. Winners of the LAAC have risen high in the professional ranks; past winners have included Joaquin Niemann, Alvaro Ortiz, and last year's winner, Justin Hastings, who went on to become the low amateur at the U.S. Open.

In other words, Mateo Pulcini's attempt to turn off his brain was a very good idea. And at the critical moment, it worked:

That putt capped a phenomenal Sunday, in which Pulcini, an Oklahoma Christian University alum, shot 68 to overcome a two-stroke deficit to countryman Secundo Oliva Pinto, a longtime LAAC participant and one of this year's favorites. Oliva Pinto had been in the top 10 three times previously at this event, but while Pulcini doesn't quite have his pedigree, he did tie for sixth place last year and was one of only a few players to shoot par or better every round. He did the same this year, following up his 69-68-70 start with Sunday's 68 to reach a playoff with Venezuela's Virgilio Paz Valdes, who shot the same score. They surged past all three players in the final group, with Oliva Pinto finishing at 73 and both Brazil’s Eduardo Matarazzo and Argentina’s Andy Schonbaum, a shot behind him to start the day, faring even worse.

"I'm proud of Venezuela having two players inside the top 10, it's really big for our country," said Paz, the runner-up. " I told Mateo walking on 18 fairway, like let's just enjoy this moment. This is a special moment. So let's just have fun."

Pulcini got his toughest round out of the way on Saturday saying, "I didn't hit my best shots. I took many wrong decisions."

He struck quite a different note, however, after his big win.

"We dream to play and to win this," Pulcini said. "I have no words right now. I'm so happy, and so grateful for the people around me."

At 25, Pulcini is the oldest champion ever at the LAAC, and the third winner from Argentina. And if the short putt on the second playoff hole sealed the deal, the moments he might remember best were clutch putts with a significantly higher degree of difficulty. At the 17th hole, just after Paz Valdes sunk a long birdie to reach five under, Pulcini needed to answer just with a par putt of his own just to stay tied for the lead:

And on the first playoff hole, with Paz Valdes in tight for par, he needed another long par putt to drop to keep his hopes alive:

That clutch save, just the latest of his flat-stick heroics on Sunday, set up the finale, when Pulcini's up and down from off the front of the green was enough to secure the victory. His fellow Argentines doused him with water on the 18th green, and he kissed the trophy with Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley looking on behind him. They'll meet again in three months, and that will be just the start of a dream year that Pulcini made possible with a red-hot putter in Peru.