Sometimes achieving your dreams requires a bit of luck. At least, that’s what Mateo Pulcini found out on Sunday at the Latin American Amateur Championship.
With a spot in the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship on the line, the 25-year-old from Argentina stepped up to the first playoff hole and hit his iron into the right rough. With his ball buried, Pulcini tried to muscle his second shot up near the green. But it came out low and looked like it would hit a tree, dooming his chances. However, the ball somehow missed all of the big branches and made it through, leaving Pulcini a 40-yard chip shot.
Pulcini’s next shot checked up to 20 feet, and he poured in the ensuing par putt to send his playoff against Venezuela’s Virgilio Paz to a second hole.
On that second playoff hole, Paz yanked his tee shot into the left rough and caught a flyer lie that sailed right of the green. Paz chipped 40 feet past the hole and missed the par putt, leaving the door open for Pulcini to become the oldest winner in Latin American Amateur Championship history. Pulcini’s third shot came up just short of the green. He pulled putter and rolled his third to three feet. He tapped in the par putt to punch his ticket to Augusta National, Shinnecock Hills and Royal Birkdale.
