The tournament owed him one and Santiago de la Fuente (-10) took his revenge two years after missing a short putt on hole 72 of the Ladies America Amateur Championship (LAAC) in 2022, handing the crown to Aaron Jarvis. A couple of Januarys later, the Mexican from Guadalajara came back on the final day in the Aztec duel for the title against Ómar Morales (-8) at the Santa María Golf Club, in Panama City. The lad from Puebla, favourite after leading the event from start to almost finish and being the highest ranked in the world amateur ranking of all the entrants (72nd), was never comfortable, the pressure was noticeable from the start, against the serenity and good play of his compatriot, and he paid the price in the hot moments.
¡Con este putt, Santiago de la Fuente (-10) se consagra como campeón del Latin America Amateur Championship 2024! 🇲🇽🏆
With this putt, Santiago de la Fuente (-10) is the 2024 Latin America Amateur Champion! 🇲🇽🏆 pic.twitter.com/JxS5R6jVS8
— Latin America Amateur Championship (@LAAC_Golf) January 21, 2024
Tied with -8 at 16, De la Fuente made the shot of his life, a dart at the par 3 of the 17th that left the birdie given 40 centimetres from the hole. Morales, panting all Sunday and overwhelmed, unfocused, went long with the iron and for the first time since Thursday lost the tournament lead; for the first time, therefore, De la Fuente took the lead with just one flag to play.
On the 18th, far from being scared, the golfer studying his last year at the University of Houston (possibly turning professional in the summer) hit the best driver of the week and Morales opted for the 3 wood, losing distance to his rival. But the lad from UCLA did not forget the bogey on this flag on the first day and, above all, the double bogey on Saturday that opened the doors wide open to De la Fuente, who started the final round three behind the leader, but could well have been five. On the 18th, we were saying, Morales pressured with a shot five metres from the hole, although that did not discourage the new leader, who got his ball closer. Ómar (with accent on the O, according to his father, Yamil) putted well, in line, but short. Par. De la Fuente needed two shots to win and only needed one, as he made birdie and the best round of the championship (64) in a dream weekend. Mexico claimed its second victory in the LAAC after the one obtained by Álvaro Ortiz, also born in Guadalajara, in 2019.
Before those two final heart-stopping holes, the Aztec duel got spicy because De la Fuente went hunting and soon achieved his goal, as on the 6th, after three birdies, he was already tied with Morales at -7. It is true that the latter replied on the 7th, where he added a success and his opponent a mistake, although on the 8th they swapped roles and were again level on the scoreboard. Ómar’s best shot was the second on the 9th, where he managed to regain the minimum cushion on the leaderboard with half a round to play: -8 and -7.
Morales will probably never forget the 10th. He was lucky not to get wet on the tee and instead his opponent sent it into the water on the second shot of the second and last par 5 of the Panamanian course. However, Ómar missed a birdie putt of one metre and held his hands to his face while Santiago saved par after a phenomenal chip. It was the turning point of the great mano a mano between Mexicans.
De la Fuente drew level again on the 11th and from then on equality prevailed until the aforementioned holes 17 and 18, where he delivered the coup de grace to his friend Morales, who never enjoyed the round. However, before that, on the 16th, the eventual champion had to save a three-metre par commitment and it gave him such a boost that only there did he allow himself to punch the air because of the importance of the putt.
The multi-award for the winner is of many carats. In fact, De la Fuente was crying with emotion as soon as he holed out on the 18th knowing how much and how good is coming in the calendar: invitation to the Masters and exemptions in the US Open and the Open. Poetic justice after that sad end of 2022.
“This is the best moment of my life, it shows the great work I have done in the last few months after what happened in the Dominican Republic in 2022. I visualised my victory in this championship and I have achieved it. I knew it was going to be very difficult to beat Ómar, whom I have known since childhood, he is a great player and I knew he would fight. I am very happy to win and to play three of the four Majors“, said an emotional De la Fuente upon receiving the trophy.
Finally, the bronze went to Colombian Mateo Fuenmayor (-8) and Justin Hastings (-2), from the Cayman Islands, fourth, was the other one who managed to defeat the Santa María Golf Club after four rounds. The tenth edition will be held next year at the Pilar Golf Club in Buenos Aires, where the first of this Latin America Amateur Championship that has already taken off was held.
