Coinciding with the day his country was celebrating controversial presidential elections, the Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas (-17), seven years after his last victory on the PGA Tour, has won again on the circuit. He did it by one stroke advantage over the American Max Greyserman (-16) at the 3M Open, a tournament held at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota. A triumph that, unlike the elections, leaves no doubt and brings him back to the big events from which he had been disappearing.
In fact, while he was walking around the tee of hole 18 waiting for the fairway to clear to play his last hole of the tournament, Matt Kuchar, by his side, was telling stories about the practice rounds of the Masters. A tournament in which Vegas has not played since 2018 and which, after his victory, he may be able to return to next year. Minutes after that conversation, the Venezuelan broke the tie with which he was playing that last flag of the course with a birdie that gave him that long-awaited moment of glory that had been resisting him for so long.
A champion on TOUR once again 🏆@JhonattanVegas earns the W @3MOpen! pic.twitter.com/o1eGFbHhih
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 28, 2024
His tee shot went to the center of the fairway. And his approach, after another long wait until the match that preceded his own was over, reached the front edge of the green, but more than 30 meters from the flag. There he took a risk to avoid the agony of the playoff with a putt that for 10 endless seconds traveled the green, went up the slope firmly and went down quickly to pass a meter from the flag. A distance from which he did not miss a second putt for birdie on this final par five that gave him glory again.
It was his fourth victory on the PGA Tour and the first since the RBC Canadian Open he won two seasons in a row, in 2016 and 2017. A trophy that earns him 1,458,000 dollars and places him in 66th place in the FedEx Cup, touching a spot in the playoffs. “It hasn’t been easy,” he said just after finishing with a final round of 70 strokes. There is no doubt that it had not been, after missing almost the entire 2022-23 season due to elbow and shoulder injuries that doctors ventured to say would hardly allow him to fully recover.
A win for the entire Vegas family ❤️ pic.twitter.com/tEBgxOrTd9
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 29, 2024
A piece of bone from his elbow came off and lodged in the joint. But the surgeons managed to remove it, Vegas started playing again, and although as a result of that injury he suffered another in the shoulder, with inflammation and a new surgery, nothing seemed to be able to stop him. Not even having to get used to living with pain. With good days, like Saturday’s 63, and others not so much, like a Sunday of discomfort in which he was able to resist. “It was a nightmare, but luckily I kept calm and was able to play quite solid without making big mistakes”. A lawful victory that leaves no doubts and opens the door to the designated events of 2025 and secures his card for two more years.
