Karl Vilips, in just his fourth competition on the PGA Tour, the third of the season, won his first title on the circuit by winning the Puerto Rico Open with 262 (65 67 66 64, -26), beating by three shots the Danish Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, second with 265 (-23) and Joseph Bramlett, third with 267 (-21).
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Karl Vilips, results
On the Grand Reserve Golf Club course (par 72) in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, Matteo Manassero, the only Italian in the competition, ranked 45th with 277 (66 70 67 74, -11).
In fourth place with 269 (-19) Steven Fisk and the South African amateur Kieron Van Wyk, in sixth with 270 (-18) Kevin Roy, Davis Riley, William Mouw and the German Matti Schmid and in tenth with 271 (-17) Brandt Snedeker and Carson Young. Only 40th with 276 (-12) Brice Garnett, defending champion.
Vilips gave up the lead in the third round, then in the fourth he further increased the pace with a 64 (-8, one eagle, seven birdies, one bogey), second score of the day, with which he kept at bay Neergaard-Petersen, author of the best partial with a 63 (-9, nine birdies including six in a row), last year first in the order of merit of the Challenge Tour (now HotelPlanner Tour).
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The winner, a native of Jakarta in Indonesia, a graduate of Stanford University, a professional since 2024, stepped up to the major tour finishing 19th in the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Point List, after 10 appearances and one title (Utah Championship). He sealed the success at the age of 23 years, 6 months and 21 days, setting the tournament record score of 262 (-26) over 72 holes. He also obtained an exemption until 2027, will be able to play The Players Championship this week and subsequently a Major, the PGA Championship, rose from 246th to 106th place in the World Ranking, from 161st to 41st in the FedEx Cup ranking and was rewarded with a check for 720,000 dollars on a prize pool of 4,000,000 dollars.
Manassero, in his fifth race of the season after taking one of the ten cards reserved for the top finishers of the DP World Tours Race To Dubai 2024 (order of merit) who are not otherwise exempt, was quite inconsistent. He started in sixth position, then dropped to 29th in the second round, climbed back to 13th in the third and dropped back again in the fourth. He still left behind the cut he suffered in the previous Cognizant Classic after the first three events in which he always cashed.
