Italian rookie Stefano Mazzoli took home his first PGA TOUR title at the Corales Puntacana Championship, with a one-shot victory.
The 29-year-old tackled the windy Corales Golf Course in the Dominican Republic as one of 50 DP World Tour players competing in the co-sanctioned event, which was held alongside the Open Championship. Entering the final round four strokes behind overnight leader Todd Clements of England, Mazzoli mounted an early charge with birdies at the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th holes, with only a bogey at the 5th interrupting his momentum.
Clements refused to make it easy for him, maintaining his four-shot lead as they made the turn. But after opening the back nine with birdies on two of the first three holes, the Englishman suffered a costly double bogey that dropped him back.
Mazzoli seized the opportunity, cutting the deficit with a birdie at the 14th before drawing level when Clements dropped another shot at the 16th. The title came down to the final hole, where Mazzoli embraced the pressure and sank a 24-foot birdie putt to secure both his maiden PGA TOUR victory at 20 under 268 and his PGA TOUR card through 2027.
“I’m just grateful and honored to win on tour,” Mazzoli said. “That was a dream since I was a kid.”
“I’ll be pleased to play this (TOUR) next year and see where it goes.”
Victory saw Mazzoli jump from 127th to 39th in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai standings, while also moving him up the Official World Golf Rankings from 424th to 202nd.
Clements shared second place alongside America’s Gordon Sargent at 19 under, while his fellow countrymen Will Gordon and Ben James rounded off the top 5 in a share of fourth place at 18 under.
What is the next event?
The next event on DP World Tour schedule is Danish Golf Championship taking place between 13 – 16 August in Denmark.