Crisologo claws his way to title defense at South American Am

SANTIAGO, Chile (Jan. 13, 2019) – Early week, Chris Crisologo had bounced around near the top of the leaderboard in his title-defending run at the South American Amateur. He never actually reached the top, however, until the end of the final round. Crisologo, a Canadian, did exactly what he had to do in pulling off a close title defense at Los Leones Golf Club.

Crisologo’s final-round 69, while not the lowest score on the board on Sunday, carried him six spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for first with third-round leader Luis Gagne. Both players finished 72 holes at 7 under after Gagne stalled out in the final round with an even-par round.

Both players had birdied the final hole of regulation to remain tied. Ultimately, Gagne lost his advantage when he bogeyed the par-4 12th late in the day.

It took two additional holes to decide a champion. On the second hole, Gagne made a critical mistake when he hit his ball in a bunker, allowing Crisologo the advantage that would ultimately earn him the trophy…again.

"This is a different triumph, it's a very different field,” Crisologo said of winning the event for the second year in a row. “It was a privilege to be here and it was a very fun week at the end. You had to be precise from the tee, I played my golf at the end.”

Argentinian Leandro Correa and Englishman Thomas Plumb tied for third at 6 under. Correa’s final-round 66 went down as the low round of the day.

Toto Gana, the 2017 Latin America Amateur winner, was part of a three-man tie for fifth at 5 under. Gana is headed to the Dominican Republic next week to take another shot at the LAAC.

Information from South American Amateur site used in this report