Mateo Pulcini won the 2025 Latin America Amateur on Sunday, beating Missouri senior Virgilio Paz in the second playoff hole and locking up places in the 2026 Masters, the U.S. Open and The Open. The 25-year-old from Rio Cuarto, Argentina, closed with a tournament that never strayed far from control: he shot even par or better in all eight rounds and finished with the kind of steadiness that usually wins these events without drama.
The victory made Pulcini the oldest winner of the Latin America Amateur since the event began in 2015, and it pushed Argentina back to the front of a competition it has repeatedly owned. Abel Gallegos won in 2020, Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira followed in 2023, and Pulcini became the third Argentine champion in a span of five editions. That matters because the winner does not just take a trophy home. The title opens doors to golf's biggest stages, and Pulcini will now get those starts next year.
Pulcini's road to that moment started at Oklahoma Christian University, where he became a three-time NCAA Division II All-American before finishing his college career with the Arkansas Razorbacks. He also represented Argentina at the 2025 Eisenhower Trophy in Singapore and has built a résumé that goes well beyond one hot week. Pulcini now owns eight World Amateur Golf Ranking wins, including three straight victories in 2024, a run that signaled his rise before he arrived at this tournament.
The tension in his win came from the playoff itself. Paz, a Missouri senior, forced extra holes before Pulcini finished the job on the second playoff hole. That finish gave the tournament a clean winner but also underlined how little separated the top players over four days. Even with the playoff pressure, Pulcini kept the ball in play and avoided the big number that can erase a lead in amateur golf. In a field where six amateurs are playing in the 2026 Masters and six amateurs are vying for the Silver Cup this week at Augusta National, the Argentine enters the biggest stage with form that is hard to ignore.
For Pulcini, the next step is straightforward: the majors are on the calendar, and the results that mattered most were already delivered in a playoff that confirmed his place among the game's most polished amateurs.
