Crisologo claws his way to title defense at South American Am

January 13, 2019 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Chris Crisologo

The Canadian climbed six spots on the leaderboard in the final round then won a playoff over Costa Rica's Luis Gagne

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

Results: South American Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Chris Crisologo	, Canada	700	72-69-71-69=281
2	Luis Gagne	Orlando, FL	500	68-72-69-72=281
T3	Leandro Correa	, Argentina	400	68-75-73-66=282
T3	Thomas Plumb	, England	400	68-75-67-72=282
T5	Tomas Gana	, Chile	400	71-70-71-71=283

View full results for South American Amateur

About the South American Amateur

Crisologo claws his way to title defense at South American Am

A 72-hole stroke play championship, the South American Championship was started in 2006 and is organized annually by the Executive Secretary and the governing body of the country in which the tournament is conducted. The schedule provides that the se...