Island welcomes top golf professionals for 16th playing of Puerto Rico Open

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The PGA TOUR has arrived for the 16th playing of the Puerto Rico Open this week, where many of the world’s top players – including four Puerto Ricans led by PGA TOUR member and San Juan native Rafael Campos – will compete for a share of the record $4 million prize money at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande.

Accentuating this year’s tournament, the winner of which will earn $720,000, Puerto Rico Tourism Company and the PGA TOUR announced Tuesday their agreement to continue the Puerto Rico Open through 2026.

“Through our longstanding partnership as the title sponsor, Puerto Rico Tourism Company is proud to continue supporting this global-attention-garnering tournament, a key platform to promote Puerto Rico as a world-class golf destination and a driving force of tourism and economic development,” said Carlos Mercado, executive director, Puerto Rico Tourism Company. “Since 2008, the Puerto Rico Open has been the Island’s premier golf event. That speaks volumes to its immense impact and reach.”

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with Puerto Rico Tourism Company, which has been a tremendous supporter of the PGA TOUR and the Puerto Rico Open for the last 16 years,” said Tyler Dennis, chief competitions officer, PGA TOUR. “The PGA TOUR appreciates its continued commitment to this proud event, and we look forward to producing another memorable rendition this week in Rio Grande.”

Top-echelon golf events are regularly held in Puerto Rico, illuminating the Island’s golf destination merit. The Puerto Rico Open comes on the heels of the Island hosting the Latin America Amateur Championship last year, when the winner earned invitations to play in the 2023 Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. Prior to that, Puerto Rico and Grand Reserve held the first United States Golf Association championship to be played outside the mainland.

“The Puerto Rico Open beautifully showcases what visitors can expect when playing golf here,” said Brad Dean, CEO, Discover Puerto Rico. “Watching top-echelon players compete on one of our 18 courses during the tournament broadcasts – with views framed by swaying coconut trees, crashing turquoise surf and towering rainforest ridgelines – inspires golfers to visit Puerto Rico.”

The 2024 Puerto Rico Open is set to crown another champion amid the tropical splendor for which the island is revered. Some of the PGA TOUR’s biggest names and rising stars have won or finished runner-up here, including Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Jason Day and Akshay Bhatia.

In addition to Campos, Puerto Rico will be represented in the field by Chris Nido, 25, who turned pro in 2020, and two rising-star amateur players – Evan Pena, 15, and Kelvin Hernández, 18. Multiple teenagers playing in a PGA TOUR event happens infrequently, and it’s less common for a 15-year-old to do so. However, Pena is no ordinary adolescent, last month winning the Discover Puerto Rico Junior Golf Championship, an American Junior Golf Association event. Pena will be the second-youngest player to play in a PGA TOUR event in the last 10 years (20 days younger than Oliver Betschart at the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship).

The tournament will be contested on Grand Reserve’s Championship Course adjacent to the amenity-rich, oceanfront Hyatt Regency.

Colombia’s Nico Echavarria claimed his first PGA TOUR victory in his rookie year at the 2023 Puerto Rico Open and went on to be nominated for PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year.

Echavarria returns to defend his title this week. He’ll be challenged by an exceptional field of players. Campos, the only current PGA TOUR member from Puerto Rico, knows the course well and nearly set off a country-wide celebration through his performance in the 2021 Puerto Rico Open. Leading after three rounds, he narrowly fell to the eventual champion late on the final day.

Campos is striving to become the first Puerto Rican to win on the PGA TOUR since Chi Chi Rodriguez won eight times on the game’s biggest stage.