Aguilar comes from behind at Rocas de Santo Domingo

SANTO DOMINGO, Chile – Trailing by one heading into the final round, Chile’s Felipe Aguilar fired a 7-under 65 Sunday to come from behind and win the Rocas de Santo Domingo Open. Aguilar finished at 13-under for the week, two shots clear of 36-hole leader Gustavo Silva, who carded a 68 to settle for the runner-up finish at the Chile Tour event joining the 2022-23 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica’s Dev Series schedule.

Posting a final-round 66, Benjamín Saiz Wenz finished solo third at 10-under. The lone foreigner inside the top 5 was Costa Rica’s Paul Chaplet, who took solo fourth at 8-under. Christian Espinoza and Philippe Guidi rounded out the first page of the leaderboard in a tie for fifth at 6-under.

“I made a lot of birdies and only one bogey,” said the 47-year old veteran of his final round 65. “I’m pretty pleased, despite making a few bad shots throughout the round. Anyway, I took great advantage of the good ones that I made.”

Aguilar went on the attack right out the gate Sunday. He birdied holes 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 to shoot 5-under 31 on the front nine and move ahead for good. He added birdies on 11 and 12, carded his only bogey of the day on 14 and then birdied 16.

Winner of multiple events across his career in Chile, Aguilar had some nice memories to share during his winner’s speech. He said he won the Rocas de Santo Domingo event for the first time 18 years ago. At the time, he and his wife were awaiting the birth of their first daughter Victoria, who happened to be his caddie this past week.

Featuring events from the top domestic Tours from across Latin America, the Dev Series grants access to the leading five players from each event into a final tournament that awards PGA TOUR Latinoamérica status for the following season.

The Dev Series will continue next week with the Campanario Classic, a Mexican Tour event to be played at Club de Golf El Campanario in the city of Queretaro.

2023 ROCAS DE SANTO DOMINGO OPEN TOP 10