Diners Club Peru Open: 10 facts

LIMA, Peru—Kicking off the second half of the 2022-23 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica season, the Diners Club Peru Open begins next week at Los Inkas Golf Club. The host club will become the first venue to welcome a PGA TOUR Latinoamérica event for a 10th time. The following are 10 facts about the tournament set to start on Thursday, April 27.

1. The inaugural Peru Open took place in 1953, with Argentine legend Roberto De Vicenzo winning three of the tournament’s first four editions, in 1953, 1954 and 1958. The Peru Open is one of 16 different national opens won by De Vicenzo throughout his impressive career.

2. De Vicenzo shares the record for the most wins at this event, with U.S. player Scott Dunlap, who won the Peru Open three years in a row, starting in 1998.

3. In 1991, the Peru Open became one of five original South American Tour events. It remained on the South American Tour schedule for nine full seasons, up until 1999.

4. The following five editions were played as part of the Tour de las Américas, with victories by Dunlap (2000), Brad Sutterfield (2004), Alan Wagner (2008), Sebastián Fernández (2010) and Benjamín Alvarado (2011).

5. The tournament joined PGA TOUR Latinoamérica for the Tour’s inaugural season of 2012, with Peru’s Sebastián Salem making the most of a sponsor exemption to claim the title.

6. Argentina’s Julián Etulain was the last player to successfully defend his title, winning first in 2013 and doing it again a year later. Etulain is the Peru Open’s only two-time winner in the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica era.

7. Three winners went on to claim PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Player of the Year honors: Etulain (2014), Mexico’s Rodolfo Cazaubón (2015) and U.S. player Harry Higgs (2018).

8. The 2017 tournament was probably the weirdest in history, as, on short notice, tournament officials had to shorten the event to 54 holes because of a government-mandated curfew for all residents and visitors due to a national census conducted Sunday—the scheduled day of the final round. A Wednesday-to-Saturday tournament was not feasible, so Charlie Saxon held up the trophy after 54 holes Saturday, the former University of Oklahoma star a four-shot winner.

9. As host of this event, Los Inkas Golf Club is set to become the first and only venue to welcome a PGA TOUR Latinoamérica for a 10th time. The next-closest site is Ecuador’s Quito Tennis & Golf Club, which is set to host the Kia Open for a ninth time a week after the Diners Club Peru Open.

10. With 2022 champion José Toledo qualifying for the PGA TOUR’s Mexico Open at Vidanta, a tournament scheduled for next week opposite the Diners Club Peru Open, there will be a new champion in 2023. Toledo won by six shots last year, finishing at 22-under to tie the tournament’s 72-hole scoring record.