Rafael Becker

Exempt status

• Korn Ferry Tour: Finishers 4-5 on 2021 Forme Tour Order of Merit or 2020-21 PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Order of Merit / Finishers 76-100 in 2020-21 Regular Season Standings / Additional Qualifying Tournament Finishers (thru 2022)

JOINED TOUR

• PGA TOUR Latinoamérica: 2014
• Korn Ferry Tour: 2019

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Victories (1)

2014 Season

• Aberto do Brasil

International Victories (1)

• 2014 Porto Alegre [Brazil/DevSeries]

Personal

• Is fluent in three languages: Portuguese, Spanish and English.
• Bucket list includes playing the Masters Tournament and traveling to Africa and visiting the Amazon in Brazil.
• Gary Player, Jaime González and Tiger Woods would round out his dream foursome.
• St. Andrews GC's Old Course, the Kampen GC at Purdue University and Flint Hills National are the golf courses he has enjoyed the most.
• The Wichita State Shockers are his favorite college team. Corinthians is his favorite professional team. "House" was his favorite TV series. Play to Play Great is his favorite book. Stroganoff is his favorite dish. Tiger Woods, Usain Bolt, Andrea Pirlo and Ronaldo are his favorite athletes to watch. Santiago, Chile, and New York are his favorite cities to visit. Loves vacationing in Barbados.

Special Interests

• Listening to music

CURRENT YEAR HIGHLIGHTS

• Bupa Tour Championship: Posted three of his four rounds at difficult PGA Riviera Maya at par or better, good for a 2-under finish and a T6 with Andy Spencer, Joseph Winslow and Manuel Torres.
• Jalisco Open GDL: Shot a final-round 66 at Atlas CC in Guadalajara in late-May to T9 with Cristobal Del Solar, Leandro Marelli and Andres Romero.
• Diners Club Peru Open presented by Volvo: Held the 54-hole lead at the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica event but never got anything going on the final day at Los Inkas GC in Lima. After parring the first three holes Sunday, made three consecutive bogeys and never recovered. Shot a 2-over 74 to T3 with Mitchell Meissner, seven shots behind champion José Toledo.

Career Highlights

2022 Season

Posted three top-10s in his eight made cuts during his 12-event PGA TOUR Latinoamerica season. Finished his campaign ranked No. 25 in the Totalplay Cup standings to retain his playing privileges for 2023.

• Bupa Tour Championship: Posted three of his four rounds at difficult PGA Riviera Maya at par or better, good for a 2-under finish and a T6 with Andy Spencer, Joseph Winslow and Manuel Torres.
• Jalisco Open GDL: Shot a final-round 66 at Atlas CC in Guadalajara in late-May to T9 with Cristobal Del Solar, Leandro Marelli and Andres Romero.
• Diners Club Peru Open presented by Volvo: Held the 54-hole lead at the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica event but never got anything going on the final day at Los Inkas GC in Lima. After parring the first three holes Sunday, made three consecutive bogeys and never recovered. Shot a 2-over 74 to T3 with Mitchell Meissner, seven shots behind champion José Toledo.

2021 Season

Appeared in all eight PGA TOUR Latinoamérica tournaments, making four cuts and posting one top-10—a T8 in his last start of the season. Finished the season 32nd on the Points List.

• Bupa Championship presented by Volvo: In a first round that yielded only three rounds in the 60s, began the season-ending event at PGA Riviera Maya with an 8-over 82. Was 14 strokes better on day two to make the cut then fired back-to-back 70s over his final 36 holes to finish T8 with three others.

2019 Season

Saw action in only seven PGA TOUR Latinoamerica tournaments to finish 46th on the Order of Merit. Made six cuts and posted two top 10s.

• Molino Cañuelas Championship: Four under-par rounds at Canuelas GC led to a fourth-place finish in Buenos Aires. Weekend 69-67 left him two shots out of the Andres Echavarria-Ryan Ruffels playoff.
• Buenaventura Classic: Closing rounds of 68-71 (5-under) helped him to a T6 with Jose Toledo, Brian Hughes and Charlie Bull at the season-opening event in Panama.

2018 Season

Turned in a solid PGA TOUR Latinoamerica campaign, with a 33rdplace Order of Merit finish. Enjoyed a trio of top-10s, including two top-five performances.

• 65 JHSF Aberto do Brasil: Stayed in contention all week during his national open, making a run at his second career win in the event only to come up short. Put himself into contention with a third-round 63. Began the final round five shots behind countryman Alexandre Rocha. Was 3-under for the day through 10 holes but could only manage a bogey and a birdie coming in. Finished T4 with Mario Galiano Aguilar, three shots behind winner Marcelo Rozo.
• Sao Paulo Golf Club Championship: Opened quickly at his hometown event at São Paulo GC, with a first-round, 6-under 65. Couldn't maintain his momentum, playing the final 54 holes in 2-under. Finish still resulted in a T9 with Shad Tuten.
• Bupa Match Play: At the first match-play event in PGA TOUR Latinoamerica history, lost his first-round match to Argentina's Clodomiro Carranza, 2 and 1.
• Costa Rica Classic: Posted his lone top-10 finish of the campaign when he was fourth overall. Moved into contention on the strength of a 7-under-par 64 in the third round.

2017 Season

Finished the season 65th on the Order of Merit, playing in 12 tournaments and making six cuts. Had one top-10 but ultimately lost his card. Regained his playing privileges with a top-10 at the Dev Series Final.

• II Malinalco Classic presentado por CIEL Final Dev Series: At Malinalco GC, shot a final-round 68 to T8, with two others, to earn 2018 PGA TOUR Latinoamerica status.
• 70 Avianca Colombia Open: Opened with an even-par 71 at Guaymaral CC then followed with three consecutive under-par efforts to T6 with Lanto Griffin and Carlos Sainz, Jr.

2016 Season

Made the cut in six of his 11 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica starts to finish the season ranked No. 91 on the Order of Merit. Had two top-25s. Also made on Korn Ferry Tour start, at his home-country event in Sao Paulo (T57).

• Malinalco Classic presentado por CFSM-DEV SERIES FINAL: Closed the year with a T6 finish in Mexico to secure starts in all scheduled events during the first half of the 2017 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica season.
• Colombia Classic: Finished T20 in Colombia in October.
• Honduras Open presented by Indura Beach and Golf Resort: Was T13 in Honduras in May.
• Brasil Champions presented by Embrase: Finished T57 at the Korn Ferry Tour's annual visit to Brazil in Sao Paulo in April.

2015 Season

Had two top-10s and eight cuts made in 14 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica starts. Finished the season ranked No. 65 on the Order of Merit. Made one Korn Ferry Tour start.

• Personal Classic presentado por NEC: Enjoyed a top-10 in Argentina in December, a T6. Entered the final round four strokes off Fabian Gomez’s lead. Could only fashion an even-par 72 on the final day.
• Dominican Republic Open: Notched his first top-10 of the season, a T7 in the Dominican Republic, where he battled illness to post a 75 during the third round and then came back to shoot the low score of the final round, a 66, at the challenging Teeth of the Dog course in Casa de Campo.
• Brasil Champions presented by HSBC: Missed the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour in March.

2014 Season

Went on to close the year ranked No. 11 in the Order of Merit, with six top-25s and nine cuts made in 15 starts including his first victory, a stirring title at his national open in November. Made his Korn Ferry Tour debut in his native Brazil but missed the cut.

• Aberto do Brasil: Shot a 7-under 29 on the final nine holes of the 61st playing of the tournament to become the first Brazilian player to win on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. His dream back-nine featured three eagles on holes 11, 13 and 18 for a solid three-stroke victory on a day he had entered trailing the leader by three in a seven-way tie for second. His 14-under par 262 set a new 72-hole record at Gavea G&CC in Rio de Janeiro. The winner’s check for $27,000 helped him move from 70th to 16th in the Order of Merit. His national open win was the first of three top-10s over the final four events of the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica season.
• Brasil Champions Presented by HSBC: Missed the cut by two shots on his first Korn Ferry Tour start as a professional in his native Brazil.
• Porto Alegre Open [CBG]: Won his first career title on Brazil’s CBG Pro Tour in Porto Alegre in August. On the event that was also part of the Developmental Series, he defeated Argentina’s Mauricio Molina with a birdie on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff after tying with him at 8-under 202 through 54 holes of play at the Porto Alegre CC.

2013 Season

Turned professional in August and finished fifth at the DevSeries Final Samsung Tournament in Lima, Peru in December to earn fully exempt status for the 2014 season of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. Made four PGA TOUR Latinoamérica starts during the second half of the season. Eventually finished 82nd on the Order of Merit.

• Personal Classic presented by BlackBerry: His T7 finish in Buenos Aires, Argentina was his best showing of the year. Four under-par rounds, including second- and final-round 67s gave him the top-10.
• Samsung Tournament: Turned professional in August and finished fifth at the DevSeries Final Samsung Tournament in Lima, Peru in December to earn fully exempt status for the 2014 season of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica.

Amateur Highlights

• Played four seasons of collegiate golf at Wichita State University (2009-13), winning three individual titles with the highlight being the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Championship. He also helped Wichita State win four consecutive MVC Championships, contributing to a run of consecutive conference titles which began in 2008 and concluded with the 2015 crown.
• Was the 2012 MVC Player of the Year, a three-time All-MVC selection, and a three-time MVC Scholar-Athlete.

Q SCHOOL GRADUATE

• Korn Ferry Tour: 2018