Matthews
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Brandon Matthews had a number in mind for what it would take to make sure nobody threatened him in the final round of the Puerto Plata Open.
Then, Matthews went out and hit that number Sunday to secure his second career win on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica.
Matthews posted a 6-under-par, 65 in the final round to finish at 26-under, 258, tied for the second-best, 72-hole total in tour history to win the four-day event at Playa Dorada Golf Course in the Dominican Republic.
The 26-year-old from Dupont shot 65 or better in all four rounds, including a 63 Saturday to surge into the lead.
“Today, I was playing myself, because I knew that if I played a good round of golf, I was going to be almost impossible to catch,” Matthews said, according to PGATour.com, following his second professional win in seven weeks. “I had 26-under on my mind and that’s why I kind of gave it a little bit more of a first pump there at the last.”
Matthews started the day four ahead, never let an opponent closer than three strokes and finished with a five-shot margin of victory when he rolled in the last of his seven birdies on 18.
Jacob Bergeron shot a closing 63 to finish alone in second.
Matthews earned the $31,500 first prize and moved into third place on the Latinoamerica Order of Merit point standings list for 2020-21. The tour had one event in March, was shut down for nine months because of COVID-19, and resumed last week with Matthews joining in for the Shell Open in Florida and finishing tied for 18th.
After back-to-back birdies at 4 and 5 and again at 10 and 11, Matthews finished strong with two more birdies in the final three holes.
“I’m really proud that I extended my lead,” said Matthews, who posted his only previous win at the 2017 Molino Canuelas Championship in Colombia. “I think that probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to have a several-shot lead and extend it throughout the day.
“I really played almost as good as I could have. I put (the ball) in every spot that I needed to put it in and trusted my putter a lot.”
Matthews got his week off to a quiet start, playing the first eight in 1-over-par Thursday when he started on the 10th tee.
The former state champion from Pittston Area played the final 64 holes in 27-under.
Starting on 18 Thursday, Matthews birdied seven of the next eight holes, including five in a row from 3 to 7, before finishing with two straight pars.
Matthews had eight birdies and two bogeys Friday, when he birdied three of the first five and two of the last three holes.
Saturday’s 63 moved Matthews from four out of the lead in third place to four clear of the field.
Matthews opened the third round with an eagle and, despite a rain delay in the middle of that stretch, played the first six holes in 6-under.
The Temple University graduate posted his first Minor League Tour victory by taking the $10,464 first prize in a 36-hole event in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. to start November.
The Minor League victory came between the end of the PGA Tour’s LOCALiQ Series and the LOCALiQ Series Championship. Matthews finished tied for 22nd in the championship of that series, which was created to replace some of the events lost were lost on the PGA’s International Tours.