Colombia's Nico Echavarria held his nerve to seal a maiden professional victory at the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open on Sunday, carding a four-under-par 68 to win by two strokes.
Echavarria, who had taken a two-shot lead after Saturday's third round, took the title after finishing with three birdies on the back nine at Rio Grande's Grand Reserve Golf Club to close on 21 under.
Akshay Bhatia of the United States took second place after a final-round charge that threatened to eclipse Echavarria.
Bhatia started with a bogey but then rattled in eight birdies for a seven-under-par 65, leaving him at 19 under.
The celebration starts now ????
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 5, 2023
Family and friends greeted @Nicolas_Ech on 18 with champagne after his victory @PuertoRicoOpen. pic.twitter.com/u6hl1MRczC
His round finished with four straight birdies but it was ultimately not enough to deny Echavarria his first title since turning professional six years ago.
Nate Lashley and Carson Young were tied for third on 16 under, with Michael Kim alone in fifth place on 15 under.
FINAL SCORES
267 - Nicolas Echavarria (col) 67-67-65-68
269 - Akshay Bhatia 66-71-67-65
272 - Nate Lashley 71-65-67-69, Carson Young 63-67-71-71
273 - Michael Kim 70-66-71-66
274 - Wesley Bryan 69-69-67-69
275 - Cody Gribble 69-70-71-65, John VanDerLaan 69-71-69-66, Harry Higgs 71-64-71-69, Harry Hall (ENG) 72-64-68-71