Former Mustang golfer Harry Higgs won his first professional title, shooting a final-round 68 to capture the Diners Club Peru Open by two strokes in Lima. He moved to No. 5 on the Order of Merit with three tournaments remaining. The top-five finishers earn 2019 Web.com Tour membership. Austin Smotherman remains No. 3 on the list with his tie for sixth.


LIMA, Peru—Locked in a tie midway through the back nine of the Diners Club Peru Open, Harry Higgs pulled away with three consecutive birdies, starting at No. 14, to win his first PGA TOUR Latinoamérica tournament in his 28th career start.

The steady Higgs was finally able to walk into the winner's circle after shooting a final-round, 4-under 68 to finish at 19-under overall to defeat American David Denlinger and Spain's Mario Beltran by two strokes. With the $31,500 payday, Higgs moved from No. 18 on the Order of Merit to fifth with three tournaments remaining.

A week earlier, Higgs took a share of the lead into the final round in Chile only to stumble on the final day, shooting a 1-over 73 to fall to a tie for 10th. There would be no such disappointment seven days later.

"It feels pretty awesome, obviously," a happy Higgs said following his round. "I really don't think I've won anything since high school golf. It's been a long time coming, a lot of belief and (I) keep thinking it's going to happen. I'm just very fortunate that today was the day that it actually did happen."

If there were a time in his round where Higgs may have shown flashes of last week's final-round struggle, it would have been on the 11th hole, where he bogeyed. After reaching the green in regulation, Higgs hit his birdie putt well past the hole and then "didn't quite trust the read" on his par putt, which he missed, falling from the lead.
"I walked to 12 (tee), and I told myself, You're right where you need to be. Keep doing what you're doing, and eventually a putt will fall," Higgs explained.

He immediately got the stroke back, with a birdie at No. 12 before his onslaught on 14, 15 and 16. The self-talk clearly worked.

"I was fortunate to hit shots where the putts were easier, and I was fortunate to make a few putts on the back nine and get ahead," he added. Higgs said the birdie on the par-5 15th was key to his finish. After hitting a poor drive, he elected to lay up. "I was patient, I hit a good wedge and then holed the putt."

Brian Richey, making his 2018 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica season debut, and Will Collins tied for fourth, at 16-under, with Americans Austin Smotherman and Michael Weaver and Argentina's Tano Goya tying for sixth, four shots back.

Current Order of Merit

Pos.	Player	Earnings
1.	Nicolas Echavarria (Colombia)	$96,416
2.	Marcelo Rozo (Colombia)	$77,485
3.	Austin Smotherman (U.S.)	$75,926
4.	Tyson Alexander (U.S.)	$71,252
5.	Harry Higgs (U.S.)	$66,336
6.	Andres Gallegos (Argentina)	$59,906
7.	Matt Gilchrest (U.S.)	$58,506
8.	Horacio Leon (Chile)	$57,387
9.	Ben Polland (U.S.)	$57,304
10.	Eric Steger (U.S.)	$55,663

 
Did you know Harry Higgs has made six career Web.com Tour appearances, one as an amateur and five as a pro? In those six starts, he has one made cut—at the 2016 Digital Ally Open outside Kansas City, tying for 60th.
 
Key Information
Harry Higgs improved 13 spots on the Order of Merit after his victory, improving to No. 5. With the top-five money-winners at the end of the season earning 2019 Web.com Tour membership, Higgs holds a $6,430 lead over No. 6 Andres Gallegos.
 
Oddly enough, Harry Higgs only had one round where he had more than one bogey, and that came in Sunday's final round, where he bogeyed Nos. 11 and 18. Higgs was 12-under on Los Inkas Golf Club's four par-5s during the week, making eagles at the par-5 14th in both the second and third rounds.
 
The win was Harry Higgs' fourth top-10 of the season, and he has a win, a second and a third to go with the tie for 10th he picked up last week at the Volvo Abierto de Chile.
 
Nicolas Echavarria's missed cut at the JHSF Brazil Open is certainly an outlier on his 2018 record. In his last seven starts, dating to the Quito Open in Ecuador in early June, Echavarria has, in order, a tie for sixth, a tie for fifth, a win, a missed cut, another win, a fifth and this week's tie for ninth.
 
With $96,416 in earnings, Nicolas Echavarria has earned 87 percent of his money in his last seven starts. Overall, he has played in 13 tournaments.
 
Nicolas Echavarria needs to make $44,481 in his final three tournaments to set the single-season PGA TOUR Latinoamérica money-earnings' mark set by Nate Lashley, in 2016. Lashley won the Order of Merit and the Roberto De Vicenzo Award that season ($140,897).
 
Harry Higgs' 72nd-hole bogey was meaningless, as he held a three-shot lead with one hole to play. Still, he is the first winner this season to make a bogey on his final hole of the tournament.
 
This season, 10 of 13 third-round leaders have gone on to win, Harry Higgs the latest.
 
In the 13 previous stroke-play tournaments, the winner has come out of the final group seven times. Harry Higgs is the eighth to play in the final grouping and win.
 
Spain's Mario Beltran established a new career-best 18-hole score on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica with his Sunday 64. His previous-best score was a 65 during the first round of the São Paulo Golf Club Championship.
 
Harry Higgs was one of three players to record four rounds in the 60s this week at Los Inkas Golf Club. Higgs shot rounds of 67-69-65-68, while David Denlinger (68-68-68-67) and Nicolas Echavarria (69-69-68-68) were the others.
 
Austin Smotherman, No. 3 on the Order of Merit, has missed four cuts this season. When he gets to the weekend, though, Smotherman has been the picture of consistency, never finishing worse than a tie for 25th (BMW Jamaica Classic). This week in Lima, Smotherman tied for sixth, his fourth top-10 of the campaign.
 
Quotable
"I played very well all day. I just stuck to the same routines, which, last week in this position I did not do." –Harry Higgs
 
"Will (Collins) was playing some really, really good golf. He's a good friend of mine. It was almost like I can't let him beat me. But he was putting his best foot forward, for sure." –Harry Higgs
 
"I was planning on going to second stage (Web.com Tour qualifying) and missing the first event in Patagonia (Argentina). I timed this well, and I'm very fortunate that I'm exempt to final stage. Now I can try to catch Nicolo (Echavarria). It's unbelievable how well he's playing. I'd love to catch him, though. That would be great." –Harry Higgs
 
"There's still work to be done, but now I will play the remaining two in Argentina and obviously finish the year in Miami. My goal at the beginning of the year was to win the money list. I have an outside chance, but I probably need another win because Nicolo (Echavarria) is so good and has had such a great year." –Harry Higgs
 
"Lima was phenomenal. The food, the people, the ease of it. I'm staying at the hotel right there, so we can walk to the golf course. The room was great. Everything about it was great, and then to win here was special, and Lima will always have a place in my heart." –Harry Higgs
 
Final-Round Weather Report
Cloudy and cool, with a high of 67. Wind variable at 6-10 mph.