Fuenmayor with 66 opens to lead Latin America Amateur

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico (AP) — Mateo Fuenmayor of Colombia opened with a 6-under 66 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead in the Latin America Amateur Championship.

Fuenmayor is a junior at Oregon State. He had tied for seventh in the South American Amateur last week in Ecuador. He shot one on the 12th hole, making seven birdies.

Fuenmayor held a narrow lead over Vicente Marzilio from Argentina, Martin Cancino from Chile, and the Mexican duo Santiago de la Fuente & Luis Carera.

The winner receives an invitation to Masters and this year, the USGA is offering an exemption for the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

Marzilio & de la Fuente were tied for second in the Latin American Amateur last year.

“I think my strength today was the play off the tee,” Fuenmayor said. “I just put a 2-iron off of the tee yesterday in practice and I used it almost every day today. I was able, from the fairway and attack holes, to play a lot of putts. The hole looked pretty big today, I’m not going to lie, but a really good start to the tournament.”

Last year, De la Fuente at Casa de Campo (Dominican Republic) had a birdie putt that would have forced a playoff but was unable to make it. It has stuck with him.

“For pretty much the whole year, me and my team were thinking about this tournament and we were counting the days to come back and play again for the prize,” de la Fuente said.

Aaron Jarvis, the Cayman Islands’ defense champion, opened the tournament with a 72.

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