Brazilian Felipe Navarro wins Developmental Series Final

The 23-year old birdied the 72nd hole to win by one shot. The top 10 players earned the 2014 NEC Series-PGA TOUR Latinoamérica card

   This was Navarro's second career win in only two seasons as a pro. Walter Mendiola/PGA TOUR

Lima, Peru (December 21, 2013) – Brazil’s Felipe Navarro made ​​a birdie at the 72nd hole to defeat Colombia’s Diego Vanegas by one shot and claim his first international victory in the Developmental Series Final Samsung Tournament 2013.

In the event that awarded the leading ten players the card for the 2014 season of NEC Series-PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Navarro shot 68 on the final round to finish the week at 6-under par 282.

“I am very happy for this win. This is great and it puts me in position to find a sponsor in Brazil. I’m looking forward to playing the Tour and battling to be one of Los Cinco (who will move on to the Web.com Tour). I’m going to play as many tournaments as I can,” said the 23-year old champion.

Navarro, who remained inactive for eight months due to an elbow injury he suffered late last year, proved to be in top shape this week in Lima. He entered the final round in a tie for the second spot and stayed within the top 5 throughout the entire afternoon. A strong charge of birdies on 10, 11 and 13 put him ahead.

Playing on the penultimate group, Colombia's Diego Vanegas had a strong back nine as well. He matched the Brazilian score with a birdie on the final hole that secured a best-of-the-day 5-under par 67.

Navarro reached the 18th, a 503-yard par-five, needing a birdie to win and avoid a playoff for the title with Vanegas. “I knew I needed a birdie and although I missed my driver right into the rough, I knew I had a good shot at it. I put myself in position and took advantage of it,” said the champion about a hole where he executed a terrific flop and then sank a five-footer for birdie and the win.

“We Brazilians are not only good in football (soccer). We also have talent in golf,” he said with a big smile after a victory he dedicated to his father Rafael, an outstanding Brazilian pro who won 48 career titles and competed on the Champions Tour between 2002 and 2004.

Behind Navarro (-6) and Vanegas (-5), the third place belonged to Paraguay’s Marco Ruiz (-4). Venezuela’s Otto Solís (-3) finished fourth after holding the lead for the first three rounds. Brazil’s Rafael Becker, 22, secured the fifth place at 2-under par after a birdie at the last that helped him avoid a sudden-death playoff.

The top 5 finishers earned fully exempt status for the 2014 season of NEC Series-PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. Meanwhile, those who claimed spots 6 through 10 earned top conditional status.

Argentina's Paulo Pinto took the sixth spot, while his countrymen Lucho Dodda and César Monasterio finished in a two-way tie for seventh. Dodda, in a tie for tenth with two holes left to play, secured his position inside the top 10 by finishing birdie-birdie.

In a two-way tie for ninth, the last two spots went to the Peru’s Alan Fort, who closed birdie-birdie for a round of 69, and Argentina’s Franco Romero, who closed bogey-birdie. At age 18, Romero is in position to remain the youngest NEC Series-PGA TOUR Latinoamérica member for the third consecutive season.