Australian Karl Vilips confirmed maturity past his years to safe his first win on the PGA Tour on the Puerto Rico Open in simply the third begin of his debut season.
Watch each spherical of the PGA Tour LIVE & Unique on Fox Sports activities, out there on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your first month for simply $1. Restricted time supply.
Vilips completed -26 for the match, with rounds of 65, 67, 66 and 64, capturing a powerful seven-under par remaining spherical to prevail by three photographs forward of Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen who laid down a critical problem to the Melbourne-born, Perth-raised rising star.
The Dane was within the clubhouse at -23 after lighting up the Grand Reserve Golf Membership with a nine-under par remaining spherical that demanded in a single day chief Vilips convey his finest down the stretch to pocket the $1.14 million winner’s cheque and e-book his place within the US$25 million The Gamers Championship beginning Friday morning Australian time.
The 23-year-old, who was as soon as a junior YouTube prodigy however is now an envoy for Tiger Woods’ Solar Day Purple label, additionally earned himself a serious berth on the US PGA Championship later this yr and receives a two-year PGA Tour exemption for his efforts.
“Final evening that was about the one factor on my thoughts was every little thing that comes with a victory right here. I had a tough time attending to sleep,” Vilips mentioned.
He can also have a troublesome evening forward attending to sleep as he goes by means of the seemingly endless messages of congratulations on his cellphone, most notably together with a voicemail from Woods.
“I bought on my cellphone after the spherical and I used to be simply scrolling, like who was texting me? I believe I bought one from a random quantity that known as me as properly. Then there was a voicemail saying it’s Tiger and I couldn’t like course of it within the second,” Vilips recalled.
“I’ll get again to that later. That’s fairly cool.”
The younger Australian can also be fast to let Woods know that it didn’t take lengthy for him to ship Solar Day Purple a victory, regardless of sporting a white shirt within the remaining spherical.
“Properly, I signed it three weeks in the past, so not too lengthy since a Solar Day Purple participant has gotten a win,” Vilips mentioned.
“I believe it’s actually particular. I believe it reveals me that there’s a cause why they selected me to rep their model and I’m simply actually completely satisfied to have the ability to do it in a manner that’s, you understand, as myself.
“It’s actually cool and I do know everybody at Solar Day Purple staff goes to be tremendous completely satisfied. You’ve bought to look good to play good, so yeah, it’s actually cool.”
Vilips began sizzling, with three birdies and an eagle on the entrance 9, however held his nerve sensationally following a bogey at 12 which he later described as “fairly careless”.
“I used to be fairly annoyed by that. With a wedge within the fairway, I used to be considering birdie and provides myself a little bit of a cushion on the leaderboard,” he mentioned.
“However I needed to simply neglect about it.”
He responded to that slip-up with a hat-trick of birdies at 13, 14 and 15 earlier than coolly making par at 16 and 17, and ending with a press release birdie at 18 as if he was a veteran merely including one other notch to his belt.
Within the course of, Vilips additionally smashed the match’s scoring report by an astonishing 5 photographs.
He’s simply the twelfth participant since 1970 to win a PGA Tour occasion inside their first 4 begins on Tour, the thirty seventh Australian winner on the US Tour and the primary since Cam Davis ultimately yr’s Rocket Mortgage Basic.
Talking to broadcaster the Golf Channel beside the 18th inexperienced moments after finishing his life-changing victory, Vilips mentioned that it was a “dream come true for me and my dad”.
“Been going at it for a very long time and that is what we dreamed of once I was a child, so yeah, fairly surreal,” he added.
Vilips’ father, Paul, has been his son’s coach since he was 4 years outdated however was not in Puerto Rico for the breakthrough victory.
“I want he might have been right here for it. It’s one of many uncommon ones he hasn’t been capable of come to,” Vilips mentioned.
“However he’s been an enormous affect on my life and golf, pushing me from a younger age.”
Paul was additionally answerable for importing movies of his follow classes, trick photographs and junior tournaments to the ‘Koala Karl’ YouTube account, and has been by his son’s aspect because the household relocated from Perth to Florida when Vilips was in highschool with the intention to pursue his golf profession.
Vilips was a extremely touted beginner, who represented Australia in worldwide occasions, earned a begin on the 2023 US Open by means of qualifying but in addition got here by means of the US school system at Stanford, the identical college Woods famously attended, in California.
Talking to Australian media after his win, Vilips shared that he now looks like can shake the tags that got here with a embellished beginner and junior profession.
“The objective was by no means to be the YouTube star, youngster prodigy but it surely occurred,” he mentioned.
“I’m completely satisfied to point out those who that’s not who I used to be. There’s extra to my sport. There’s extra to me. I’m a tough employee.
“This win is big. Hopefully I can put my identify on a barely larger stage and also you by no means know, hopefully I put myself up there with a number of the finest on the earth fairly quickly.”
He’s now settled in Florida since turning skilled final yr and taking the secondary Korn Ferry Tour by storm earlier than graduating to the PGA Tour, and he truly lives close to TPC Sawgrass, which hosts the upcoming Gamers Championship.
He can’t wait to make his maiden look on the match typically dubbed ‘the fifth main’.
“I’m excited. I’ll be capable of keep in my very own mattress and it’ll be like a house match for me,” Vilips mentioned.