Latin America Amateur Championship – Day 4 underway

The leaders have teed off in the final round of the Latin American Amateur Championship at Pilar Golf in Buenos Aires. Chile’s Matias Dominguez led the way by a single shot through 54-holes from home player Alejandro Tosti.

The leaders have teed off in the final round of the Latin American Amateur Championship at Pilar Golf in Buenos Aires. Chile’s Matias Dominguez led the way by a single shot through 54 holes from home player Alejandro Tosti.

The pressure was evident on the first tee as the leading protagonists began their final push. With a sizeable gallery, including a number of leading figures from the R&A and a gaggle of serious looking gents in green jackets, there was a real murmur of excitement as the last groups were announced onto the tee.

Gaston Bertinotti of Argentina did his best to relieve the tension by sporting a pair of strides that John Daly would have been proud of. The young Argentinian is clearly a dynamic character but, unfortunately, a streak of unpredictability seems to run through into his scoring. So far he’s had 68, 78 and 66. He definitely has one of the best swings I’ve seen here this week and he clearly has the ability to shoot low scores. He’s started with a bogey… Like I said – unpredictable.

The greatest pressure is definitely on Alejandro Tosti. The home player has been asked questions by the press about how it would feel to play in The Masters every day since Tuesday and that has to be getting to him. We’ve now hooked onto the fact his parents have never been on an aeroplane, and would take their first flight to see him play at Augusta (if he were to win)… Poor kid. I just hope he can stay in the present out there today and play as well as he has for the first 54 holes.

I’ve been watching Guillermo Pereira of Chile since the tournament started. Not just because he came into the event as the top ranked player, but also because I saw him practising and was impressed by the way he strikes the ball. He’s been flying well under the radar for the first three rounds, making a few mistakes and, obviously, not firing on all cylinders. But, seemingly out of nowhere, he’s still in the mix and, with three birdies in his first five holes, he’s now just three shots off the lead.

Matias Dominguez, (round three leader,) has started with a bogey and, I have to say, he possibly looked the most edgy of all the top competitors on the first tee. He said yesterday that he’s not used to leading and his pushed tee-shot on the first seemed to confirm his uncertainty. I was also a little worried about the state of his glove: very scabby looking. Surely he could have broken out a new one  for the most important round of his life?

Well, I’m off out to see how they get on and who manages to handle the pressure the best. My money’s on Pereira.