BROUSSARD — Beginning the day with a two-stroke lead, 34-year-old Roberto Diaz hung on for his first Korn Ferry Tour victory at 18-under 266 at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS.
Diaz edged Peter Uihlein by one stroke and Tom Whitney by two strokes at Le Triomphe Golf & Country Club.
“Oh, man, where do I start; it’s been a long road for me,” said an emotional Diaz. “All I could think about on the course is just sustain the moment, it sounds so cliché…you have to stay in the moment…This win means a lot for me, for my family, for my team, for different reasons, not only for the sentimental part of it. But like I told you, the monkey on my back is off. I feel a lot of relief, I feel a lot of weight off me. There’s only one thing that I wanted, it was to win. When my kid came along, I kind of put that off my mind, and now I have two things off my mind now.”
Diaz had increased his advantage to four strokes after an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole, but after a bogey at the 13th, Uihlein had narrowed the gap to one. Uihlein followed that up with a chip-in birdie at the 14th to tie the lead. Both players made pars on Nos. 15 and 16 before Uihlein three-putted at the 17th to drop back to 17-under. Uihlein found the water with his tee shot on 18, and while he was able to save par, the opening was enough for Diaz to comfortably two-putt for the win.
As Diaz walked off the final green, he received FaceTime calls from his wife and fellow pro Abraham Ancer.
“Abe just told me congrats, good playing,” said Diaz. “He knows how hard it’s been for me. It was great. He knows how hard I work, how tough it’s been for me. He’s there with me every day at practice, at the gym, at home, playing, struggling, he’s a great friend. It means a lot to me that he was there with me. Dale, his caddie, he FaceTimed with me last night for an hour. It’s nice for me to do this for them. It’s good.”
Prior to his win, Diaz had been a professional for 13 years and accumulated 193 starts across the PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. He had earned four runner-up finishes in that time (three on Korn Ferry Tour, one on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica), but had never found the winner’s circle.
“Oh, yeah, last event [in contention] I think I lost by six or seven, finished 14th, and I called my putting coach Ramon, he’s been there the whole way, and I said, you know what, I’m never going to win,” reflected Diaz. “I’m just never going to win. I don’t care if I do, if I do it’s going to be great, but I’m never going to win. [told him] I’m not a winner, I’m just out here to make money, it’s my business and I’m going to take it as a business, I’m not going to take it as a competitor. And [now] here I am…Hopefully the second comes soon…I wouldn’t like to play against me now.”
Diaz moves from 22nd to ninth in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings and puts himself in prime position to earn a PGA TOUR card at the end of the season. Diaz graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour in 2017 and competed on the PGA TOUR for two seasons before returning to the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020.
In the end, Diaz fired a final-round 68 and parred his final five holes to hold off Uihlein, a 31-year-old Oklahoma State alum.
“Roberto played great, he played solid, there was no chink in the armor today,” said Uihlein after his round. “He was very impressive. I had to make something happen on 12, and was able to execute, and the chip on 14 to get tied. But hats off to Roberto, he played very solid today.”
The Korn Ferry Tour returns next week in Savannah, Georgia, at the Club Car Championship at The Landings Club.