Joey Savoie (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec) made two clutch birdies on Sunday – on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, and again on the third extra hole – to defeat Jack Lundin (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) and win the Kia Open de Ecuador presentado por Diners Club.
Playing one group ahead of Savoie, Lundin carded a final-round 64 and was the clubhouse leader at 21-under. Savoie was 4-under for the day and led by one with three holes to play, but a bogey on the par-3 16th ended a 38-hole bogey-free streak and dropped him into a tie with Lundin.
One hole later, Savoie three-putted for bogey on the par-5 17th, and suddenly, he trailed by one. He rebounded on the par-4 closing hole by making a 10-foot birdie putt, and three holes later, he sealed his first PGA TOUR Americas victory with another 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 10th.
“It’s never easy to win the first one, it’s never easy to win any golf tournament at this level,” said Savoie, who moves to No. 2 on the PGA TOUR Americas Points List. “I think there’s a big sigh of relief, and also just being grateful that it was my week this week. It’s not often that happens.”
Prior to Sunday, Savoie’s last victory (ranked by WAGR or OWGR) came exactly eight years ago to the day when he won the 2018 Tennessee State Open as an amateur. Now in his seventh season as a professional, Savoie’s win Sunday came in his 36th career start on PGA TOUR Americas and 74th start as a pro in PGA TOUR-sanctioned competition.
“After last year’s (Kia Open), I went on a three-week vacation in Ecuador and I went all the way to south Cuenca thinking about should I keep going or should I do something else,” Savoie said. “At the end of it I decided, look, if my health gets better, I keep going, and it got better. It’s just funny that my first PGA TOUR (Americas) win is where I made the decision to keep playing.”
Savoie becomes the fifth Canadian to win on PGA TOUR Americas, joining Matthew Anderson (2024 ECP Brazil Open), Stuart Macdonald (2024 Diners Club Peru Open), A.J. Ewart (2024 Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open) and Drew Nesbitt (2025 Digital Commerce Group Open).
Canada topped a final leaderboard that featured five countries among the top eight players, including 25-year-old Felipe Garcés playing in his home country of Ecuador. Garcés, winner of the South American Amateur in 2024 and 2026, made a hole-in-one on Thursday and closed with a bogey-free 65 to finish solo-eighth in his pro debut.
With the top-10 finish, Garcés earned entry into the next PGA TOUR Americas event (June 4-7), the Mexico Championship presented by Scotia Wealth Management in Mexico City.
