Puerto Rico Tourism Company, PGA TOUR Announce Renewal to Sustain Elite Professional Event
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – The PGA TOUR has arrived for the 16th playing of the Puerto Rico Open this week, when many of the world’s top players – including four Puerto Ricans led by PGA TOUR member and San Juan native, Rafael Campos – will compete for a share of the record $4 million prize money at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande.
Accentuating this year’s tournament, the winner of which will earn $720,000, Puerto Rico Tourism Company and the PGA TOUR today announced their agreement to continue the Puerto Rico Open through 2026.
“Through our longstanding partnership as the title sponsor, Puerto Rico Tourism Company is proud to continue supporting this global-attention-garnering tournament, a key platform to promote Puerto Rico as a world-class golf destination and a driving force of tourism and economic development,” said Carlos Mercado, Executive Director, Puerto Rico Tourism Company. “Since 2008, the Puerto Rico Open has been the Island’s premier golf event. That speaks volumes to its immense impact and reach.”
“We are pleased to continue our partnership with Puerto Rico Tourism Company, which has been a tremendous supporter of the PGA TOUR and the Puerto Rico Open for the last 16 years,” said Tyler Dennis, Chief Competitions Officer, PGA TOUR. “The PGA TOUR appreciates its continued commitment to this proud event, and we look forward to producing another memorable rendition this week in Rio Grande.”
Top-echelon golf events are regularly held in Puerto Rico, illuminating the Island’s golf destination merit. The Puerto Rico Open comes on the heels of the Island hosting the Latin America Amateur Championship last year, when the winner earned invitations to play in the 2023 Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship. Prior to that, Puerto Rico and Grand Reserve held the first United States Golf Association championship to be played outside the mainland.
“The Puerto Rico Open beautifully showcases what visitors can expect when playing golf here,” said Brad Dean, CEO, Discover Puerto Rico. “Watching top-echelon players compete on one of our 18 courses during the tournament broadcasts – with views framed by swaying coconut trees, crashing turquoise surf, and towering rainforest ridgelines – inspires golfers to visit Puerto Rico.”
The 2024 Puerto Rico Open is set to crown another champion amid the tropical splendor for which the island is revered. Some of the PGA TOUR’s biggest names and rising stars have won or finished runner-up here, including Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Jason Day and Akshay Bhatia.
In addition to Campos, Puerto Rico will be represented in the field by Chris Nido, 25, who turned pro in 2020, and two rising-star amateur players – Evan Pena, 15, and Kelvin Hernández, 18. Multiple teenagers playing in a PGA TOUR event happens infrequently, and it’s less common for a 15-year-old to do so. However, Pena is no ordinary adolescent, last month winning the Discover Puerto Rico Junior Golf Championship, an American Junior Golf Association event. Pena will be the second-youngest player to play in a PGA TOUR event in the last 10 years (20 days younger than Oliver Betschart at the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship).
The tournament will be contested on Grand Reserve’s Championship Course adjacent to the amenity-rich, oceanfront Hyatt Regency.
Colombia’s Nico Echavarría claimed his first PGA TOUR victory in his rookie year at the 2023 Puerto Rico Open and went on to be nominated for PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year.
Echavarría returns to defend his title this week. He’ll be challenged by an exceptional field of players. Campos, the only current PGA TOUR member from Puerto Rico, knows the course well and nearly set off a country-wide celebration through his performance in the 2021 Puerto Rico Open. Leading after three rounds, he narrowly fell to the eventual champion late on the final day.
Campos is striving to become the first Puerto Rican to win on the PGA TOUR since Chi Chi Rodriguez won eight times on the game’s biggest stage.
The Puerto Rico Open is airing on multiple channels Thursday through Sunday of tournament week including Golf Channel (USA). Peacock and Sky Sports Golf (UK) will stream the tournament through their apps. Sling TV, Fubo TV, Hulu TV, DirecTV and YouTube TV will also carry the 2024 Puerto Rico Open. In the region of Latin America, Golf Channel Latin America will provide coverage in Spanish.
For information about Puerto Rico visit DiscoverPuertoRico.com.
About Puerto Rico Golf
Puerto Rico’s 18 golf courses range from municipal to luxury resort, including several rated among the “Top 50 Courses in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and the Atlantic Islands” (source: Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play). Course designers represented on the Island include Tom Kite, Greg Norman, Tom and George Fazio, Gary Player, Rees Jones, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., and his son Robert Trent Jones, Jr. Many of the courses are amenities at or affiliated with resorts, including Royal Isabela, El Conquistador, Costa Caribe/Hilton Ponce Golf & Casino, The St. Regis Bahia Beach, Wyndham Grand Rio Mar, Wyndham Palmas, Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve, and Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve.
Golf courses are located throughout the Island with many in the Northeast near San Juan. Puerto Rico is an enchanting destination where history, music, culture, gastronomy, nightlife, and natural wonders abound. It requires no passport for American citizens, is bilingual, uses the U.S. dollar for currency, and is the air hub of the Caribbean. There are more than 4,000 restaurants, and an array of award-winning lodging options of every kind.
About Puerto Rico Tourism Company
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC), founded in 1970, is a public corporation responsible for stimulating, promoting and regulating the development of the tourism industry. It markets Puerto Rico as a tourism destination through advertising, public relations and promotional activities; promotes tourism among residents; provides visitor orientation and technical assistance to investors; evaluates tourism facilities and establishes standards of quality; and regulates and oversees gaming operations.
About Discover Puerto Rico
Discover Puerto Rico is a private, not for-profit Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) whose mission is to make Puerto Rico visible to the world as a premier travel destination. The DMO brings prosperity to the people of Puerto Rico by collaboratively positioning the Island’s diversity and uniqueness for leisure, business, and events. It is responsible for all global marketing, sales and promotion of the destination and works collaboratively with key local governmental and non-governmental players throughout Puerto Rico’s visitor economy and community at large, to empower economic growth. Visit: www.DiscoverPuertoRico.com
About PGA TOUR
By showcasing golf’s greatest players, the PGA TOUR engages, inspires and positively impacts our fans, partners and communities worldwide.
The PGA TOUR, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, co-sanctions tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Americas and administers PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry and PGA TOUR University. TOUR members represent the world’s best players, hailing from 28 countries and territories. Showcasing the biggest moments in the sport with history and legacy on the line, the PGA TOUR has long-term domestic distribution partnerships for broadcast coverage on CBS, NBC and Golf Channel and video streaming service on ESPN+. Internationally, PGA TOUR coverage is available across 200+ countries and territories in 28 languages via 44 broadcast and digital partners. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations to maximize charitable giving, and to date, tournaments across all Tours have generated more than $3.93 billion.
Fans can follow the PGA TOUR on the new PGA TOUR app and PGATOUR.COM, and on social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram (in Spanish, Korean and Japanese), LinkedIn, TikTok, X (in English and Spanish), WhatsApp (in English and Spanish), WeChat, Weibo, Toutiao, Douyin and LINE.
