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APGA rookie Willy Pumarol claims his first APGA Tour title in only his second career start with a dramatic three-hole playoff victory at the APGA at TPC San Antonio

March 5, 2026

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas  – After starting his Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour career with a narrow second-place finish, one shot back of the winner last month in Florida, Dominican Willy Pumarol turned the tides in his second outing with a thrilling three-hole playoff victory over Andrew Walker on Wednesday to win the APGA at TPC San Antonio.

Playing in extremely windy conditions, Walker missed a 10-foot putt on the third playoff hole, leaving the door open for Pumarol. The Orlando, Florida resident didn’t allow the opportunity to slip by and tapped in to capture the title.

“It feels awesome,” said Pumarol, who finished at 11-under 133 (66-67). “The (TPC San Antonio – Canyons) course played very tough. It was really windy yesterday and today. It kind of makes me feel like playing in the Dominican Republic. I played great and didn’t make a bogey in either round, which isn’t something that I could have imagined while playing the practice round on Monday.”

Pumarol, who celebrated his 37th birthday three days after his APGA debut in February, claimed an $8,000 winner’s check from a $25,000 purse and earned 500 points toward the Cisco Cup Series and the APGA’s Jeff Dailey Player of the Year standings. The APGA at TPC San Antonio is the third tournament of the 2026 APGA Tour season.

“Finishing second at the Cisco Black History Month Classic last month in Florida gave me a ton of confidence to come out here in San Antonio and play great,” a triumphant Pumarol continued. “I played in the last group a few weeks ago in Ponte Vedra (Florida) and was super nervous, but I have been working pretty hard on my game and was able to handle the nerves today.”

Two-time APGA winner Walker of Holt, Michigan, who made it through to the final round of U.S. Open qualifying in June, birdied the final two holes on Wednesday to force a playoff. The youngest African American golfer ever to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championship opened the second round two shots back of first-round leader David Kim of Anaheim, California.

After firing an opening-round 65, Kim finished third at nine-under 135 (65-70), two shots off the pace. Two-time Jeff Dailey Player of the Year Chase Johnson tied for fourth with Gregory Odom, Jr. of Memphis, Tennessee (seven-under 137). Additionally, 2025 APGA Jeff Dailey Play of the Year Award winner Marcus Byrd and 2025 APGA Billy Horschel Invitational Champion Everett Whiten, Jr. tied for sixth at six-under 138.

Local golfer, former architectural manager, two-time APGA winner Michael Bradham of La Vernia, Texas, completed the tournament in a five-way tie for eighth place (four-under 140) along with Wille Mack III (Flint, Michigan), Joe Hooks (Scottsdale, Arizona) , Enrique Dimayuga (Philippines), and Manav Shah (Bakersfield, California).

A pair of players new to the APGA Tour in 2026 played the first round bogey-free and blitzed to the top two spots on the leaderboard on Tuesday. Kim carded a seven-under 65 and was one stroke clear of Pumarol, who notched an eagle on the par-five sixth hole as the primary highlight in a bogey-free round of six-under 66.

Kim tallied three of his seven birdies on Nos. 15, 17 and 18 and used the late surge to distance himself from a crowded leaderboard that saw roughly a third of the field shoot 2-under 70 or better.

A UC Irvine product who was the Big West Conference Player of the Year in 2017, Kim played on a pair of PGA TOUR-sanctioned developmental tours from 2022-24, making 10 starts on PGA TOUR Canada in each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons before registering six starts on PGA TOUR Americas in 2024.

A Dominican Republic citizen, Pumarol played college golf at Barry University (Florida) from 2008-11 and was a Golf Coaches Association of America Scholar All-American in 2010. He owns six starts in the PGA TOUR’s Corales Puntacana Championship (he finished T53 in last year’s event), since turning pro in 2011.

Most recently, Pumarol played 16 tournaments across the 2024 and 2025 PGA TOUR Americas seasons and two events in the 2023 PGA TOUR Latinoamerica season.

Following round one, Dallas, Texas resident Odom, Jr. was among a quartet of golfers to shoot 5-under 67 and 18-time APGA Tour champion Willie Mack III led a group of three more at 4-under 68.

The APGA’s only three-time winner in 2025, Mack III extended his mark as the APGA’s active wins leader with his 18thAPGA triumph at the Cisco Black History Month Classic in February. That was his fourth victory in the past eight APGA events he has played. He also placed runner-up in January’s season-opening APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational at Torrey Pines.

Among six golfers who finished Tuesday at 3-under 69 were reigning APGA Jeff Dailey Player of the Year Byrd and Johnson, last year’s APGA at TPC San Antonio runner-up and the 2023 and 2024 APGA Jeff Dailey Player of the Year.

Founded in 2010, the Advocates Professional Golf Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring an inclusive future through the game of golf.

The APGA Tour tees up its fourth event of its 2026 season at the APGA Daugherty Foundation Championship at Glen Echo Country Club in St, Louis, Missouri from May 11-14, and the season runs through November with 12 tournaments from coast to coast.

About the APGA Tour

The APGA Tour was established in 2010 as a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring an inclusive future through the game of golf. The APGA Tour Board of Directors works diligently to accomplish this by hosting and operating professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs, and by introducing the game to inner city young people. In addition to conducting 12 tournaments awarding more than $1 million in prize and bonus money in 2026, the APGA has organized a Player Development Program to aid golfers as they work to chase their professional golf goals.

 

Media Contacts
Greg Ball
BZA Public Relations
apga@bzapr.com

 

 

 

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