Hunter Wolcott overcomes slow-play penalty, wins Diners Club Peru Open for first career victory

LIMA, Peru – Hunter Wolcott earned his first career victory at the Diners Club Peru Open, carding a final-round 3-under 69 to win by two strokes over third-round leader David Perkins. With the win, Wolcott moves to No. 4 in the Fortinet Cup and secures exempt membership on PGA TOUR Americas for the remainder of the 2025 season and through the Latin America Swing of 2026.

Wolcott entered the day one stroke shy of Perkins and began the final round with a double bogey on his first hole. A 2-over front-nine left Wolcott in a five-shot deficit of the lead with only a final nine left to play. Wolcott posted a bogey-free back-nine with five birdies, including his last on the par-3 17th to take hold of the lead after Perkins made a double bogey. A par on No. 18 was enough for Wolcott to claim victory at Los Inkas Golf Club.

The 27-year-old held the lead/co-lead after both the first and second rounds of the Diners Club Peru Open. Notably, Wolcott was assessed a one-stroke penalty in the second round on the par-4 7th – his 16th hole of the day – resulting in a double bogey for exceeding the allotted time to play a shot, per PGA TOUR Americas' revised pace of play policy.

“I’m very thankful that I was able to turn the page and turn that energy into focus and not let it fester in the back of my mind,” Wolcott said during his winner’s interview, reflecting on the adversity he faced Friday.

“It took a lot of prayer, a lot of talks with my fiancé and my mental coach to move past that… You can let yourself be a victim or you can overcome it. I truly turned the page and was focusing on the shot at hand, and I really did that to great execution.”

This season marks Wolcott’s fourth year as a professional, having graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2022, and first gained membership on a PGA TOUR-sanctioned Tour last year. Wolcott initially made his debut on PGA TOUR Americas last June at the Times Colonist Victoria Open presented by Andrew Sheret Limited following a successful mid-season Q-School journey. In 2024, Wolcott made eight cuts in 10 starts and earned three top-10 finishes, highlighted by a solo-fourth at the Manitoba Open to finish No. 34 in the 2024 Fortinet Cup.

Wolcott’s extraordinary golf game aligns with the rest of his family, as the Nashville native comes from a long line of professional athletes. Most notably, Wolcott’s father is Bob Wolcott, who played on the PGA TOUR from 1989-1992, in addition to a singular season in 1997. Bob was recently inducted into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame, having won the 2013 Tennessee Senior State Open and earning two career third-place finishes in his PGA TOUR career. Hunter’s brother, Ben, played golf at Ole Miss and his twin brother, Collier, played football at UT Martin.

Wolcott is expected to be in the field at the Bupa Championship, the fifth event of the Latin America Swing, which will be hosted at Club de Golf Mexico from May 8-11 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Charting the champion

About Hunter Wolcott (First/19-under) 

• First career victory comes in his 15th professional start at the age of 27 years, 2 months
• Secures exempt membership on PGA TOUR Americas through the 2026 Latin America Swing, and moves to No. 4 in the Fortinet Cup
• Made 10 starts on PGA TOUR Americas in 2024 after earning conditional status via mid-season Q-School (finishers 10-25 from Q-School)
• Made eight cuts with three top-10s in 2024, highlighted by a solo-fourth finish at the Manitoba Open
• Finished No. 34 in the 2024 Fortinet Cup standings to earn exempt membership for the Latin America Swing of the 2025 season (top 80 from Fortinet Cup)
• Father, Bob, played on the PGA TOUR from 1989-1992 and again in 1997; made 168 career starts, with two third-place finishes; recently inducted into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame
• Older brother, Ben, played golf at Ole Miss, and Hunter’s twin brother, Collier, played football at the University of Tennessee-Martin
• Fiancé, Saydie, played college soccer at the University of Mississippi and Liberty University
• Plays chess in his head while on the golf course

Competition notes 

Course setup: Par 72/6,882 yards; R4 average: 70.125

Weather: Partly cloudy with a high of 74. Wind from the S/SW at 2-7 mph with gusts up to 14 mph.  

• David Perkins (second/17-under) ends double bogey-bogey on the par-3 17th and par-4 18th, respectively, to claim the best finish of his career; in four starts this season, Perkins has not finished outside of the top-20, and recorded his second top-10 this week (other: T10/70th ECP Brazil Open).
• Second-year member J.M. Butler (T3/16-under) posts the low round of the day in 8-under 64 to collect his best finish of the season; carded 10 birdies in the final round, including eight in a row on Nos. 7-14, and co-led the field with 25 total birdies.
• Brett White (T3/16-under) posts his third consecutive top-10 finish in as many starts this season (T4/70th ECP Brazil Open, T9/KIA Open); finished No. 112 in the 2024 Fortinet Cup, but regained membership for the 2025 Latin America Swing via co-medalist honors at First Stage of 2024 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
• In his 56th career start, Taylor Funk (T3/16-under) posts his second career top-10 finish, and first since the 2023 CRMC Championship presented by Northern Pacific Center (finished T6) on PGA TOUR Canada; Taylor is the son of Fred Funk, who made his 1,000th career start this week on PGA TOUR Champions at the Insperity Invitational.
• Team Canada member and winner of the 2024 Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open, A.J. Ewart (T10/12-under), finishes as the low Canadian and logs his first top-10 since his victory on PGA TOUR Americas last season.
• Argentine Marcos Montenegro (T14/11-under) led six Latins in the top 25 and ties: Ricardo Celia, Alan Wagner, Andres Gallegos (T16/10-under); Rodolfo Cazaubon, Julian Perico (T22/9-under).