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Jhonattan Vegas

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Jhonattan Vegas
Personal information
Full nameJhonattan Luis Vegas
Born (1984-08-19) 19 August 1984 (age 39)
Maturín, Venezuela
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight230 lb (100 kg; 16 st)
Sporting nationality Venezuela
ResidenceHouston, Texas
Career
CollegeUniversity of Texas
Turned professional2008
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)Web.com Tour
Professional wins6
Highest ranking35 (27 August 2017)[1]
(as of 11 August 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour4
Korn Ferry Tour1
Other2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT38: 2018
PGA ChampionshipT22: 2016
U.S. OpenT41: 2018
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 2017, 2018

Jhonattan Luis Vegas (born 19 August 1984) is a Venezuelan professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and is a two-time Olympian. He's the only Venezuelan to earn a PGA tour card or win a PGA tour event; and the only one to represent his country in the Presidents Cup or the Olympics.

Vegas was born in Maturín, Venezuela. He grew up playing many sports, but it was golf - which he played with his parents and three brothers at which he truly excelled and he became one of the top junior golfers in Venezuela. Seeing more opportunities to improve his game and also a chance to go to school for free, he moved to the United States in 2002 with a golf instructor with whom he was familiar in Venezuela. They settled in The Woodlands outside of Houston, Texas.[2]

Amateur career

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In Houston, Vegas won three junior tournaments and qualified for the 2003 Houston Open on the PGA Tour as an amateur, but missed the cut. That year he was offered a golf scholarship to the University of Texas.[2] In his freshman year, he helped the Longhorns win the Big 12 Championship and come in 4th at the NCAA championship. In 2005, he helped them reach 24th at the NCAA Championship and in 2007 to a tie for 11th.[3] That same year, he represented Venezuela in the 23rd World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy where the team finished in 30th.

In 2006, before his senior year, he won Venezuela's National Amateur Championship in Maracaibo.[2] He graduated with a degree in kinesiology.[4][5]

Professional career

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Vegas turned professional in 2008 and played in his first PGA event as a professional at the Texas Open, where he made also made his first cut; but he did not earn his PGA Card at the qualifying tournament that year.[6]

He then started playing the Nationwide Tour in 2009, scoring two top-10 finishes in his rookie year.[7] That year he also represented Venezuela in the 2009 Omega Mission Hills World Cup with Alfredo Adrian. They finished tied for 12th place.

Vegas won his first Nationwide Tour event in 2010 at the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open.[4] He finished the season 7th on the money list and earned his 2011 PGA Tour card, the first Venezuelan to do so. He also competed in one PGA event, the Puerto Rico Open, where he again made the cut.[8]

On 23 January 2011, Vegas won his first PGA Tour event, the Bob Hope Classic, after defeating Tour veteran Bill Haas and Gary Woodland in a sudden-death playoff.[9] It was Vegas' fifth overall start on the PGA Tour and the second as a member of the tour. The victory was the first by a Venezuelan at a PGA Tour event;[10] Vegas earned entry into the Masters and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. In his next start, he finished in a tie for 3rd at the Farmers Insurance Open, holding a share of the lead on the back nine and moved to a then-career Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) high of 69th. Vegas was the first PGA Tour rookie to lead the FedEx Cup standings and that year he made it the BMW Championship, the third round of the FedEx Cup playoffs, for the first time.[11]

In July 2012, Vegas was the runner-up finisher at the annual Telus World Skins Game to Paul Casey held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, after having won the 2011 event in Banff, Alberta.[12] He had just two top-10 finishes, coming in 7th at The Players Championship and 4th at the AT&T National.[13]

Vegas started 2013 with three missed cuts in three tournaments. He sat out the remainder of the 2013 season after shoulder surgery.[14] Vegas attempted to regain his PGA Tour status through the Web.com Tour Finals, but fell short and started the 2013–14 season on a Medical Extension. He satisfied his medical extension with a T3 finish at the 2014 John Deere Classic.

Vegas finished the 2014–15 season 153rd in the FedEx Cup and just outside the top 25 in the Web.com Tour Finals, limiting him to past champion status for the 2015–16 PGA Tour season. It was his first full season of play without a top-10 finish.[15]

In what was his best season, despite some near-wins and collapses during the 2015–16 season, he earned his second career PGA Tour win at the RBC Canadian Open and regained full Tour privileges through the 2017–18 season. He had four other top-10 finishes and went to the Tour Championship for the first time where he finished tied for 24th – his best finish so far. He was also Venezuela's first representative in golf for the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he tied for 50th.[16]

In the 2016–17 season, Vegas successfully defended his title at the 2017 RBC Canadian Open for his third PGA Tour win. The win also moved him to a then career-high 48th in the OWGR. That season, he also had top-10 finishes at the Honda Classic and the Northern Trust and made it to the Tour Championship again, finishing in 30th place.[17] Vegas peaked at 35th in the world and in 2017 and he became the first player from Venezuela to compete in the Presidents Cup.

In the 2017–18 season, Vegas had just one top-10 finish, coming in a tie for 7th at the 2018 Sentry Tournament of Champions, but played well enough to get to the second round of the FedEx Cup playoffs.[18]

He had only one top-10 finish in 2018–19 as well, coming in a tie for 3rd at the Players Championship, but again made it to the FedEx Cup playoffs.[19]

In 2020, a season shortened by the global COVID-19 pandemic, he had only one top-10 finish again, coming in 9th in the Puerto Rico Open. He also qualified for the Olympics again, as Venezuela's sole representative in golf for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo where he finished tied for 16th. That tournament was postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic.[20]

In 2020–21, Vegas had four top-10 finishes including three times that he came in 2nd place – at the Puerto Rico Open, the 3M Open and the Palmetto Championship. He again made it to the BMW Championship, the penultimate round of the FedEx Cup Championship.[21]

The next season he had only two top-10 finishes.[22]

Vegas missed nearly all of the 2022–23 season due to injuries to his elbow and shoulder, which included a piece of bone in his elbow that had broken off and lodged into his elbow joint. He had surgery to remove the bone but complications from the elbow injury had caused inflammation to travel up his arm and into his shoulder. He underwent another surgery in May 2023 to address the issue, but he was told the injuries would linger and that he needed to learn to live with pain. As a result, he only played in 7 tournaments in 2022–23 doing no better than a tie for 21st.[23][24]

In 2024, Vegas struggled at the beginning of the year, missing more cuts than he made and not breaking into the top-20 in PGA tour events (he did finish in 14th at the Australian Open). But in July, still playing on a medical exemption, he was able to fight through pain to win the 2024 3M Championship — his 4th career win. He had just 10 starts left on his Major Medical before the 3M but will now play out of the tournament winners category through 2026. He earned exemptions into The Sentry, Masters Tournament and PGA Championship for 2025. He also jumped from 149th to 66th in the FedEx Cup standings, where the top 75 advance. He can secure Signature Event exemptions if he cracks the top 50 after the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Ironically, he was only able to play in the 3M tournament because he failed, for the first time, to qualify for the Olympics.[23][25]

Personal life

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Vegas's younger brother; Julio, followed him to Texas where he was an All-Conference and All-American Honorable Mention golfer; he won the 2012 NCAA Team Championship and 2013 Big 12 Championship and was the 2012 Morris Williams Intercollegiate individual champion. He had previously won the 2003 and 2004 Venezuelan National Junior Champion and was runner-up for the 2007 Venezuelan National Amateur Championship. He went on to play on the Korn Ferry Tour and other professional golf tours.[26]

Professional wins (6)

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PGA Tour wins (4)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 23 Jan 2011 Bob Hope Classic 64-67-67-66-69=333 −27 Playoff United States Bill Haas, United States Gary Woodland
2 24 Jul 2016 RBC Canadian Open 73-69-70-64=276 −12 1 stroke United States Dustin Johnson, Scotland Martin Laird,
Spain Jon Rahm
3 30 Jul 2017 RBC Canadian Open (2) 66-69-67-65=267 −21 Playoff United States Charley Hoffman
4 28 Jul 2024 3M Open 68-66-63-70=267 −17 1 stroke United States Max Greyserman

PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2011 Bob Hope Classic United States Bill Haas, United States Gary Woodland Won with par on second extra hole
Haas eliminated by birdie on first hole
2 2017 RBC Canadian Open United States Charley Hoffman Won with birdie on first extra hole

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 8 Aug 2010 Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open 65-68-67-64=264 −20 1 stroke United States Roberto Castro

Tour de las Américas wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 12 Dec 2010 Abierto Visa de la República1 68-66-65-71=270 −10 6 strokes Argentina Andrés Romero

1Co-sanctioned by the TPG Tour

Other wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 25 Jul 2011 Telus World Skins Game $140,000 $15,000 United States Lucas Glover

Results in major championships

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Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament CUT CUT T38
U.S. Open CUT T41
The Open Championship CUT CUT
PGA Championship T51 T22 CUT T59
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship CUT CUT
U.S. Open CUT T57
The Open Championship NT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 3
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Totals 0 0 0 0 0 1 15 6
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 2 (twice)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 0

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
The Players Championship CUT T7 T42 T57 CUT T41 T3 C T61 CUT CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

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Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Championship T31 T38 T20
Match Play T17 T52
Invitational T66 T17 T53
Champions 10 T45 T20
  Top 10
  Did not play

"T" = tied

Team appearances

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Amateur

Professional

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 34 2017 Ending 27 Aug 2017" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Jhonattan Vegas: Finishing strong". Texaslonghorns.com. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  3. ^ "2018-19 Texas Golf Fact Book" (PDF). Texas Sports. p. 24. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b Former Longhorn rallies from six-stroke deficit to record first career Nationwide Tour victory
  5. ^ Dorman, Larry (1 February 2011). "The Venezuelan Golfer Jhonattan Vegas Gains Notice". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2008 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2009 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2010 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas gives Venezuela first big golf win". BBC Sport. 23 January 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  10. ^ Jhonattan Vegas wins Hope Classic in playoff[dead link]
  11. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2011 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Paul Casey beats Jhonattan Vegas in skins game shootout". CBC Sports. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  13. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2012 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Vegas has surgery on left shoulder". PGA Tour. 23 February 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  15. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2014–15 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2015–16 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2016–17 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2017–18 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2018–19 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2019–20 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2020–21 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2021–22 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  23. ^ a b Hodowanic, Paul (28 July 2024). "Jhonattan Vegas' long road back to winner's circle at 3M Open". PGA Tour. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  24. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2022–23 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Jhonattan Vegas 2024 results". ESPN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Julio Vegas". Texas Longhorns. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
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