Brandon Matthews continued the hot streak that has carried him to the top of the PGA Latinoamericas Tour, shooting four straight rounds under par and three in the 60s June 24-27 to place tied for fifth in the Banco del Pacifico Open in Quito, Ecuador.
The former state champion from Pittston Area finished four strokes behind the playoff in which Connor Godsey used a birdie on the first hole to take the title from Drew Nesbitt.
Matthews shot 69, 68, 70, 68 for a 13-over-par, 275 on the Quito Tennis and Golf Club course.
The 26-year-old from Dupont had won two of the previous four tournaments on the tour, which, following multiple COVID-related cancellations and adjustments, is conducting a combined 2020-21 season. Each win included $31,500 in prize money.
Godsey used his victory to pass Sam Stevens into second place behind Matthews in the tour’s season point standings.
Matthews has an 1170-1003 points lead going into the tour finale, the Bupa Championship, presented by Volvo, scheduled for July 22-25 in Cancun, Mexico. Stevens has 990 points, followed by Alvaro Ortiz with 838 and M.J. Maguire with 783.
A wild final round moved Matthews up eight positions from when he entered the round and allowed him to roar into late contention.
Coming off a 70 in the third round, Matthews opened with three pars then a bogey.
A flurry of four birdies in five holes allowed Matthews to finish the front nine in 3-under-par, 33.
Matthews opened the back nine with a triple bogey, seemingly knocking him out of the list of contenders, but he came back with an eagle and four straight birdies to play the next five holes in 6-under.
The streak ended with a double bogey at 16 and Matthews finished up with two straight pars for a 68 that tied for the third-best score among the 56 players that made it to the weekend.
