Stefano Mazzoli turned a four-shot deficit into a PGA Tour card, while rising South African Casey Jarvis earned temporary membership after The Open.
Stefano Mazzoli didn’t just win a golf tournament in the Dominican Republic. He changed the direction of his entire career.
The 29-year-old Italian has officially accepted PGA Tour membership after storming from four shots behind to win the 2026 Corales Puntacana Championship.
Mazzoli will make his debut as a full Tour member at this week’s 3M Open, jumping straight into the pressure cooker with only three regular-season events remaining.
That’s one way to skip the line.
Mazzoli entered the final round at Corales Course facing a serious deficit, but he chased down the leaders and delivered a birdie on the 72nd hole to beat Gordon Sargent and Todd Clements by one shot. The comeback was the largest in tournament history.
It was only his third career PGA Tour start.
Mazzoli became just the sixth player to win within his first three Tour appearances and the first to accomplish it since Michael Brennan won the 2025 Bank of Utah Championship.
He also joined Francesco Molinari and Toney Penna as the only Italian-born players to win on the PGA Tour.
Because Mazzoli wasn’t a member when he won, his victory comes with a few unusual wrinkles.
He won’t receive the standard 300 FedExCup points from Corales, but he can begin earning points immediately and remains eligible to reach the FedExCup Playoffs if he climbs inside the top 70 after the Wyndham Championship.
The victory also secured his status through the 2027 season, along with invitations to the 2027 PLAYERS Championship and PGA Championship.
Not bad for a player who spent years grinding through Europe’s developmental tours.
Mazzoli won three times on the Alps Tour before moving to the HotelPlanner Tour in 2022. He earned DP World Tour playing rights for 2025 after finishing eighth on the Road to Mallorca.
Long before that, the former TCU golfer won the 2015 European Amateur Championship and earned All-Big 12 honors twice.
Mazzoli isn’t the only international player forcing his way into the PGA Tour picture.
South Africa’s Casey Jarvis has accepted Special Temporary Membership after finishing tied for sixth at The Open Championship.
The 22-year-old can now accept unlimited sponsor exemptions through the FedExCup Fall as he chases a full card for 2027.
Jarvis already owns two DP World Tour victories this season, winning the Magical Kenya Open and Investec South African Open Championship in consecutive weeks.
He’s ranked No. 63 in the world and sits fourth on the DP World Tour eligibility list, where the top 10 players at season’s end receive PGA Tour cards.
He’ll also play the 3M Open, giving this week’s field two young international names with far more at stake than another paycheck.
Mazzoli has already kicked the door down. Now Jarvis is trying to follow him through it.
