South American gamble pays off for Beau Breault

QUITO, Ecuador – Traveling to Argentina and Brazil to chase Monday qualifiers isn’t a path most pros take to crack into PGA TOUR Americas. With long flights, heavy costs, and no guarantees, it’s a calculated risk. But for Hartland, Michigan native Beau Breault, the gamble paid off.

An Eastern Michigan University alum, Breault was one of several players who made the trip from the other end of the Americas, with the first leg of the journey taking an average of 24 hours door-to-door.

He Monday qualified for the season-opening Abierto Telecom del Centro presented by Zurich in Cordoba, Argentina, but rounds of 70-74 left him on the wrong side of the cut line. One week later, in Rio de Janeiro, however, everything clicked. After tying for second in the Monday Qualifier, Breault strung together four rounds in the 60s and braved challenging weekend weather to finish in a tie for fourth.

“It feels pretty good to have a good finish early in the season, but the job’s not done. We’ve got to keep the foot on the gas,” said the man who signed up for all six Monday qualifiers on the Latin America Swing schedule.

For now, no Monday play will be needed for his next start. His top-10 in Brazil earned him a spot in this week’s Kia Open at Quito Tennis & Golf Club in Ecuador. Even more important, the 109 points he earned at the ECP Brazil Open moved him into a tie for 12th in the Fortinet Cup standings—essentially locking up exempt status for Segment II of the season in Canada and the U.S. For reference, 86 points was the total needed to make the top 60 at the end of the Latin America Swing last year.

Still, Breault isn’t ready to count on anything.

“I’m not going to fall for it,” he said about virtually securing a spot for the North America Swing.

Last fall, Breault Monday-qualified into the PGA TOUR Americas event in Winnipeg, where a T14 finish got him into the following week’s event in Minnesota. A T24 finish there seemed enough to make the Fortinet Cup Championship field.

“In a media interview, I was told I was the last man in, but I wasn’t even sure I could qualify as a non-member. I jumped in my car and started driving, and two hours in I get a text showing my earnings… then the year-to-date points: 121st out of 120. Needless to say, I was a little bit angry, and that gave me a little fuel for this year,” said the 28-year-old who turned pro in 2019.

A one-point margin left him just outside the season-ending event at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. But now, whether he believes it or not, Breault is in line for at least nine tournaments this summer when the North America Swing begins.

In the meantime, his focus is squarely on Quito. If he doesn’t finish top-10 there, he plans to fly to Lima for the Diners Club Peru Open Monday Qualifier.

“Honestly, the goal is just to keep getting top-10s. I've got my sights set on that. I know it’s a hefty goal, but I don’t really have another option. If I don’t, I’m flying out Saturday and doing the Monday thing again,” he said.

A Monday journey worth a top 5 finish

Breault’s recent travel saga reflects the grind of the Monday route. Based in St. Petersburg, Florida during the winter, he started with a Tampa-to-Miami flight, then was re-routed after a 12-hour delay. He landed a last-minute seat to Buenos Aires, but his golf clubs didn’t arrive in Cordoba until late Sunday.

“Fortunately, I got to use them for the Monday Qualifier, which was big,” he said after shooting a 1-under 70 to snag the sixth and final qualifying spot.

After missing the cut in Cordoba, he flew to Rio via Santiago, Chile. This time his clubs made it—but his travel case was damaged, and one leg of his golf bag was snapped off.

“I almost laughed. I thought, ‘Could it get much worse?’ But I did a really good job of compartmentalizing the crappy stuff and pushing it aside. Once it was time to tee it up, it was just me, my caddie, and the course,” he said of a qualifying round in which he proceeded to shoot a 6-under 66 to tie for second.

After an opening 69 at the ECP Brazil Open, Breault closed Friday with four straight birdies before darkness halted play. The next morning brought wind and tricky conditions for his remaining six holes. He made five pars and a bogey to card a 68 and make the cut at 5-under. He was T44 through 36 holes.

“That was probably the windiest stretch we had. But it gave me insight into how the course would play. I felt relaxed, calm, and just grateful to have two more rounds to play.”

In Saturday’s third round, starting on 10, he fired a bogey-free 66 to climb into a tie for 11th at 11-under.

“At the scoring area, I saw a signup sheet that read: ‘If you finish top-10, would you like to commit to playing in Quito?’ That’s when I realized I actually had a shot at it.”

Sunday brought tougher conditions—sideways rain and wind that turned the final round into a survival test. His start was a bit of a rollercoaster, as he had a double-bogey, two bogeys, and five birdies to get to 1-under through 10 holes. His closing stretch was strong though, as he birdied Nos. 11, 16, and 18 to card a 4-under 67.

“That round might’ve been better than Saturday’s, given the conditions. I had no clue where I stood. I just wanted to play well enough to get into Quito. Anything else was a bonus. Seeing that I’d earned a top 10 and didn’t have to Monday again… I was stoked. Just super grateful.”

With Breault in the field, the 2025 Kia Open is set to start Thursday in Ecuador. It will kick off a busy stretch of four tournaments in five weeks that will determine the top 60 players securing exempt status for the North America Swing events.