Carlos Ortiz claims maiden PGA Tour title at Houston Open
Carlos Ortiz held off Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama to win his first PGA Tour event at the Houston Open, securing a spot at the 2021 Masters.
Carlos Ortiz held off challenges from Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama to win his first PGA Tour title at the Houston Open on Sunday.
The Mexican made a crucial birdie at 16 to move one stroke clear of Johnson and Matsuyama, with the Japanese star shooting a course record of 7-under par on the final day, a score which was matched by two others in the field.
Both Johnson and Matsuyama missed birdie putts at the last to join Ortiz for a tie of the lead, but Ortiz made no mistake with his birdie putt as he extended his lead to win by two, earning himself a spot at the 2021 Masters at Augusta. Watch Ortiz sink his final birdie of the day in the video below:
Needed par. Drained the birdie. @CarlosOrtizGolf left no doubt to seal his first TOUR title. pic.twitter.com/fMXzy3Ey5g
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 8, 2020
Ortiz has been in excellent form over the past year and although he will not be playing in The Masters this week, he was emotional in his post round interview after sealing his first victory.
"I made some huge putts on the front nine, that kickstarted my round, and after that I played really good, I didn't miss many shots, and it was awesome finishing with the birdie on 18."
Brooks Koepka, who has been out of sorts as of late, found some form right in time for the next major, after he finished the tournament with a 5-under par final round to finish in T5.
World No.9 Tyrrell Hatton also finished with a score of 65 on Sunday to collect another top 10 on the PGA Tour, finishing in T7 with three other players, one of which was Jason Day.
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Shane Lowry and Koepka made early moves to climb the leaderboard on Sunday, with Lowry making four birdies in a row to get within one, while four-time major champion Koepka made three birdies in his first six holes.
World No.1 Johnson took a share of the lead when he followed up a huge drain for birdie with another at the third, but Ortiz took his place at the top of the leaderboard with a birdie at the fourth.
Ortiz made back-to-back birdies to finish his front nine and opened up a two-stroke lead, while Johnson and Matsuyama continued to stay in the hunt with more birdies on their back nine.
After a stunning approach at the par-5 16th, Ortiz had a great chance to make eagle, but narrowly missed and tapped in for his birdie and made one final gain at the last to win.
