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SAN ANTONIO (AP) — J.J. Spaun won his first PGA Tour event — and his first trip to the Masters — by firing a final-round 69 at the Valero Texas Open on Sunday.
In his 147th PGA Tour start, Spaun survived a double-bogey start to his round by recording five birdies with no bogeys to finish at 13-under at TPC San Antonio. It gave him a two-shot margin over Matt Kuchar (69) and Matt Jones (66).
“I was thinking about the Masters last night,” Spaun said. “But I think a year ago, to think I would even be here playing on tour, I’d have to do a lot of work. To finally get a win, it’s what you dream about.”
In October, Spaun was ranked No. 396 in the World Golf Rankings. It followed a 2020-21 season where he missed more cuts than he made, including a missed cut at the Texas Open, and only one top-10 finish. He had to play in the PGA’s Korn Ferry Tour last year to retain his tour card.
The 31-year-old Spaun closed with four straight pars, and no one could close in on him. His previous best finish on tour was runner-up in 2018 at the RSM Classic. Sunday’s tournament win includes a $1.54 million check.
Adam Hadwin (67), Beau Hossler (72), Charles Howell III (69) and Troy Merritt (69) tied for fourth at 10-under.
Jones missed a 3-foot par putt on the 16th, birdied the 17th and missed a 14-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
“It was a good weekend,” Jones said, “but I had a good round going Thursday and let it slip, and then Friday I just played poorly and made a couple of mistakes. Those mistakes are what cost golf tournaments. Yeah, I played great today.”
Kuchar needed a birdie on the final hole and Spaun to make bogey to force a playoff. Spaun found trouble off the tee in the left rough, but Kuchar’s second shot went into the water. Spaun reached the green of the par-5 finishing hole in three and his final putt was less than two feet.
It was a missed opportunity to get back to the…
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Source : cbssports
