After seeing his three-shot lead at the Valero Texas Open shrink, Brian Harman made two birdies on the back nine Sunday to win the Valero Texas Open.
Playing on the TPC San Antonia Oaks Course in winds gusting to 28 mph and temperatures in the 50s Sunday, Harman prevailed with a 3-over-par 75 for a 9-under total and a three-shot victory, his first since the 2023 British Open.
Harman began the final round with a three-shot lead, and it soon became a tight battle with Andrew Novak, who was going for his first PGA Tour victory and a spot in the Masters.
A bogey on the sixth hole and a double bogey on the ninth hole, when Harman took a penalty drop after a pulled tee shot and could only advance the ball to the fairway, trimmed his lead to one shot. But Harman holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 12th hole to give him some breathing room, and he got up-and-down from a bunker on the par-5 14th for another birdie to build his lead back to three shots.
He followed that with a pair of bogeys, but Novak had his own difficulties, making three bogeys in his last four holes, to shoot 76.
Novak was two shots behind with two to play, but he bogeyed the short par-4 17th. His tee shot went over the green, his pitch came up short and rolled back to his feet, his next shot ran 6 feet past the hole and he missed the par putt.
On the par-5 18th, he pulled his tee shot into an area of trees and scrub brush. He pitched back to the fairway, tried to reach the green and came up short, inches from the creek along the left side. He had to stand on a boulder to play onto the green and he missed the 10-foot par putt.
Ryan Gerard finished second at 6 under after shooting a 69, one of only seven rounds under par Sunday. Novak finished tied for third at 5 under with Maverick McNealy, who shot 72.
“Just having a little bit of experience and knowing that score was kind of a relative thing today, it was more kind of a game of attrition,” said Harman, who earned $1.71 million for his fourth career victory. “The conditions just wouldn’t allow for a super low score. I didn’t have my best stuff today, but good enough to make a few putts, and a couple birdies on the back nine helped a lot.
“(Novak) hit some great shots, hit great shots all day. He struggled a little bit coming down the stretch. Halfway through the day I figured that he was the one guy that I really needed to focus on and try and beat. Just felt like if I could just hang in there, I knew I was going to hit some good shots at some point, just make a couple putts and just hoping that was going to be good enough.”
Fishburn Sinks Looong Putt
Patrick Fishburn finished eagle-birdie to shoot a final-round 68. He was one of seven players who tied for fifth at 4 under.
The eagle came on the 17th hole, where Fishburn holed a 105-foot putt. It was the longest putt anyone has made on the PGA Tour since 2008.
The conditions were so difficult that four players, including Tommy Fleetwood, failed to break 80. The course played to an average score of 74.8.
