Carlos Ortiz held off Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama to win the Houston Open by two shots for his first PGA Tour title on Sunday.
The 29-year-old Mexican, who played in the final group alongside Jason Day and Sam Burns, posted a 5-under 65 with a number of the game's best trying to chase him down.
World No. 1 Johnson mounted an early charge with four birdies in his first seven holes, and Matsuyama turned in a course-record tying 63, but their efforts weren't good enough.
Ortiz only needed to par No. 18 to secure the victory but walked off in style by dropping a 22-footer for birdie for the two-shot win. He's the third player from Mexico to win on the PGA Tour.
"I don't even know what to tell you, just a feeling I've had before," Ortiz said, who hasn't won on any circuit since 2014. "I miss it and it's unbelievable the way this feels."
The victory moves Ortiz from 160th to 65th in the world rankings.
Here's how the top of the leaderboard from Memorial Park Golf Course finished:
| Place | Player | To Par | R4 Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Ortiz | -13 | 65 |
| T2 | Hideki Matsuyama | -11 | 63 |
| T2 | Dustin Johnson | -11 | 65 |
| 4 | Talor Gooch | -9 | 63 |
| T5 | Brooks Koepka | -8 | 65 |
| T5 | Sepp Straka | -8 | 69 |
As for Ortiz's playing partners, Day and Burns carded rounds of 1-over and 2-over, respectively, to drop into a share of seventh at 7-under.
Brooks Koepka made an early run as well with five birdies on the front nine. However, he stalled out on the back nine to settle for a share of fifth place. Koepka shot back-to-back rounds of 65 on the weekend as he heads to Augusta National for next week's Masters.
