Despite a shaky 4-over 75 in windy conditions at TPC San Antonio, lesser-known Australian qualifier Steven Bowditch punched his ticket to the Masters by capturing his first Tour win, taking the Valero Texas Open by one stroke.
Ranked 339th in the world heading into the tournament, Bowditch earned a shade over $1.1 million and 500 FedEx Cup points for his efforts, and will see a significant rise in the world rankings before teeing off at Augusta National for the first time in two weeks.
Bowditch jumped from 155th to 26th in the FedEx Cup standings with the 500 points in tow.
Matt Kuchar blazed a 7-under 65 on Saturday to earn a spot in the final grouping with Bowditch and Andrew Loupe, but bogeyed three of the first five holes on the back nine to drop out of contention and suck much of the life from the tournament.
He shot three-over par, and minus-six for the tournament to land a share of fourth-place money with Loupe, who carded a 40 on the front nine in his first real opportunity to win a tour event. Loupe now has his first top-10 finish in just eight tour starts.
Will MacKenzie shot a 2-under 70 to seize his fifth top-10 placing of the season in a second-place tie with Daniel Summerhays, who buoyed a strong weekend with a one-under final round to take home a share of runner-up prize money.
Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, and Jordan Spieth round out the notable top-ten finishers.
