J.J. Spaun beats the weather and a crowded leaderboard to win his third PGA Tour title.
DYLAN BUELL, GETTY IMAGES
On an uncharacteristically long final day in San Antonio, J.J. Spaun finished with a flurry to win the Valero Texas Open.
Spaun, the reigning U.S. Open champion, made two birdies and an eagle over his final five holes Sunday to post a closing 5-under 67 at TPC San Antonio. With his 17-under 271 total, Spaun finished one stroke ahead of Matt Wallace, Michael Kim and Robert MacIntyre.
Who Else Won
KORN FERRY TOUR
Jeremy Gandon
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Rain fell on TPC San Antonio for much of the tournament. After Saturday thunderstorms suspended play, every player was forced to finish his third round on Sunday morning. Groups were not repaired before the start of the final round.
The victory was Spaun’s third on the PGA Tour and second at the Valero Texas Open, which he previously won in 2022.
“This game is so crazy,” Spaun said. “I haven’t been feeling at the form I wanted to be based on last season. Just trying to take each day as it comes and accepting what I have. I just got such a great team behind me that’s been supporting me and it just means a lot to come back and win here at a place that’s been so good to me.”
Spaun finished his third round strong Sunday morning with a 4-under par back nine, and entered the final round two strokes behind MacIntyre, who had to play 30 holes on Sunday.
With rain still falling, five players were tied for the lead early in the final round. Ludvig Åberg was the first to separate from the pack with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 2 and 3, chipping in on the latter. He also chipped in on the fourth hole for a par.
However, Åberg drove it into trouble on the sixth hole and the resulting bogey brought it back to a five-way tie at the top.
Up ahead, Wallace made three birdies in a row on Nos. 15-17. He set the clubhouse lead at 16-under.
That lead held until Spaun followed up his birdie on 16 by driving the green on the par-4 17th and making a 10-footer for eagle to get to 17-under. He finished there and had to wait to see if anyone could catch him.
The first to fail was Michael Kim, who birdied 16 and 17 but could not get one more on the par-5 finishing hole.
After making birdie at 17, Andrew Putnam had a chance to force a playoff with a birdie. But his third-shot wedge into 18 sailed long into a bunker and he made bogey instead. Putnam could have earned a spot in the Masters with a victory.
MacIntyre likewise had a chance to force a playoff after making a 16-footer for eagle on 17, but his second shot at 18 sailed wide right. He eventually missed a long birdie chance.
With Spaun already qualified to play at Augusta National this week, the Masters field is set at 91 players.
Everett Munez
