JJ Spaun wins Texas Open to secure ‘dream’ Masters chance

JJ Spaun secured the first PGA Tour title of his career as he won the the Valero Texas Open on Sunday.

The 31-year-old American, who had been among four players sharing the lead overnight, hit a final-round 69 to finish on 13 under par, two shots clear of his compatriot Matt Kuchar and Australia’s Matt Jones.

Spaun started his round with a double bogey before subsequently registering five birdies.

He has secured his first trip to the Masters, and Spaun said told pgatour.com: “It’s something you dream of as a kid, playing at the Masters.

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“I was thinking about it last night, but there was still so much to be done. You have to do your best to stay in the present... Fortunately I was able to do that, and ended up with the W.”

Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell had missed the halfway cut at the event.

Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington tuned up for next week’s Masters nicely by finishing in a tie for second at the Rapiscan Systems Classic in southern Mississippi on the PGA Champions Tour.

The Dubliner finished six shots behind winner Steven Alker, firing eight birdies and a bogey in a final-round 65 to finish alongside Alex Cejka.

Collated final round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Valero Texas Open, TPC San Antonio

(USA unless stated, Par 72):

275 J. J. Spaun 67 70 69 69
277 Matt Jones (Aus) 68 75 68 66, Matt Kuchar 67 69 72 69
278 Adam Hadwin (Can) 70 70 71 67, Beau Hossler 73 66 67 72, Charles Howell III 70 67 72 69, Troy Merritt 69 71 69 69
279 Keegan Bradley 71 71 71 66, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 70 66 70 73, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 69 72 70 68, Brendon Todd 68 69 72 70, Gary Woodland 70 67 72 70
280 Zach Johnson 72 71 70 67, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 69 72 68 71, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 68 73 69 70, Guillermo Mito Pereira (Chi) 71 70 69 70, Scott Stallings 68 72 67 73
281 Kevin Chappell 71 65 73 72, Lucas Glover 71 66 73 71, Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den) 66 73 74 68, Nate Lashley 71 70 71 69, Denny McCarthy 67 74 68 72, Brandt Snedeker 73 66 67 75, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 69 73 69, Kevin Streelman 70 71 69 71, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 71 68 72 70, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 69 74 68 70, Scott Gutschewski 70 68 73 70
282 Richard Bland (Eng) 70 71 69 72, Tony Finau 70 71 72 69, Martin Laird (Sco) 70 73 69 70, Aaron Rai (Eng) 67 74 68 73, Vincent Whaley 70 72 71 69, Jared Wolfe 72 68 74 68
283 Corey Conners (Can) 70 71 75 67, Chris Kirk 70 72 69 72, Adam Long 72 70 70 71, Robert MacIntyre (Sco) 69 69 76 69, Maverick McNealy 70 72 67 74, Jordan Spieth 72 70 74 67
284 John Huh 69 73 72 70, Peter Malnati 71 71 70 72, Chengtsung Pan (Tai) 69 74 72 69, J. T. Poston 70 69 74 71, Andrew Putnam 71 71 73 69, Chad Ramey 74 68 70 72, Greyson Sigg 73 70 71 70
285 William McGirt 71 70 73 71, Ryan Palmer 68 66 77 74, David Skinns (Eng) 68 70 77 70, Brendan Steele 68 74 71 72, Richy Werenski 70 72 74 69
286 Lanto Griffin 75 66 73 72, Chesson Hadley 71 70 76 69, Luke List 68 74 71 73, Henrik Norlander (Swe) 68 71 76 71, Roger Sloan (Can) 74 69 71 72
287 Luke Donald (Eng) 71 70 71 75, Patrick Rodgers 70 71 71 75, Hudson Swafford 71 70 70 76
288 Russell Knox (Sco) 65 76 71 76, Austin Smotherman 68 75 74 71
289 Bill Haas 70 71 77 71, Ben Martin 69 72 75 73, Seung-Yul Noh (Kor) 70 72 73 74, Davis Riley 70 70 76 73
290 Doc Redman 69 70 73 78, Sahith Theegala 77 66 71 76
291 James Hahn 69 74 72 76, Peter Uihlein 68 71 76 76
294 Wyndham Clark 73 70 74 77, Jim Herman 69 73 77 75