A hot putter wasn’t enough to earn Matt Jones the final place in the field for The Masters as he finished tied for second at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.
Seeking to join fellow Aussies Adam Scott (2010) and Steven Bowditch (2014) as winners of the Texas Open at TPC San Antonio, Jones seemed an unlikely contender at the beginning of the final round.
Outside the top 20 and five strokes off the lead, Jones matched the best score of the final round – a six-under 66 – to finish two strokes back of champion JJ Spaun (69) and tied with Matt Kuchar (69) at 11-under.
The 41-year-old had four birdies in his opening five holes on Sunday and birdied 14, 15 and 17 down the stretch to record his best PGA TOUR finish since his victory at The Honda Classic more than 12 months ago.
“I had a good round going Thursday and let it slip and then Friday I just played poorly and made a couple of mistakes,” said Jones, who was left to lament a round of three-over 75 on Friday.
“Those mistakes are what cost golf tournaments out on this tour because everyone’s so good.”
A two-time winner on Tour, Jones putted superbly on Sunday and ended the week with a Strokes Gained: Putting statistic of +0.586, something he hopes to carry forward in the events to come.
“I don’t think I’ve had a positive Strokes Gained: Putting since Maui, so to have that today and yesterday is something I can always build on,” said Jones, who needed to win to earn an invitation to play Augusta National this week.
Three-time ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia winner Steven Alker added a second Champions Tour title to his extraordinary run of form on the US seniors circuit.
The 50-year-old Kiwi shot 65 in the final round to win the Rapiscan Systems Classic by six shots, his second victory and 12th top-10 finish in just 15 starts on the Champions Tour.
“I got off to a little bit of a slow start, but yesterday was amazing,” said Alker, who shot 10-under 62 in the second round.
“I just turned my putting around and it clicked and I started hitting the ball better. It’s always nice when the week just gets better and better.
“It got really better quick, so it was great. Glad to be champion.”
Hira Naveed registered her second top-10 finish of the 2022 Epson Tour at the Casino Del Sol Golf Classic in Arizona while West Australian Danny List earned PGA TOUR Canada status with a fourth-place finish at the Q-School USA West 1 event also in Arizona.
Results
PGA TOUR
Valero Texas Open
TPC San Antonio (Oaks Cse), San Antonio, Texas
Winner JJ Spaun 67-70-69-69—275 $US1.548m
T2 Matt Jones 68-75-68-66—277 $765,400
T18 Aaron Baddeley 69-74-68-70—281 $92,606
MC Jason Day 74-70—144
MC Min Woo Lee 74-72—146
WD Danny Lee
Japan Golf Tour
Token Homemate Cup
Token Tado Country Club (Nagoya Cse), Mie
Winner Jinichiro Kozuma 66-69-66-69—270 ¥26m
Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff
T44 Andrew Evans 73-71-73-67—284 ¥455,000
T55 Brendan Jones 69-72-75-71—287 ¥312,000
MC Anthony Quayle 71-75—146
MC Matthew Griffin 70-76—146
MC Adam Bland 76-76—152
PGA TOUR Latinoamerica
90 Abierto del Centro memorial Eduardo Gato Romero
Cordoba Golf Club, Cordoba, Argentina
Winner Alejandro Tosti 71-66-68-69—274
T33 Tim Stewart 72-65-76-76—289
MC Charlie Hillier 76-72—148
MC Denzel Ieremia 77-73—150
Korn Ferry Tour
Club Car Championship at The Landings Club
Landings Club – Deer Creek GC, Savannah, Georgia
Winner TJ Vogel 69-67-68-67—271 $US135,000
T58 Curtis Luck 71-71-72-75—289 $3,060
T65 Harrison Endycott 70-72-76-72—290 $2,985
MC Rhein Gibson 71-72—143
MC Brett Drewitt 72-74—146
MC Ryan Ruffels 77-74—151
Challenge Tour
Limpopo Championship
Euphoria GC, Limpopo, South Africa
Winner Mateusz Gradecki 68-68-67-66—269 €35,793
MC Daniel Hillier 70-70—140
MC Deyen Lawson 71-71—142
Epson Tour
Casino Del Sol Golf Classic
Sewailo Golf Club, Tucson, AZ
Winner Andrea Lee 69-65-67-69—270 $US30,000
Won in sudden-death playoff
8 Hira Naveed 67-68-73-67—275
T17 Sarah Jane Smith 67-68-72-71—278
T20 Amelia Garvey 71-72-66-70—279
T29 Robyn Choi 69-71-71-69—280
T52 Grace Kim 71-71-73-71—286
T58 Julienne Soo 74-67-73-74—288
PGA TOUR Canada
Q-School USA West 1
Wigwam Golf Club, Litchfield Park, Arizona
Winner Max Marsico 71-64-71-65—271
T4 Danny List 71-67-70-69—277
T17 Jack Trent 72-70-69-71—282
T42 Jack Murdoch 73-72-73-69—287
Champions Tour
Rapiscan Systems Classic
Grand Bear Golf Club, Biloxi, Missouri
Winner Steven Alker 71-62-65—198 $US240,000
T8 David McKenzie 68-71-69—208 $39,086
T20 Rod Pampling 75-67-69—211 $19,840
T48 Stuart Appleby 72-74-72—218 $4,800
T56 John Senden 76-72-72—220 $3,280
[IMAGES: Getty Images]
