Ames wins 2nd senior title at Principal Charity

HOUSTON — Carlos Ortiz held off Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama by closing with a 5-under 65 to win the Vivint Houston Open on Sunday, becoming the first player from Mexico to win on the PGA TOUR in 42 years. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Old driver helps Koepka finish strong | Winner’s Bag: Carlos Ortiz He earned every bit of it, caught in a tight battle on the back nine with the defending FedExCup winner and Japan’s biggest star. Ortiz delivered the winner with a 6-iron to 8 feet on the par-5 16th. He had to settle for a two-putt birdie, and it held up when Johnson and Matsuyama narrowly missed birdie chances coming in. Ortiz finished in style. Needing two putts to win, the 29-year-old holed a 20-foot birdie putt for a two-shot victory. Ortiz held back tears as he waited for his playing partners to putt. The victory sends him to the Masters Tournament next April. He was there a year ago to watch his brother, Alvaro, who qualified by winning the Latin American Amateur. "It feels awesome," said Ortiz, who grew up in Guadalajara and played at North Texas with Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, the most recent Latin American winner on TOUR. "This is like my second home. There was a bunch of people cheering for me, Latinos and Texans. I’m thankful for all of them." It was the loudest cheer for a winner since March. The Vivint Houston Open was the first domestic PGA TOUR event that allowed spectators, with 2,000 tickets sold daily. They were treated to a good show. The last Mexico-born player to win was Victor Regelado, who captured the Quad Cities Open in 1978. Johnson was making his first start since the U.S. Open after a positive coronavirus test knocked him out of THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK and ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD. After opening with a 72, Johnson rallied with two rounds of 66 and a closing 65. His one regret would be the 16th hole. Tied for the lead, Johnson fanned a 7-iron for his second shot on the par 5, leaving a tough chip to 18 feet and a birdie putt that grazed the left edge of the cup. Johnson had another birdie putt catch the lip on the next hole. Matsuyama briefly tied for the lead with birdies on the 16th and 17th, making a 15-footer on the 17th just moments before Ortiz made his birdie on the 16th. Ortiz finished at 13-under 267. Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader, had a 72 and Jason Day closed with a 71. Neither was a factor for much of the day. This was about Ortiz holding off two players with plenty of experience winning and tasting it for the first time.

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Kevin Tway broke in a split set of Mizuno JPX 919 Forged (3-4) and JPX 919 Tour (5-9) irons at the Safeway Open and found the winner’s circle for the first time in his PGA TOUR career. Tway received the new set during the Dell Technologies Championship but chose to take the irons home and get them dialed-in before putting them in the bag. The 30-year-old ranked 23rd in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-green with the irons, which are comprised of two different materials. The JPX 919 Forged is made from a Boron-infused 1025E carbon steel that allowed designers to improve durability and significantly thin out the face to a COR of .810 — an improvement of .10 when compared to its predecessor. During testing, most players saw an increase of 1 mph ball speed. With JPX 919 Tour, Mizuno’s HD grain flow forging process was used on the 1025E (Elite) carbon steel, which compacts more grain structure in the hitting area to improve feel. Tway’s irons played a role in his five consecutive birdies (including the three-hole playoff), but it was his Mizuno T7/Titleist Vokey Design SM7 wedges and TaylorMade Spider Tour Red that led the way. Tway recorded a career-best scrambling performance on TOUR at Silverado, salvaging par 80 percent (16 of 20) of the time over 72 holes. He made six of his 10 putts from 10-15 feet, including six of eight in the final three rounds. Here’s a look at Tway’s entire equipment setup. Driver: TaylorMade M2 ’17 (Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70TX shaft), 9.5 degrees 3-wood: TaylorMade M2 ’17 (Mitsubishi Chemical W Series 80X shaft), 15 degrees Irons: Mizuno MP-H5 (2-iron; UST Mamiya Recoil Prototype shaft), Mizuno JPX919 Forged (3-4; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X7 shafts), Mizuno JPX919 Tour (5-9; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X7 shafts) Wedges: Mizuno T7 (47 degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft) Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (54-08M degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft), Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (60-10S degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shaft) Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Red PGA TOUR SUPERSTORE: Buy equipment here.  

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