Lowry shows flashes of Masters form in Houston
Shane Lowry. Kohjiro Kinno/USGA
Shane Lowry showed some Masters form as Carlos Ortiz claimed the Vivint Houston Open become just the third Mexican to win on the PGA Tour.
The Offaly ace (33) birdied four holes in a row from the second to briefly tie for the lead but two birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey seven in a rollercoaster back nine left him tied for 11th ($1555,750) on six-under after a 68.
While he looked somewhat crestfallen at the finish, it was nevertheless an encouraging performance from Lowry heading to Augusta National. Scores
Not only did he shoot four sub-70 rounds in a row — 6 in a row if you include his last two rounds in the CJ Cup in Las Vegas — he was ranked 17th off the tee, which is an element of the game that he believes he needs to be firing on all cylinders at Augusta.
He was also fourth for strokes gained from tee to green, sixth for his approach play, and tied third for proximity to the hole.
Had he putted better, he might have challenge for a third career win on the PGA Tour but having birdied the second (10 ft), third (2 putts from 20 feet), fourth (5 ft) and fifth (10 ft) to tie for the lead on eight-under, he missed a nine footer for birdie at the eighth before fading on the back nine.
He drove into a fairway bunker and bogeyed the 10th, then three putted the 11th for bogey from 60 feet when his attempt to chase a long iron up the left side off the green came up well short.
Those bogeys undid all his momentum and while he drove the 318-yard 13th and two-putted for birdie, he missed a five footer for birdie at the 15th and undoubtedly frustrated, double-bogeyed the par-five 16th by knocking his third into the water and missing a five footer for a six.
He almost holed his 160-yard approach from the left rough for an eagle two at the 17th but tapped in for birdie there before finishing with a par.
An emotional Ortiz birdied the 18th to shoot 65 and claim his maiden win by two shots from world No 1 Dustin Johnson (65) and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (63) on 13-under with Brooks Koepka tied fifth on eight-under after chipping in at the last for a second successive 65.
Pádraig Harrington shot 69 to tie for 32nd on one-under with Graeme McDowell two shots further back in 44th after a 70.
My review of my T32nd @HouOpenGolf @PGATOUR @mutualofomaha @CluneGC @WilsonGolf @Titleist @ROLEX @TeamVKTRY @dunnesstores pic.twitter.com/WupsxOSmTC
— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) November 9, 2020
On the Challenge Tour, the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Lieser won the Andalucía Challenge de España on 10-under with Niall Kearney (72) 22nd on two-under and Michael Hoey (68) 31st on level par.
