Houston (AFP) – JJ Spaun bagged a sensational eagle on the penultimate hole to warm up for the Masters with a dramatic one-shot victory at the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open on Sunday. Spaun carded a five-under-par closing 67 at the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course to finish the tournament with a 17-under aggregate 271. That was enough to vault the 2025 US Open champion, who had started the final round tied for fourth, to the top of the leaderboard ahead of England’s Matt Wallace, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, and Michael Kim, who finished on 16 under.
The signature moment for Spaun came on the par-four 306-yard 17th, when his tee shot landed on the green and rolled to within 10 feet of the flag. He duly made the putt for eagle to move to five under for the day, and then held his nerve to make a crucial up-and-down par on the par-five 18th. The victory couldn’t have been better timed for Spaun, who won his first PGA Tour victory at San Antonio in 2022, but who has endured a rough start to 2026.
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“This game is so crazy,” Spaun said afterwards. “I haven’t been feeling at the form that I wanted to be based off of last season. Just trying to take each day as it comes and accepting what I have. Just means a lot to come back and win here at a place that’s been so good to me.”
Spaun had missed the cut in four of his seven outings so far this season, with his highest finish before this week a tie for 24th place at The Players Championship last month. But now the 35-year-old will head to Augusta for next week’s Masters in fine fettle as he hunts a second major championship.
Spaun said adopting a more relaxed approach had been behind this week’s improved form. “I put a lot of pressure on myself this year to start the year, and a lot of expectations,” he said. “It’s the complete opposite of the mantra I had all year last year that really helped me, so I tried to get back to that. Went into the last few weeks starting at The Players just trying to be freed up and put less pressure on myself.”
© 2024 AFP
