Mexico City (AFP) – Andrew Novak cruised to victory at the Mexico Open on Sunday, firing a two-under-par 69 to win by five strokes and claim his first individual title on the PGA Tour. The 31-year-old American converted his commanding overnight lead into a comfortable victory at Vidanta Vallarta with three straight birdies on the back nine. Novak, whose only previous tour victory came at last year’s Zurich Classic pairs event alongside Ben Griffin, finished on a tournament record 25-under-par 259.
“It is nice to get one. Obviously, I loved Zurich and everything about that tournament — it’s so fun — but it is nice to have one by myself too,” said Novak. “This is one I’ve been working for for a while.” Leading by six going into the final day, Novak started his final round steadily, with seven pars, before a birdie on the eighth. He had a slight stumble at the turn, missing a four-foot putt on 10 for his first bogey since Friday.
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But he snuffed out any hope for the chasing pack with a string of three consecutive birdies from the 12th onward. That included a 14-foot putt on the par-three 13th, and then a huge 44-foot roller on the 14th green that boosted his lead back to five over Doug Ghim. “Ten was a mistake. Just, I don’t know, got lackadaisical there, three terrible shots in a row, but recovered, made three birdies in a row, 12, 13, 14. And that really kind of settled everything,” said Novak. When Ghim bogeyed the 14th, Novak’s lead grew to six.
The American looked relaxed as he racked up pars on 15 and 16 before missing a short par putt on 17. His par on 18 was enough to beat the tournament record of 24-under-par, after scorching rounds of 61 and 62 on Friday and Saturday respectively. “Just happy with how I played today. I thought I grinded out pretty well,” said the winner.
Steven Fisk and Norway’s Kristoffer Ventura were second-placed on 20-under-par 264, followed by Ben Griffin and Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes on 265. Matthieu Pavon of France had begun Sunday in second place but slipped out of the top 10 with three bogeys down the back nine. A rough finish could have been even worse for the Frenchman, as long grass by the 18th green barely stopped his ball from finding the water, and he saved par. Ghim, who started Sunday in third, finished tied-sixth with a double bogey on 18.
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