Hunter Mahan fired a final-round 71 on Sunday to win the US PGA Tour’s $6 million Houston Open by one stroke over Sweden’s Carl Pettersson. Mahan, who won the elite World Golf Championships Match Play Championship in February, became the first two-time winner on the US tour this year.
The victory will boost the 29-year-old to fourth in the world rankings, sending him into the Masters, the first major tournament of the season that starts Thursday at Augusta National, as the highest-ranked American. “It feels great,” Mahan said. “I’m playing good. I’m glad I’m going to Augusta, it’s really a special place and I’m looking forward to going there.”
Mahan’s one-under 71 at Redstone gave him a four-round total of 16-under 272. Pettersson also posted a 71 for 273. South African Louis Oosthuizen, who led by two strokes after the third round, had two double-bogeys in a three-over 75 that left him in third place on 274. Pettersson, who closed his round with eight straight pars, notched his second runner-up finish of the year, but couldn’t get the victory he needed to secure a berth in the Masters. Three-time major champion Ernie Els also needed a victory to earn an automatic invitation to Augusta. Instead he was poised to miss the Masters for the first time since 1993 after finishing on 10-under. “It’s not going to change my life, either way,” Els said.
“I’ve played many out there. It’s one of those things.” While the Masters could still offer Els a special invitation, he said he wouldn’t accept a last-minute invitation. “To go through all of this, and then get an invite, I wouldn’t take it,” he said. Mahan’s two birdies on the day came back-to-back at nine and 10. At the par-three ninth he drained a five-foot birdie putt.
