Brian Harman had concerns both on and off the golf course as he made his way through the final round of the Valero Texas Open.
He finished with a clunky 3-over-par 75 on Sunday, but it was good enough to win the tournament at TPC San Antonio.
A family friend who helped save his son last fall from a riptide off the Florida coast has taken a health turn for the worse in recent days. He said Cathy Dowdy has been in his thoughts.
“Playing with a heavy heart today,” Harman said after the tournament. “Just thinking about her all day.”
Harman’s fourth career PGA Tour victory came as he coped with wind gusts exceeding 30 mph. He began the last round at the resort’s Oaks Course with a three-shot lead, and that was the final margin as he posted 9-under 279 for the four rounds.
“Just so proud how I handled these conditions on this golf course,” Harman said.
Ryan Gerard (69) placed second after a strong final round, though his lone bogey came on the last hole. Andrew Novak (76) struggled down the stretch, with a putt short on the last hole resulting in his seventh bogey and leaving him in a tie for third place with Maverick McNealy (72) at 5 under. Seven golfers tied for fifth place at 4 under.
While many golfers who’ve qualified for the Masters will be able to quickly look ahead to that major in the coming week, Harman had something else to process with another victory.
Harman, who last won by capturing the 2023 Open Championship, said he drew inspiration from Dowdy and those who couldn’t attend the final round of the tournament, realizing he was in their thoughts.
“Just knowing I have so much support back home from my family and my wife and my kids,” he said.
Harman, a left-hander, had to endure a rough stretch, with bogeys on Nos. 4 and 6 before a double-bogey 6 on the ninth hole. He saved par from a greenside bunker on No. 10 and then posted birdies on two of the next four holes to regain control.
Novak had drawn as close as one stroke behind Harman, but couldn’t pull even Sunday. Novak, who remained winless on the PGA Tour, needed a victory in Texas in order to qualify for the Masters.
Novak hung in contention, but bogeys on the 15th and 17th holes put him in a bind.
Gerard made a big push to close within two shots after trailing by nine strokes when the day began. He teed off more than an hour prior to Harman.
“I just really was trying to be scrappy out there,” Gerard said. “I didn’t hit it very well at all, but my caddie just kept it in spots that I felt like I had a chance from, either with a lot of green to work with or kind of back into the wind. You feel like you’re never really out of it if you can kind of use the wind as a backstop. I just really grinded hard.”
There was another scoring feat worth noting during the final round. It came from Patrick Fishburn, who was in the cluster golfers finishing at 4 under.
Fishburn sank a putt from 105 feet, 8 inches for an eagle on No. 17. It’s the second-longest putt recorded on the PGA Tour since the organization began keeping tabs on such things using electronic tracking in 2003. Fishburn’s effort was the longest successful putt since 2008.
–Field Level Media
