Jimmy Walker defeated fellow Texan Jordan Spieth by four shots to win the Valero Texas Open, while Scotland's Marc Warren narrowly missed out on an invite to The Masters.
Jimmy Walker defeated fellow Texan Jordan Spieth by four shots to win the Valero Texas Open in his hometown of San Antonio. Scotland's Marc Warren narrowly missed out on an invite to The Masters.
Walker began the final day four clear of Spieth and, after both men carded a final round 70, that turned out to be the winning margin. Jimmy Walker has now won five tournaments in the last two seasons on the PGA Tour – nobody has posted more victories in that time. It was Walker’s second title on the 2015 PGA Tour.
As well as a cheque for $1,116,000, Walker was awarded with the, customary, winner’s pair of traditional Texas cowboy boots.
"Everybody says it's hard to win at home," Walker said. "But it's hard to win any week - home, away, out of the country, it's hard. So I feel good."
Another reason to be cheerful for the 36-year-old is the fact the win has moved him into the top-10 on the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career. Jordan Spieth’s second place finish has pushed him up to fourth, also his career-best ranking. But the younger Texan isn’t getting ahead of himself.
“That’s cool,” he said. “But I’m not pinching myself as there are three guys ahead.”
Scotland’s Marc Warren narrowly failed in his bid to break into the top-50 on the Official World Golf Ranking and earn an invitation to The Masters. Warren closed with a fine round of 70 in San Antonio, but his final placing of 35th was not quite enough. He climbed agonisingly close, into 51st place.
In testing conditions at TPC San Antonio, with persistent winds of 20mph, scoring was difficult and only 10 men broke par for the week. The average score during the tournament was more than two full shots over par, making this the highest scoring event so far on the 2015 PGA Tour.
Billy Horschel of the USA ended the week alone in third with fellow Americans Chesson Hadley and Daniel Summerhays tied for fourth.
Valero Texas Open JW Marriott TPC San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas Mar 26-29, purse: $6,200,000, par: 72
1 Jimmy Walker (USA) 71 67 69 70 277 $1,116,000 2 Jordan Spieth (USA) 71 69 71 70 281 $669,600 3 Billy Horschel (USA) 72 70 71 71 284 $421,600 T4 Chesson Hadley (USA) 71 72 71 71 285 $272,800 T4 Daniel Summerhays (USA) 7173 72 69 285 $272,800 T6 Dustin Johnson (USA) 78 72 68 68 286 $215,450 T6 Ryan Palmer (USA) 70 75 73 68 286 $215,450 T8 Chris Kirk (USA) 71 71 73 72 287 $179,800 T8 Scott Pinckney (USA) 73 72 69 73 287 $179,800 T8 Brendan Steele (USA) 74 68 72 73 287 $179,800
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
