Birdie Filled Back Nine Secures Houston Title For Jason Kokrak

Jason Kokrak made it a hattrick of PGA Tour wins, as he managed to pull away from a heavily congested pack in a drama filled final day.

The final round in Houston saw the lead change multiple times. However, thanks to a run of four straight birdies on the back nine, Kokrak claimed a two shot win.

"If you hit a lot of fairways on that back nine then you can kind of get after it," said Kokrak. "There's still a lot of long holes and tough tee shots.

"Even the 118-yard par-3 is tough, you can't miss it long, you can't miss it short, you can't miss it left, but I holed a lot of good putts, especially on the back nine." 

Starting two shots back of overnight leader, Scottie Scheffler, it was in fact former PGA Tour winner, Martin Trainer, who made early inroads.

However, Ryder Cup star Scheffler would remain in front going into the back nine, with birdies at the 3rd, 5th and 8th putting him one shot clear of Trainer.

The American started to struggle though, with three bogies in a five hole stretch dropping him out of contention around Memorial Park Golf Course.

As a result, the field was waiting for somebody to pounce out of the chasing pack, and that's exactly what Kokrak did.

Holing a lengthy birdie putt on the 13th, he followed it with further birdies at the 14th, 15th and 16th putting him two ahead with two to play.

After a safe par at the 17th, the 36-year-old soon found himself three shots clear whilst putting out on the 18th, thanks to Trainer making bogey at the 17th. 

With neither Trainer or Scheffler able to make up the three shot margin, the title was Kokrak's, with the victory his third in his last 27 tournaments. An amazing feat having never won in his first 233 starts.

"This win is very special," revealed Kokrak. "I was really struggling with my game at the beginning of this week.

"But I was on the phone with my swing coach and worked on a few things and that worked really well. So, I have to thank him and my caddie, it was really tough at times out there."