[Photos: Sam Hodde]
A day after tying the course record of 10-under 61 by shooting a bogey-free Saturday 62 to set the 54-hole record in the VidantaWorld Mexico Open, Andrew Novak offered a concise and cogent explanation for building the largest lead through three rounds – six strokes – in tournament history.
“I’ve just driven it really well for the most part, then hit a lot of really good iron shots, and then made a lot of putts,” the fifth-year PGA Tour member said, making it sound as exciting as folding laundry. That’s not a knock, by the way. It’s actually rather mundane when a player is in command of his game.
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Of course, there was one area truly was making a difference, and he knew it. He kept telling himself all season, “If I ever get the putting sorted out, this is what it’s going to look like.” What it ended up looking like was a five-stroke victory and his second tour title but first as a solo winner.
Even with the putter reverting to unco-operative mode in the final round at Vidanta Vallarta – which highlights how insanely good he had been on the greens through 54 holes – Novak posted 25-under 259 to eclipse the tournament record by one shot. Steven Fisk and Kris Ventura, who each shot a closing 63, shared second place at 20-under 264.
“Just happy with how I played today. I thought I grinded it out pretty well,” said the 31-year-old North Carolinian, who last year shared victory with Ben Griffin in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event.
The victory was worth $US1.08 million and added another year of exemption, carrying him through the inaugural season of the PGA Tour’s Championship Series in 2028. In addition, he rose 36 spots to 53rd in the FedEx Cup Fall standings (those ranked 51st to 60th gain entry to the first two signature events of 2027), and he earned invitations to the PGA and Players championships.
Novak, who moved from 90th to 58th in the world, didn’t quite have the scoring gear of the middle two rounds, closing with a two-under 69, and all because he looked like the guy who came into the week ranked 158th in strokes gained/putting.
He lost a whopping 4.098 strokes on the greens and yet still ranked first for the week in putting at plus-8.191. When he went to sleep on Saturday, Novak was plus-12.33 and was hurtling into record territory in the ShotLink era a little more than two strokes behind Patrick Cantlay’s record 14.58 total gain at the 2021 BMW Championship.
Novak failed to convert scoring chances on the outward nine and at one point saw his six-shot lead sliced in half. Then he got up and down out of a bunker for birdie at the par-5 12th, two putted from 14 feet after driving the green at the par-4 13th and then finally got a lengthy one to fall at the 14th from 44 feet.
From there he essentially took a knee and ran out the clock, so to speak.
When he dropped the final putt from a few feet, Novak could manage only a grin. After handshakes, he raised both arms almost wearily and tossed his ball into the grandstands. Griffin, who played in the penultimate group and ended up T-4, hung around greenside and took video of his friend with his phone.
“Ben’s over there somewhere. I’m going to be chirping him after this,” Novak said. “It is nice to get one, yeah. Obviously, I loved the Zurich and everything about that tournament, that’s so fun, but it is nice to have one by myself, too. This is one I’ve been working for for a while. Obviously not a great season for how I wanted it to go, but this is a nice way to kind of finish.”
