Carlos Ortiz captured his first PGA Tour victory at the Vivint Houston Open with a number of superb shots down the stretch. They allowed him to close with a five-under 65 and hold off two elite players: world No.1 Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama, whose final-round 63 came up a little short.
Ortiz’s final round at Memorial Park Golf Course had its share of dramatic shots. Deadlocked playing the par-5 16th, Ortiz flushed his Ping S55 6-iron from 200 metres to within eight feet of the pin. The eagle putt slid by the hole, but the tap-in birdie put him ahead to stay. For the week, the 29-year-old from Mexico picked up more than nine strokes on the field in strokes gained/tee to green.
That birdie proved a little less dramatic than a pair of monster putts he made on the front nine, where he holed a 36-footer for birdie at the fourth hole and a 34-footer for another birdie at the ninth with his Odyssey StrokeLab Jailbird Mini putter to go out in 32. A final birdie putt from 22 feet at the par-4 18th sealed things for Ortiz and helped him rank fifth in strokes gained/putting, picking up more than six strokes on the field. His game was sharp around the greens as well with his Titleist Vokey SM8 wedges as Ortiz finished the week first in scrambling, converting 85.71 percent of his chances (18 out of 21).
Ortiz won’t be at Augusta National for this week’s Masters but he can watch the event knowing he has a place in the field in 2021.
What Carlos Ortiz had in the bag at the Vivint Houston Open:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: Ping G400 Max (Mitsubishi Tensei AV 65 TX Green shaft), 9 degrees
3-wood: Ping G425 LST, 14.5 degrees
Irons (3): Titleist U500; (4-PW): Ping S55
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (50, 54, 60 degrees)
Putter: Odyssey StrokeLab Jailbird Mini (edited)
